Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)

Chelmsford
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Chelmsford in Essex.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Electorate	77,835 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	2010 (2010)
Member of Parliament	Simon Burns (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	West Chelmsford, Maldon & East Chelmsford
1885 (1885)–1997 (1997)
Replaced by	West Chelmsford, Maldon and Chelmsford East, Rayleigh
Created from	West Essex
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Chelmsford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the 2010 general election it has elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

A previous Chelmsford constituency existed from 1885 to 1997.

Boundaries

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England created a new Chelmsford constituency.

A majority of the electorate for this new constituency come from the previous West Chelmsford constituency. A smaller element (around Great Baddow) comes from the Maldon & East Chelmsford constituency

The constituency is contained entirely within the Borough of Chelmsford though it is not coterminous with it. Wards from the borough will also comprise parts of the Maldon and Saffron Walden constituencies.

It contains the following wards from the Borough of Chelmsford:

Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park, Galleywood, Goat Hall, Great Baddow East, Great Baddow West, Marconi, Moulsham and Central, Moulsham Lodge, Patching Hall, St Andrews, Springfield North, The Lawns, Trinity, Waterhouse Farm and Writtle

At its first contest in 2010, the seat was closely fought by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who finished less than 10% apart, with Conservative candidate Simon Burns (the former MP for West Chelmsford) being elected. Labour polled 11%, despite having been only around 100 votes behind the Liberal Democrats in West Chelmsford in 2005, and even taking second place in 2001.

The previous Chelmsford constituency that existed before 1997 was often closely fought between the (then) Liberal party and the Conservatives, with the latter often winning by only small margins, even when they won the election nationally.

History

Chelmsford in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1918 to 1945.

Chelmsford in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1945 to 1950.

Chelmsford had its own constituency from 1885 until its abolition in 1997.

Under the proposals of the Boundary Commission for England the constituency was recreated for the 2010 general election.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1997

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William James Beadel	Conservative
	1892 by-election	Thomas Usborne	Conservative
	1900	Sir Carne Rasch, Bt	Conservative
	1908 by-election	E. G. Pretyman	Conservative
	1918		Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1923	Sydney Walter Robinson	Liberal
	1924	Sir Henry Honywood Curtis-Bennett	Conservative
	1926 by-election	Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury	Conservative
	1931	Sir Vivian Leonard Henderson	Conservative
	1935	John Macnamara	Conservative
	1945 by-election	Ernest Millington	Common Wealth
	1946		Labour
	1950	Sir Hubert Ashton	Conservative
	1964	Norman St John-Stevas	Conservative
	1987	Simon Burns	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished - see West Chelmsford, Maldon and Chelmsford East, Rayleigh

MPs since 2010

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Simon Burns	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Burns*	25,207	46.2	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Robinson	20,097	36.8	+6.6
	Labour	Peter Dixon	5,980	11.0	-16.0
	UKIP	Ken Wedon	1,527	2.8	-0.6
	BNP	Michael Richard Bateman	899	1.6	+1.6
	Green	Angela Thomson	476	0.9	+0.9
	English Democrats	Claire Breed	254	0.5	+0.3
	Reduce Tax On Beer	Ben Sherman	153	0.3	+0.3
Majority			5,110	9.4
Turnout			54,593	70.4	+9.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

* Served in the 2005–2010 Parliament as MP for West Chelmsford

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Burns	39,043	55.3	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	HP Nicholson	20,783	29.4	−11.1
	Labour	Dr. RK Chad	10,010	14.2	+7.3
	Green	Ms. EJ Burgess	769	1.1	+0.4
Majority			18,260	25.9	+14.4
Turnout			70,605	84.6	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Burns	35,231	51.9	+4.3
	Liberal	Stuart Mole	27,470	40.5	-6.5
	Labour	Clive Playford	4,642	6.8	+1.7
	Green	A C Slade	486	0.7	+0.7
Majority			7,761	11.4	+10.8
Turnout			67,829	82.2	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4

General Election 1983: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman St John-Stevas	29,824	47.6	-2.0
	Liberal	Stuart Mole	29,446	47.0	+5.5
	Labour	Clive Playford	3,208	5.1	-3.8
	Independent	P D P Waite	127	0.2	+0.2
Majority			378	0.6	-9.3
Turnout			62,605	79.4	-4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.7

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman St John-Stevas	33,560	49.6	+8.0
	Liberal	Stuart Mole	28,337	41.5	+6.3
	Labour	S A Reeves	6,041	8.9	-14.3
Majority			5,471	8.1	+2.5
Turnout			68,186	81.0	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

General Election October 1974: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman St John-Stevas	26,334	41.6	-1.3
	Liberal	Stuart Mole	22,332	35.2	+2.2
	Labour	J T Acklaw	14,711	23.2	-0.9
Majority			4,002	6.4	-3.5
Turnout			66,377	79.2	-4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.8

General Election February 1974: Chelmsford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman St John-Stevas	28,560	42.9
	Liberal	Stuart Mole	21,929	33.0
	Labour	Frances Morrell	16,063	24.1
Majority			6,631	9.9
Turnout			66,552	83.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boundary changes

Preceded by Constituency created	UK Parliament constituency Chelmsford (West), Writtle 1885 – 1997	Succeeded by Chelmsford West
	UK Parliament constituency Chelmsford (East), Great Baddow, Danbury 1885 – 1997	Succeeded by Maldon and Chelmsford East
	UK Parliament constituency Ingatestone 1885 – 1974	Succeeded by Brentwood and Ongar
	UK Parliament constituency Ongar 1885 – 1955	Succeeded by Chigwell
	UK Parliament constituency Brentwood 1885 – 1950	Succeeded by Romford

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Sources

• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1974 - 1983
• The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983, 1987 & 1992