Morecambe and Lunesdale (UK Parliament constituency)

Morecambe and Lunesdale
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Morecambe and Lunesdale in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Electorate	69,254 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1950 (1950)
Member of Parliament	David Morris (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Lonsdale
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Morecambe and Lunesdale 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 seat is similar to the Morecambe and Lonsdale constituency which existed until 1983. For the General Election of that year, sections of the constituency were united with the former county of Westmorland in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency and the constituency name was changed to its current form.

This seat brings together the northern rural reaches of Lancashire, including Carnforth on the Cumbria border, and the seaside resort of Morecambe and the nuclear power station/ferry port village of Heysham.

In boundary changes in the 2000s, only minor adjustments were made to this seat. Once a safe Tory seat, Morecambe has followed its neighbour and fellow seaside town, Blackpool, by voting Labour since 1997; the results in the General Elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 had remarkably similar majorities with virtually no swing to the Conservatives. However the Conservatives gained the seat at the 2010 General Election with an above average swing.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the run-up to the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England maintained the current seat of Morecambe and Lunesdale, with only minor boundary alterations. The electoral wards used to create the seat are entirely within the boundaries of the City of Lancaster

• Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth, Halton-with-Aughton, Harbour, Heysham Central, Heysham North, Heysham South, Kellet, Overton, Poulton, Silverdale, Skerton East, Skerton West, Slyne-with-Hest, Torrisholme, Upper Lune Valley, Warton and Westgate.

Proposed changes

As part of the nation-wide Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which commenced in 2011, the Boundary Commission for England has recommended expanding the existing 'Morecambe and Lunesdale' seat by adding the Lower Lune Valley electoral ward.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	constituency created as "Morecambe and Lonsdale"
	1950	Ian Fraser	Conservative
	1958 by-election	Basil de Ferranti	Conservative
	1964	Alfred Hall-Davis	Conservative
	1979	Mark Lennox-Boyd	Conservative
	1983	constituency renamed as "Morecambe and Lunesdale" after boundary changes
	1983	Mark Lennox-Boyd	Conservative
	1997	Geraldine Smith	Labour
	2010	David Morris	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Morris	18,035	41.5	+4.2
	Labour	Geraldine Smith	17,169	39.5	-9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Les Jones	5,691	13.3	-0.3
	UKIP	Nigel Brown	1,843	4.2	+4.2
	Green	Chris Coates	598	1.4	+1.4
Majority			866	2.0	-9.5
Turnout			43,436	62.1	+0.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraldine Smith	20,331	48.8	-0.8
	Conservative	James Airey	15,563	37.4	+0.1
	Liberal Democrat	Alex Stone	5,741	13.8	+4.6
Majority			4,768	11.5
Turnout			41,635	61.4	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.4

General Election 2001: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraldine Smith	20,646	49.6	+0.7
	Conservative	David Nuttall	15,554	37.3	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Cotton	3,817	9.2	-2.2
	UKIP	Greg Beaman	935	2.2	N/A
	Green	Cherith Adams	703	1.7	N/A
Majority			5,092	12.3
Turnout			41,655	61.1	-11.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraldine Smith	24,061	48.9	+24.0
	Conservative	Mark Lennox-Boyd	18,096	36.7	−14.2
	Liberal Democrat	June Greenwell	5,614	11.4	−10.3
	Referendum Party	Ian Ogilvie	1,313	2.7	+2.7
	Natural Law	David Walne	165	0.3	−0.2
Majority			5,965	12.1
Turnout			49,249	72.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+19.1

General Election 1992: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Lennox-Boyd	22,507	50.9	−1.8
	Labour	Ms Jean E. Yates	10,998	24.9	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Tony J. Saville	9,584	21.7	−3.2
	Morecambe Bay Independent	Mark A. Turner	916	2.1	N/A
	Natural Law	Richard M. Marriot	205	0.5	N/A
Majority			11,509	26.0	−1.8
Turnout			44,210	78.3	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Lennox-Boyd	22, 327	52.7	-3.9
	Social Democrat	Mrs. J. Greenwell	10,542	24.9	-0.3
	Labour	D. Smith	9, 535	22.5	+4.8
Majority			11, 785
Turnout			42, 404	76.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Morecambe and Lunesdale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Lennox-Boyd	21,968	56.6
	Social Democrat	T. Clare	9, 774	25.2
	Labour	A.C. Bryning	6, 882	17.7
	Independent	Mrs. I. Woods	208	0.5
Majority			12, 194	27.0
Turnout			38, 832	72.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire