Eastleigh (UK Parliament constituency)

Eastleigh
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Eastleigh in Hampshire.
Location of Hampshire within England.
County	Hampshire
Electorate	78,313 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1955 (1955)
Member of Parliament	Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Eastleigh is a borough 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

The constituency is based around the town of Eastleigh in Hampshire, sharing similar borders as the borough of Eastleigh.

History

Eastleigh was a fairly safe seat for the Conservatives for nearly forty years until the death of its then MP, former journalist Stephen Milligan, in 1994. At the subsequent by-election, the Liberal Democrats gained the seat on a very large swing, and have since held Eastleigh in the four following General Elections, though with somewhat narrow majorities.

The current MP, Chris Huhne, has gained national attention first as environment spokesman, then as Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, having previously stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for party leader in 2006 against Sir Menzies Campbell and again in 2007 against Nick Clegg. Following the 2010 general election, Huhne joined the coalition government's cabinet as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1955	Sir David Price	Conservative
	1992	Stephen Milligan	Conservative
	1994 by-election	David Chidgey	Liberal Democrat
	2005	Chris Huhne	Liberal Democrat

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Huhne	24,966	46.5	+8.2
	Conservative	Maria Hutchings	21,102	39.3	+2.1
	Labour	Leo Barraclough	5,153	9.6	-11.5
	UKIP	Ray Finch	1,933	3.6	+0.2
	English Democrats	Tony Pewsey	249	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Dave Stone	154	0.3	N/A
	National Liberal Party - Third Way	Keith Low	93	0.2	N/A
Majority			3,864	7.2
Turnout			53,650	69.3	+4.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	3%

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Huhne	19,216	38.6	−2.1
	Conservative	Conor Burns	18,648	37.5	+3.2
	Labour	Chris Watt	10,238	20.6	−1.3
	UKIP	Christopher Murphy	1,669	3.4	+1.6
Majority			568	1.1
Turnout			49,771	64.8	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−2.6

General Election 2001: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Chidgey	19,360	40.7	+5.6
	Conservative	Conor Burns	16,302	34.3	+0.6
	Labour	Sam Jaffa	10,426	21.9	-4.9
	UKIP	Stephen Challis	849	1.8	+1.0
	Green	Martha Lyn	636	1.3	N/A
Majority			3,058	6.4
Turnout			47,573	63.8	-12.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Chidgey	19,453	35.1	+7.1
	Conservative	Stephen Reid	18,699	33.7	-17.6
	Labour	Alan Lloyd	14,883	26.8	+6.1
	Referendum Party	V. Eldridge	2,013	3.6	N/A
	UKIP	P. Robinson	446	0.8	N/A
Majority			754	1.4
Turnout			55,494	76.9	-6.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

By-election 1994: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Chidgey	24,473	44.3	+16.3
	Labour	Marilyn Birks	15,234	27.6	+6.9
	Conservative	Stephen Allison	13,675	24.7	-26.6
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	952	1.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	783	1.4	N/A
	Natural Law	P Warburton	145	0.3	N/A
Majority			9,239	16.7
Turnout			55,272	58.2	-24.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.5

General Election 1992: Eastleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Milligan	38,998	51.3	+0.0
	Liberal Democrat	David Chidgey	21,296	28.0	−4.0
	Labour	Miss Johanna E. Sugrue	15,768	20.7	+4.0
Majority			17,702	23.3	+4.0
Turnout			76,062	82.9	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire
• Eastleigh by-election, 1994