Ribble Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Ribble Valley
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Ribble Valley in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Electorate	77,437 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Clitheroe
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Nigel Evans (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Clitheroe
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Ribble Valley 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.

It was created in 1983 from the former seat of Clitheroe.

Boundaries

One of the few truly safe Conservative seats in North West England, this constituency contains pleasing rural areas, and small market towns (of which Clitheroe is the largest). The Conservatives actually lost the seat in the 1990s in a by-election during a period of mid-term unpopularity to the Liberal Democrats, who have a respectable presence on the local council, but it has since returned safely to the Conservative fold. Labour can usually have only one ward in their favour here: Edisford and Low Moor.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the run-up to the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the Boundary Commission for England created a new seat of Wyre and Preston North. This creation caused major changes to neighbouring seats, including Ribble Valley.

This seat incorporated electoral wards from the south of the River Ribble for the first time. This brought a substantial urban element to the largely farming and rural mix of the existing seat.

The entire district of Ribble Valley is attached to ten wards from South Ribble for the creation of this new seat.

• Bamber Bridge East, Bamber Bridge North, Bamber Bridge West, Coupe Green and Gregson Lane, Farington East, Farington West, Lostock Hall, Samlesbury and Walton, Tardy Gate and Walton-le-Dale

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 dividing the existing Ribble Valley constituency into two parts.

A reconfigured 'Ribble Valley' seat would incorporate Clitheroe, Slaidburn, Sabden and Langho from the borough of Ribble Valley, in addition to Barnoldswick and Earby from the borough of Pendle, and from the borough of South Ribble the towns of Samlesbury, Walton-le-Dale, and Bamber Bridge.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	David Waddington	Conservative
	1991 by-election	Michael Carr	Liberal Democrat
	1992	Nigel Evans	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Ribble Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	26,298	50.3	+5.4
	Labour	Paul Foster	11,529	22.0	−7.8
	Liberal Democrat	Allan Knox	10,732	20.5	−2.1
	UKIP	Stephen Rush	3,496	6.7	+4.0
	Independent	Tony Johnson	232	0.4	N/A
Majority			14,769	28.3	+13.2
Turnout			52,287	67.0	+5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Ribble Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	25,834	51.9	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Julie Young	11,663	23.4	-5.2
	Labour	Jack Davenport	10,924	22.0	+2.1
	UKIP	Kevin Henry	1,345	2.7	N/A
Majority			14,171	28.5
Turnout			49,776	65.7	-0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8

General Election 2001: Ribble Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	25,308	51.5	+4.8
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Carr	14,070	28.6	-6.4
	Labour	Marcus Johnstone	9,793	19.9	+4.2
Majority			11,238	22.9
Turnout			49,171	66.2	-12.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Ribble Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	26,702	46.7	-5.9
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Carr	20,062	35.1	-3.2
	Labour	Marcus Johnstone	9,013	15.7	+7.0
	Referendum Party	J. Parkinson	1,297	2.3
	Natural Law	N. M. Holmes	147	0.2
Majority			6,640	11.6
Turnout				78.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Ribble Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	29,178	52.4	−8.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Carr	22,636	40.6	+19.2
	Labour	Ronald Pickup	3,649	6.5	−11.2
	Raving Loony Green Giant	David Beesley	152	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Ms. Nicky M Holmes	112	0.2	N/A
Majority			6,542	11.7	−27.7
Turnout			55,727	85.0	+5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−13.8

Ribble Valley by-election, 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Carr	22,377	48.5	+27.1
	Conservative	Nigel Evans	17,776	38.5	-22.3
	Labour	Josephine Farrington	4,356	9.5	-8.3
	Independent Conservative	David Brass	611	1.3
	Green	Halldora Ingham	466	1.0
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	278	0.6
	Liberal	Simon Taylor	133	0.3
	Independent - Corrective Party	Lindi St Claire	72	0.2
	Raving Loony Green Giant Clitheroe Kid	Stuart Hughes	60	0.1
Majority			4,601	10.0
Turnout			46,129	71.1
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

External links

• Ribble Valley Borough Council official site