Louth and Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)

Louth and Horncastle
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Louth and Horncastle in Lincolnshire.
Location of Lincolnshire within England.
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	76,233 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Peter Tapsell (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	East Lindsey
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Louth and Horncastle 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

From 1885 to 1983, Louth and Horncastle both existed as separate constituencies. Then in 1983, Horncastle was moved into the new seat of Gainsborough and Horncastle, while Louth was moved into the newly formed East Lindsey constituency. These boundaries remained the same until 1997, when the current Louth and Horncastle constituency was formed.

Constituency profile

This large stretch of Lincolnshire coastline includes the seaside resorts of Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea, where severe deprivation is evident following the decline of the tourism industry. The seat's eponymous towns lie inland amid a rural area of the Lincolnshire Wolds where farming is an important sector. It is more averagely well off, but with a few affluent areas. The Conservatives have been dominant in the area for decades, but some of the more deprived areas voted Labour in 1997.

Members of Parliament

The MP for this seat is Sir Peter Tapsell. He previously represented the predecessor seats of East Lindsey and Horncastle from 1966 to 1997, and before that represented Nottingham West from 1959 to 1964 before being defeated by Labour. He is currently the longest-serving Conservative MP, albeit with a break in service. He is the only current MP of any party first elected in the 1950s. On Tapsell's re-election at the 2010 general election, he became Father of the House, on the retirement of Alan Williams.

Before 1997, see East Lindsey

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Sir Peter Tapsell	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Louth and Horncastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	25,065	49.6	+3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	11,194	22.2	+1.6
	Labour	Patrick Mountain	8,760	17.3	-8.0
	BNP	Julia Green	2,199	4.4	N/A
	UKIP	Pat Nurse	2,183	4.3	-3.4
	Lincolnshire Independents	Daniel Simpson	576	1.1	N/A
	English Democrats	Colin Mair	517	1.0	N/A
Majority			13,871	27.5
Turnout			50,494	65.0	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Louth and Horncastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,744	46.6	−1.9
	Labour	Frank Hodgkiss	11,848	25.4	−6.1
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	9,480	20.3	+0.2
	UKIP	Christopher Pain	3,611	7.7	N/A
Majority			9,896	21.2
Turnout			46,683	62.0	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General Election 2001: Louth and Horncastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,543	48.5	+5.0
	Labour	David Bolland	13,989	31.5	+1.8
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	8,928	20.1	-4.4
Majority			7,554	17.0
Turnout			44,460	62.1	-10.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Louth and Horncastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,699	43.4	N/A
	Labour	John Hough	14,799	29.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	12,207	24.4	N/A
	Green	Rosemary Robinson	1,248	2.5	N/A
Majority			6,900		N/A
Turnout				72.6	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• Louth constituency (1885–1983)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire

Notes and references

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Swansea West	Constituency represented by the Father of the House 2010–present	Succeeded by incumbent