Bridgwater and West Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

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Bridgwater and West Somerset
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Bridgwater and West Somerset in Somerset.
Outline map
Location of Somerset within England.
County Somerset
Population 106,450 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate 82,936 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements Bridgwater
Current constituency
Created 2010
Member of parliament Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Bridgwater
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South West England

Bridgwater and West Somerset is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since creation in 2010 by Ian Liddell-Grainger of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

History

Bridgwater was one of the original parliamentary borough constituencies in England[n 3] (with fifteen years of non-existence in the late 19th century after the seat was abolished for corruption in 1870 and being subsumed into a slightly larger seat on a review of Somerset's representation by the Boundary Commission[3] in 1885).

In 2010 seven candidates stood. The second placed candidate was a Liberal Democrat, Theo Butt Philip, 11.2% ahead of the candidate from the Labour Party. The incumbent, Ian Liddell-Grainger is a former Major in the Territorial Army, farmer and defence advisor.

Boundaries

The electoral wards in the seat are:

The area includes Minehead which was a borough constituency until its abolition as a 'rotten borough' under the Great Reform Act, 1832.

Members of Parliament

See: Bridgwater constituency

Election Member[4] Party
2010 Ian Liddell-Grainger Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Bridgwater and West Somerset[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger 25,020 46.0 +0.7
UKIP Stephen Fitzgerald 10,437 19.2 +14.4
Labour Michael Lerry 9,589 17.6 +0.5
Liberal Democrat Theo Butt Philip[7] 6,765 12.4 -15.9
Green Julie Harvey-Smith 2,636 4.8 +3.3
Majority 14,583 26.8 +9.8
Turnout 54,447 67.6 -3.6
Conservative hold Swing

The Liberal Democrats initially selected Justine Baker as their candidate.[8] After being accepted for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Baker resigned in order to apply to stand as the candidate for Taunton Deane, a more winnable seat, she was not successful[9] and ultimately was not a candidate anywhere in the 2015 General Election. She was replaced by Theo Butt Philip, who had been the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 General Election.

General Election 2010: Bridgwater and West Somerset[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger* 24,675 45.3 -0.1
Liberal Democrat Theo Butt Philip 15,426 28.3 +5.7
Labour Kathy Pearce 9,332 17.1 -8.5
UKIP Peter Hollings 2,604 4.8 +1.1
BNP Donna Treanor 1,282 2.4 +2.4
Green Charles Graham 859 1.6 -1.2
Independent Bob Cudlipp 315 0.6 +0.6
Majority 9,249 17.0
Turnout 54,493 71.2 +7.2
Conservative hold Swing -2.9
* Served as the MP for Bridgwater 2001–2010

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
  3. ↑ Original is usually classified as sending representatives to the Model Parliament of 1295.
References
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South West
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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