Bassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency)

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Bassetlaw
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire for the 2010 general election.
Outline map
Location of Nottinghamshire within England.
County Nottinghamshire
Electorate 78,306 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Worksop and Retford
Current constituency
Created 1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament John Mann (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from North Nottinghamshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East Midlands

Bassetlaw is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The Bassetlaw constituency covers the north of Nottinghamshire, including the towns of Worksop and Retford. It shares the name of the Bassetlaw district.

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in Nottinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the constituency for the 2010 general election to allow for population changes.

The constituency includes these 22 electoral wards of Bassetlaw District Council:

  • Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, East Retford East, East Retford North, East Retford South, East Retford West, Everton, Harworth, Langold, Misterton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South, Worksop South East.

[edit] History

The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act.

[edit] Boundaries' history

The Bassetlaw Division (named after one of the ancient Wapentakes of the county) as originally constituted included the borough of East Retford, the petty sessional divisions of Retford and Worksop and part of Mansfield petty sessional division.

In 1918, the number of parliamentary divisions in Nottinghamshire was increased from four to five, with resulting changes in boundaries. Bassetlaw Division was now defined as containing the Borough of East Retford, the Urban Districts of Warsop and Worksop and the Rural Districts of Blyth & Cuckney, Misterton and East Retford, with the civil parish of Sookholme from the Skegby Rural District.

In 1948, the five Parliamentary Divisions of Nottinghamshire were reorganised as six County Constituencies. The boundaries of Bassetlaw County Constituency were virtually unchanged, though local government changes in the 1930s now meant that it was defined as comprising the Boroughs of East Retford and Worksop, the Urban District of Warsop and the Rural Districts of East Retford and Worksop.

The constituency's boundaries then remained unchanged until 1983. In that year, the town of East Retford and the neighbouring areas were transferred to the Newark constituency. Bassetlaw constituency then comprised Worksop and surrounding areas in the Bassetlaw district as well as the town of Warsop in the Mansfield district. There were only minor boundary changes in 1997.

From the 1997 General Election to the 2010 General Election, the constituency included the following wards of the Bassetlaw district:

  • Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, Everton, Harworth East, Harworth West, Hodsock, Misterton, Rampton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South, Worksop South East.

  • Constituency boundary in 1885, shown within the county of Nottinghamshire.

  • Constituency boundary in 1950, shown within the county of Nottinghamshire.

  • Constituency boundary in 2005, shown within the county of Nottinghamshire.

  • Current constituency boundary, shown within the county of Nottinghamshire.

[edit] Electoral history

A graph showing the election results for Bassetlaw.

Bassetlaw is a safe seat for the Labour Party, with them having held it since 1935. In fact, Labour first won the seat in the 1929 general election. However its Member of Parliament Malcolm MacDonald was one of the few Labour MPs to join his father Ramsay MacDonald's National Government. MacDonald held the seat as a National Labour candidate in the 1931 election, but was defeated at the next election in 1935 by Labour's Frederick Bellenger.

Bellenger held his seat until his death in 1968. The subsequent by-election was won by Joe Ashton, who served as MP until his retirement at the 2001 general election. The current MP, since 2001, is John Mann.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Election Member [2] Party
1885 William Beckett-Denison Conservative
1890 by-election Frederick Milner Conservative
1906 Frank Newnes Liberal
1910 William Ellis Hume-Williams Conservative
1929 Malcolm MacDonald Labour
1931 National Labour
1935 Frederick Bellenger Labour
1968 by-election Joe Ashton Labour
2001 John Mann Labour

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Mann 25,018 50.5 -2.5
Conservative Keith Girling 16,803 33.9 -1.2
Liberal Democrat David Dobbie 5,570 11.2 -0.7
UKIP Andrea Hamilton 1,779 3.6 +3.6
Independent Graham Whitehurst 407 0.8 +0.8
Majority 8,215 16.6
Turnout 49,577 64.8 +4.0
Labour hold Swing 0.7

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Mann 22,847 56.6 +1.3
Conservative Jonathan Sheppard 12,010 29.8 -0.4
Liberal Democrat David Dobbie 5,485 13.6 +0.9
Majority 10,837 26.9
Turnout 40,342 58.1 +1.3
Labour hold Swing +0.9
General Election 2001: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Mann 21,506 55.3 -5.7
Conservative Alison Holley 11,758 30.2 +5.3
Liberal Democrat Neil Taylor 4,942 12.7 +2.5
Socialist Labour Kevin Meloy 689 1.8 N/A
Majority 9,748 25.1
Turnout 38,895 56.8 -13.6
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 29,298 61.1 +7.7
Conservative Martin Cleasby 11,838 24.7 -10.3
Liberal Democrat Mike Kerringan 4,950 10.3 -1.3
Referendum Party R. Graham 1,838 3.8 N/A
Majority 17,460
Turnout 70.4 -8.1
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Bassetlaw[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 29,061 53.4 +5.3
Conservative Caroline Spelman 19,064 35.0 −2.5
Liberal Democrat MJ Reynolds 6,340 11.6 −2.8
Majority 9,997 18.4 +7.7
Turnout 54,465 79.4 +1.9
Labour hold Swing +3.9

"

[edit] Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 25,385 48.10
Conservative DRJ Selves 19,772 37.47
SDP–Liberal Alliance WG Smith 7,616 14.43
Majority 5,613 10.64
Turnout 52,773 77.56
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1983: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 22,231 45.60
Conservative M Cleasby 18,400 37.74
SDP–Liberal Alliance B Withnall 8,124 16.66
Majority 3,831 7.86
Turnout 48,755 74.18
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 29,426 50.23
Conservative DK Harris 22,247 37.97
Liberal A Wilkinson 6,913 11.80
Majority 7,179 12.25
Turnout 58,586 79.42
Labour hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 28,663 53.69
Conservative DK Harris 16,494 30.90
Liberal A Wilkinson 7,821 14.65
Christian A Storkey 408 0.76
Majority 12,169 22.79
Turnout 53,386 74.43
Labour hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 33,724 59.99
Conservative RC Heading 22,490 40.01
Majority 11,234 19.98
Turnout 56,214 79.05
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1970: Bassetlaw
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joe Ashton 28,959 54.87
Conservative Jim Lester 20,698 39.21
Liberal MH Haydon-Baillie 3,125 5.92
Majority 8,261 15.65
Turnout 52,782 76.44
Labour hold Swing
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[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  3. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 

[edit] Sources

Constituencies in the East Midlands (46)
Conservative (31)
Labour (15)

Coordinates: 53°24′N 0°57′W / 53.40°N 0.95°W / 53.40; -0.95

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