South East Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South East Cambridgeshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of South East Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire.
Location of Cambridgeshire within England.
County	Cambridgeshire
Electorate	82,265 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	James Paice (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

South East Cambridgeshire 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 includes the eastern half of South Cambridgeshire district and the southern part of East Cambridgeshire. Ely is the only city and largest community, with many smaller settlements including Burwell, Fulbourn, Isleham, Linton, Milton, Soham and Waterbeach.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cambridgeshire in 2007, the Boundary Commission for England made minor alterations to the existing constituencies to deal with population changes. The electoral wards used to create the modified South East Cambridgeshire constituency fought at the 2010 general election are:

• The East Cambridgeshire wards of Bottisham, Burwell, Cheveley, Dullingham Villages, Ely East, Ely North, Ely South, Ely West, Fordham Villages, Haddenham, Isleham, Soham North, Soham South, Stretham, and The Swaffhams
• The South Cambridgeshire wards of Balsham, Fulbourn, Histon and Impington, Linton, Milton, Teversham, The Wilbrahams, Waterbeach, and Willingham and Over.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. It has always been a safe Conservative seat.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Francis Pym	Conservative
	1987	James Paice	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	27,629	48.0	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Chatfield	21,683	37.6	+6.2
	Labour	John Cowan	4,380	7.6	−13.8
	UKIP	Andy Monk	2,138	3.7	N/A
	Green	Simon Sedgwick-Jell	776	1.3	N/A
	Independent	Geoffrey Woollard	517	0.9	N/A
	Christian Peoples	Daniel Bell	489	0.8	N/A
Majority			5,946	10.3
Turnout			57,602	69.3	+5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Note: John Cowan has been suspended from the Labour Party following controversy over comments he had made. As nominations for candidates had closed, however, Labour were unable to replace him, and he did not withdraw as a candidate. He had previously been expelled from the Liberal Democrats.

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	26,374	47.1	+2.9
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Chatfield	17,750	31.7	+4.8
	Labour	Fiona Ross	11,936	21.3	−5.1
Majority			8,624	15.4
Turnout			56,060	65.3	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0

General Election 2001: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	22,927	44.2	+1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Sal Brinton	13,937	26.9	+1.8
	Labour	Andrew Inchley	13,714	26.4	−0.1
	UKIP	Neil Scarr	1,308	2.5	N/A
Majority			8,990	17.3
Turnout			51,886	63.5	−10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	24,397	42.9	−15.0
	Labour	Rex Collinson	15,048	26.5	+6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Sal Brinton	14,246	25.1	+4.8
	Referendum Party	J E Howlett	2,838	5.0	N/A
	Building a Fair Society	K H L Lam	167	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	P H While	111	0.2	−0.2
Majority			9,349	17.3
Turnout			56,807	75.1	−5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.8

General Election 1992: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	36,693	57.9	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Ron Wotherspoon	12,883	20.3	−7.2
	Labour	Murray Jones	12,688	20.0	+6.3
	Green	John W. Marsh	836	1.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Ms Bridget D. Langridge	231	0.4	N/A
Majority			23,810	37.5
Turnout			63,331	80.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	32,901	58.8	+1.2
	Social Democrat	P C Lee	15,399	27.5	−2.3
	Labour	T G Ling	7,694	13.7	+1.1
Majority			17,502	31.3
Turnout			55,994	77.4	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

General Election 1983: South East Cambridgeshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Pym	28,555	57.6	N/A
	Social Democrat	C J Slee	14,791	29.8	N/A
	Labour	M E Jackson	6,261	12.6	N/A
Majority			13,764	27.8
Turnout			49,607	74.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cambridgeshire