West Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)
| West Worcestershire | |
|---|---|
| County constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of West Worcestershire in Worcestershire. |
|
Location of Worcestershire within England. |
|
| County | Worcestershire |
| Electorate | 73,001 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Harriett Baldwin (Conservative) |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | South Worcestershire, Leominster |
| 1832–1885 | |
| Number of members | Two |
| Type of constituency | County constituency |
| Replaced by | Bewdley, Droitwich, Evesham, East Worcestershire and North Worcestershire |
| Created from | Worcestershire |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | West Midlands |
West Worcestershire 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.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
West Worcestershire stretches from the Gloucestershire border in the south almost to Shropshire in the north. It takes in Pershore and Bredon Hill on the eastern side.
The major towns are Malvern to the west, Upton-upon-Severn in the centre, and Pershore to the east.
Boundary changes in 2010 moved Tenbury Wells from the Leominster constituency into West Worcestershire.
| This section requires expansion. |
[edit] History
[edit] Present constituency
The present constituency of West Worcestershire was created in 1997.
[edit] 1832-1885 constituency
An earlier constituency of West Worcestershire (formally, the Western division of Worcestershire) was created for the 1832 general election, by the Reform Act 1832 which radically changed the boundaries of many British parliamentary constituencies. It was created by the division of the old Worcestershire constituency (which had existed since 1290) into two new two-member constituencies: West Worcestershire and East Worcestershire.
The constituency then existed, basically unchanged, until its abolition by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when the constituency's territory was variously incorporated into the seats of Bewdley, Droitwich, Evesham, East Worcestershire and North Worcestershire.
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] MPs 1832–1885
- Worcestershire West
| Election | 1st Member [2] | 1st Party | 2nd Member[2] | 2nd Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Hon. Henry Lygon | Tory | Hon. Thomas Foley | Whig | ||
| 1833 by-election | Henry Winnington | Liberal | ||||
| 1834 | Conservative | |||||
| 1841 | Frederick Knight | Conservative | ||||
| 1853 by-election | Viscount Elmley | Conservative | ||||
| 1863 by-election | Hon. Frederick Lygon | Conservative | ||||
| 1866 by-election | William Edward Dowdeswell | Conservative | ||||
| 1876 by-election | Sir Edmund Lechmere, Bt | Conservative | ||||
| 1885 | constituency abolished | |||||
[edit] MPs since 1997
- West Worcestershire
The current MP for the seat since 2010 is Harriett Baldwin of the Conservative Party.
The MP for the seat from 1997 to 2010 was Sir Michael Spicer of the Conservative Party. He previously represented the former seat of Worcestershire South from 1974, and was Chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee from 2001 to 2010. He stood down at the 2010 general election.
| Election | Member [2] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Sir Michael Spicer | Conservative | |
| 2010 | Harriett Baldwin | Conservative | |
[edit] Elections
[edit] Elections in the 2010s
| General Election 2010: West Worcestershire[3] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Harriett Baldwin | 27,213 | 50.4 | +5.4 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Richard Burt | 20,359 | 37.7 | −1.2 | |
| Labour | Penelope Barber | 3,661 | 6.8 | −3.7 | |
| UKIP | Caroline Bovey | 2,119 | 3.9 | +0.7 | |
| Green | Malcolm Victory | 641 | 1.2 | −1.2 | |
| Majority | 6,854 | 12.7 | +6.7 | ||
| Turnout | 53,993 | 73.7 | +3.7 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +3.3 | |||
[edit] Elections in the 2000s
| General Election 2005: West Worcestershire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Sir Michael Spicer | 20,959 | 44.5 | −1.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Tom Wells | 18,484 | 39.3 | +5.3 | |
| Labour | Qamar Bhatti | 4,945 | 10.5 | −3.5 | |
| UKIP | Caroline Bovey | 1,590 | 3.4 | −0.1 | |
| Green | Malcolm Victory | 1,099 | 2.3 | −0.2 | |
| Majority | 2,475 | 5.3 | |||
| Turnout | 47,077 | 70.3 | +3.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −3.4 | |||
| General Election 2001: West Worcestershire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Sir Michael Spicer | 20,597 | 46.0 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | Michael Hadley | 15,223 | 34.0 | ||
| Labour | Waquar Azmi | 6,275 | 14.0 | ||
| UKIP | Ian Morris | 1,574 | 3.5 | ||
| Green | Malcolm Victory | 1,138 | 2.5 | ||
| Majority | 5,374 | 12.0 | |||
| Turnout | 67.1 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1990s
| General Election 1997: West Worcestershire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Sir Michael Spicer | 22,223 | 45.0 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrat | Michael Hadley | 18,377 | 37.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Neil Stone | 7,738 | 15.7 | N/A | |
| Green | S. Cameron | 1,006 | 2.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 3,846 | N/A | |||
| Turnout | 76.3 | N/A | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
- ^ BBC - Election 2010 - Worcestershire West
[edit] Sources
Reference: Statutory Instrument 1987 No. 2208 The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) (Miscellaneous Changes) (No. 3) Order 1987 [1]
[edit] External links
- West Worcestershire Liberal Democrats
- Official website of Richard Burt, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate
- West Worcestershire Conservative Association
- West Worcestershire Conservative Future
- Official website of MP Sir Michael Spicer
- Official website of Harriett Baldwin, Parliamentary Candidate