Wyre Forest (UK Parliament constituency)
| Wyre Forest | |
|---|---|
| County constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Wyre Forest in Worcestershire. |
|
 Location of Worcestershire within England. |
|
| County | Worcestershire |
| Electorate | 77,800 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1983 |
| Member of Parliament | Mark Garnier (Conservative) |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | Kidderminster |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | West Midlands |
Wyre Forest 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. The current MP is Mark Garnier of the Conservative Party who was elected at the 2010 general election.
Contents |
Boundaries [edit]
The Wyre Forest constituency as it was drawn for the 1997 election is almost coterminous with Wyre Forest district, with around 2,000 electors from the district in the neighbouring Leominster constituency. Following its review of parliamentary constituencies in advance of the 2010 election, the Boundary Commission has recommended the portions of the district currently in Leominster move in to this seat, making the constituency and district wholly coterminous.
These changes have been brought about in part by the consideration of Worcestershire and Herefordshire separately for the drawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries.
History [edit]
The Wyre Forest constituency was first fought under its present name in the 1983 general election, having succeeded the old Kidderminster seat, and was won for the Conservatives by Esmond Bulmer. Wyre Forest was held with relative ease by the Conservatives' Anthony Coombs in the 1987 and 1992 general elections; however the 1997 Labour landslide saw that party gain the seat with David Lock securing a majority of almost 7,000. Anger over the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital reflected on Lock at the 2001 election, and Health Concern's Richard Taylor stormed to a decisive victory, then held the seat with a considerably reduced majority in 2005. Taylor lost to the Conservatives in the 2010 general election.[2]
Turnout in the Wyre Forest at general elections has generally been around 2-3% above the national average, but in 2001 the constituency recorded a 68.0% turnout as against 59.4% nationally; this spike (not repeated in 2005) is widely attributed to the intense local feelings on the hospital issue.
Members of Parliament [edit]
- Constituency created (1983), replacing Kidderminster
| Election | Member [3] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Esmond Bulmer | Conservative | |
| 1987 | Anthony Coombs | Conservative | |
| 1997 | David Lock | Labour | |
| 2001 | Richard Taylor | Health Concern | |
| 2010 | Mark Garnier | Conservative | |
Elections [edit]
Elections in the 2010s [edit]
| General Election 2010: Wyre Forest[4] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Mark Garnier | 18,793 | 36.9 | +7.8 | |
| Health Concern | Richard Taylor | 16,150 | 31.7 | −6.9 | |
| Labour | Nigel Knowles | 7,298 | 14.3 | −8.2 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Neville Farmer | 6,040 | 11.9 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Michael Wrench | 1,498 | 2.9 | +0.6 | |
| BNP | Gordon Howells | 1,120 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 2,643 | 5.2 | |||
| Turnout | 50,899 | 66.8 | +2.9 | ||
| Conservative gain from Health Concern | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 2000s [edit]
| General Election 2005: Wyre Forest | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Health Concern | Richard Taylor | 18,739 | 39.9 | −18.2 | |
| Conservative | Mark Garnier | 13,489 | 28.7 | +9.6 | |
| Labour | Marc Bayliss | 10,716 | 22.8 | +0.7 | |
| Liberal | Frances Oborski | 2,666 | 5.7 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Rustie Lee | 1,074 | 2.3 | +1.5 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Bert Priest | 303 | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,250 | 11.2 | |||
| Turnout | 46,987 | 64.2 | −3.8 | ||
| Health Concern hold | Swing | −13.9 | |||
| General Election 2001: Wyre Forest | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Health Concern | Richard Taylor | 28,487 | 58.1 | N/A | |
| Labour | David Lock | 10,857 | 22.1 | −26.7 | |
| Conservative | Mark Simpson | 9,350 | 19.1 | −17.1 | |
| UKIP | Jim Millington | 368 | 0.8 | +0.2 | |
| Majority | 17,630 | 36.0 | |||
| Turnout | 49,062 | 68.0 | −7.3 | ||
| Health Concern gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1990s [edit]
| General Election 1997: Wyre Forest | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | David Lock | 26,843 | 48.8 | ||
| Conservative | Anthony Coombs | 19,897 | 36.1 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | David Cropp | 4,377 | 8.0 | ||
| Referendum Party | W. Till | 1,956 | 3.6 | ||
| Liberal | C. Harvey | 1,670 | 3.0 | ||
| UKIP | Jim Millington | 312 | 0.6 | ||
| Majority | 6,946 | ||||
| Turnout | 75.4 | ||||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1992: Wyre Forest[5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Anthony Coombs | 28,983 | 47.8 | +0.7 | |
| Labour | Ross Maden | 18,642 | 30.8 | +11.9 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Mark D. Jones | 12,958 | 21.4 | −12.6 | |
| Majority | 10,341 | 17.1 | +3.9 | ||
| Turnout | 60,583 | 82.3 | +4.8 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −5.6 | |||
See also [edit]
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
- Wyfopedia 1997 General Election
- Wyfopedia 2005 General Election
Notes and references [edit]
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Tory hails 'fresh start' for Wyre Forest - Kidderminster Shuttle
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)[self-published source][better source needed]
- ^ "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
