Rushcliffe (UK Parliament constituency)

Rushcliffe
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire.
Location of Nottinghamshire within England.
County	Nottinghamshire
Electorate	73,430 (December 2010)
Major settlements	West Bridgford, Bingham
Current constituency
Created	1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament	Kenneth Clarke (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South Nottinghamshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Rushcliffe is a parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire, 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.

History

The constituency was formed in 1885. It is regarded as a safe seat for the Conservative Party, as they have held it continually since 1950, except for a four-year period when it was held by Labour. Unlike other constituencies nearby, such as Broxtowe and Gedling, which were previously held by the Conservatives, they retained Rushcliffe in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election. This has been attributed in part to its more rural nature, but also to the personal popularity of the incumbent MP, Conservative Kenneth Clarke.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the south of Nottinghamshire. Its boundaries match those of the borough of Rushcliffe, typically to the north by the River Trent and to the south by the county border.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Nottinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England, have made minor modifications to the existing constituency to be fought at the 2010 general election. The area around Bingham will become part of the Newark constituency.

The electoral wards used in the formation of the modified seat are;

• From the borough of Rushcliffe - Abbey, Compton Acres, Cotgrave, Edwalton Village, Gamston, Gotham, Keyworth North, Keyworth South, Lady Bay, Leake, Lutterell, Manvers, Melton, Musters, Nevile, Ruddington, Soar Valley, Stanford, Tollerton, Trent, Trent Bridge, Wiverton, and Wolds.

Constituency profile

The main town in the constituency is West Bridgford, which is part of the Greater Nottingham urban area, and includes the Trent Bridge cricket ground and Nottingham Forest F.C. The remainder of the constituency is predominantly rural, although includes the town of Bingham and villages of Cotgrave, East Bridgford, East Leake, Sutton Bonington, Keyworth, Radcliffe on Trent and Ruddington.

Members of Parliament

Since 1970, Rushcliffe's Member of Parliament has been one of Britain's best-known political figures, Kenneth Clarke of the Conservative Party. Clarke was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997, Shadow Secretary of State for Business from 2009 to 2010 and Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2010.

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1885	John Ellis	Liberal
	Dec 1910	Leif Jones	Liberal
	1918	Rt. Hon. Henry Betterton	Coalition Conservative	Minister of Labour 25 August 1931 – 29 June 1934
	1922		Conservative
	1934 by-election	Rt. Hon. Ralph Assheton	Conservative
	1945	Florence Paton	Labour
	1950	Rt. Hon. Martin Redmayne	Conservative
	1966	Tony Gardner	Labour
	1970	Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election, 2010: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	27,470	51.2	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Karrar Khan	11,659	21.7	+4.4
	Labour	Andrew Clayworth	11,128	20.7	−6.7
	UKIP	Matthew Faithfull	2,179	4.1	+1.6
	Green	Richard Mallender	1,251	2.3	−1.2
Majority			15,811	29.5
Turnout			53,687	73.6	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	27,899	49.5	+2.0
	Labour	Edward Gamble	14,925	26.5	−7.5
	Liberal Democrat	Karrar Khan	9,813	17.4	+3.8
	Green	Simon Anthony	1,692	3.0	+0.7
	UKIP	Matthew Faithfull	1,358	2.4	−0.2
	Veritas	Daniel Moss	624	1.1	N/A
Majority			12,974	23.0
Turnout			56,311	70.5	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.8

General Election 2001: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	25,869	47.5	+3.1
	Labour	Paul Fallon	18,512	34.0	−2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jeremy Arthur Hargreaves	7,395	13.6	−0.7
	UKIP	Ken Brown	1,434	2.6	+2.0
	Green	Ashley Baxter	1,236	2.3	N/A
Majority			7,357	13.5
Turnout			54,446	66.5	−12.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	27,558	44.4	−10.0
	Labour	Jocelyn Pettitt	22,503	36.2	+13.0
	Liberal Democrat	Sam Boote	8,851	14.3	−5.7
	Referendum Party	S Chadd	2,682	4.3	N/A
	UKIP	J Moore	403	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	A Miszewska	115	0.2	+0.0
Majority			5,055	8.1	−23.1
Turnout			62,112	78.8	−4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−11.5

General Election 1992: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	34,448	54.4	−4.4
	Labour	Alan D. Chewings	14,682	23.2	+6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Dr. Andrew M. Wood	12,660	20.0	−3.0
	Green	Simon R. Anthony	775	1.2	−0.5
	Independent Conservative	Morgan Maelor-Jones	611	1.0	N/A
	Natural Law	David Richards	150	0.2	N/A
Majority			19,766	31.2	−4.6
Turnout			63,326	83.0	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.5

Elections in the 80's

General Election 1987: Rushcliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Clarke	34,214	58.78
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	L George	13,375	22.98
	Labour	S P Tipping	9,631	16.54
	Green	H Wright	991	1.70	+1.7
Majority			20,839	35.80
Turnout			72,797	79.96
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire

Notes and references

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Kingston-upon-Thames	Constituency represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1993–1997	Succeeded by Dunfermline East