Mansfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Mansfield
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.
Location of Nottinghamshire within England.
County	Nottinghamshire
Electorate	79,849 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Mansfield
Current constituency
Created	1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament	Alan Meale (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Nottinghamshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Mansfield 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

The constituency covers the town of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in Nottinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing constituencies to allow for population changes. The boundaries of the modified constituency to be fought at the 2010 general election will be co-terminous with the District of Mansfield.

History

A constituency with a coal mining tradition, Mansfield has been held by the Labour Party for generations. It has usually been regarded as a safe seat for them, however in the general elections of the 1980s they came close to losing to the Conservative Party. At the 1983 election, they held the seat by just over 2,000 votes. However, at the 1987 election their majority was just 56. That election was set against the background of the Miners Strike of 1984, which was not supported by the majority of miners in Nottinghamshire.

In the elections after 1987, the Labour MP Alan Meale has held the seat with comfortable majorities. At the 2005 general election, Mansfield was notable for the Independent candidate Stewart Rickersey, an Independent member of Mansfield District Council, receiving 17% of the vote and finishing in third place.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Cecil George Savile Foljambe	Liberal
	1892	John Carvell Williams	Liberal
	1900	Arthur Basil Markham	Liberal
	1916 by-election	Sir Charles Seely, Bt.	Liberal
	1918	William Carter	Labour
	1922	Albert James Bennett	Liberal
	1923	Frank Bradley Varley	Labour
	1929	Charles Brown	Labour
	1941 by-election	Bernard Taylor	Labour
	1966	Don Concannon	Labour
	1987	Alan Meale	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	18,753	38.7	-11.4
	Conservative	Tracy Critchlow	12,741	26.3	+7.6
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Wyatt	7,469	15.4	+1.4
	Mansfield Independent Forum	Andre Camilleri	4,339	9.0	+9.0
	UKIP	David Hamilton	2,985	6.2	+6.2
	BNP	Rachel Hill	2,108	4.4	+4.4
Majority			6,012	12.4
Turnout			48,395	60.4	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.5

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	18,400	48.1	−9.0
	Conservative	Anne Wright	7,035	18.4	−8.8
	Independent	Stewart Rickersey	6,491	17.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Shelley	5,316	13.9	−1.8
	Veritas	Michael Harvey	1,034	2.7	N/A
Majority			11,365	29.7
Turnout			38,276	55.4	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.1

General Election 2001: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	21,050	57.1	-7.3
	Conservative	William Wellesley	10,012	27.2	+6.0
	Liberal Democrat	Tim Hill	5,790	15.7	+4.7
Majority			11,038	29.9
Turnout			36,852	55.2	-15.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	30,556	64.4
	Conservative	Tim Frost	10,038	21.2
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Smith	5,244	11.1
	Referendum Party	J. Bogusz	1,588	3.3
Majority			20,518	43.3
Turnout				70.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	29,932	54.4	+16.9
	Conservative	GS Mond	18,208	33.1	−4.3
	Liberal Democrat	SR Thompstone	6,925	12.6	−9.6
Majority			11,724	21.3	+21.2
Turnout			55,065	82.2	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Meale	19,610	37.5
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	19,554	37.4
	Social Democrat	Barry Answer	11,604	22.2
	Moderate Labour	Brian Marshall	1,580	3.0
Majority			56	0.1
Turnout				78.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mansfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Don Concannon	18,670	40.5
	Conservative	R.J. Wrenn	16,454	35.6
	Social Democrat	S.E. Taylor	11,036	23.9
Majority			2,216	4.9
Turnout			46,160	70.7
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire