Boston and Skegness (UK Parliament constituency)

Boston and Skegness
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire for the 2010 general election.
Location of Lincolnshire within England.
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	70,620 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Mark Simmonds (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Boston and Skegness is a county 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.

Boundaries

Boston and Skegness is bordered by the constituencies of Louth and Horncastle to the north, Sleaford and North Hykeham to the west, and South Holland and The Deepings to the south.

The constituency boundaries changed at the 2010 general election, bringing in the two rural wards of Stickey and Croft from Louth and Horncastle.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Holland with Boston and East Lindsey. Parts of the more rural south were separated from Holland with Boston to create South Holland and The Deepings. It is a safe seat for the Conservative Party. Despite this its first MP, Richard Body, only held the seat at the 1997 general election with a wafer-thin majority, attributed in part to his own personal popularity. This was due to him having previously been the MP for Holland with Boston from 1966 to 1997.

After retiring from Parliament Body left the Conservatives and joined the UK Independence Party. UKIP came third in Boston and Skegness in the 2005 election, with one of its strongest showings in the country.

Body was succeeded by Mark Simmonds at the 2001 general election. The seat remained a marginal between the Conservatives and Labour until 2005, when Simmonds was re-elected with a substantially increased majority. After his re-election Simmonds was made Shadow Minister for International Development, before being promoted to a Shadow Health Minister in July 2007. He returned to the backbenches following the 2010 general election.

Members of Parliament

Holland with Boston and East Lindsey prior to 1997

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Richard Body	Conservative
	2001	Mark Simmonds	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Boston and Skegness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Simmonds	21,325	49.4	+3.2
	Labour	Paul Kenny	8,899	20.6	−11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Smith	6,371	14.8	+6.1
	UKIP	Christopher Pain	4,081	9.5	−0.1
	BNP	David Owens	2,278	5.3	+2.9
	Independent	Peter Wilson	171	0.4	N/A
Majority			12,426	28.8
Turnout			43,125	61.1	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Boston and Skegness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Simmonds	19,329	46.2	+3.3
	Labour	Paul Kenny	13,422	32.1	−9.5
	UKIP	Richard Horsnell	4,024	9.6	+7.8
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Riley	3,649	8.7	−3.7
	BNP	Wendy Russell	1,025	2.4	N/A
	Green	Marcus Petz	420	1.0	−0.3
Majority			5,907	14.1
Turnout			41,869	58.8	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.4

General Election 2001: Boston and Skegness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Simmonds	17,298	42.9	+0.5
	Labour	Elaine Bird	16,783	41.6	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Duncan Moffatt	4,994	12.4	-4.2
	UKIP	Cyril Wakefield	717	1.8	N/A
	Green	Mark Harrison	521	1.3	N/A
Majority			515	1.3
Turnout			40,313	58.4	-10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Boston and Skegness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Body	19,750	42.4	N/A
	Labour	Philip McCauley	19,103	41.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Jim Dodsworth	7,721	16.6	N/A
Majority			647	1.4	N/A
Turnout			46,574	68.9	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire