South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)
Template:UK constituency infobox
South West Norfolk is a parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom composed of the towns of Downham Market, Swaffham and Thetford in Norfolk.
Boundaries
The current boundaries of South West Norfolk include Watton, Swaffham, Downham Market, Outwell, Upwell, Feltwell, and Attleborough. The seat includes part of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, and Breckland districts.
Following alterations to constituencies in Norfolk, South West Norfolk gains areas from neighbouring North West Norfolk including Walpole, Tilney St Lawrence, and Wiggenhall. It loses to Mid Norfolk areas including Great Ellingham, Watton, and Necton.
History
South West Norfolk has been held solidly by Conservatives since 1964 but for twenty years before then, it had been ultra-marginal. Labour first held it from 1929–31, and Sidney Dye won it for Labour in 1945 with a tiny majority of 53, holding it at the 1950 election by 260. He lost it to Denys Bullard in 1951 by 442 votes and won it back in 1955 with a majority of 193. Dye died at the end of 1958, and in the by-election Albert Hilton retained the seat for Labour by a margin of 1,354 votes. In the 1959 general election that soon followed, his majority was cut to 78.
Although Labour had held the seat during two Conservative national election victories, the Conservatives took the seat in the 1964 election, which Labour won nationally. Paul Hawkins and Gillian Shephard held the seat. Shephard's majority was slashed in the 1997 general election before recovering in the 2001 general election.
Shephard decided not to run for the 2005 general election. The Conservative Party selected Christopher Fraser, former MP for Mid Dorset and Poole North and he was elected with a majority of over 10,000.
On 28 May 2009, Fraser announced that he would be standing down at the next General Election citing family reasons.[1] This was after his expenses claims were highlighted in the Daily Telegraph; according to the newspaper, Fraser claimed £1,800 in public money for buying 215 trees and marking out the boundary of his second home in the constituency.[2]
Members of Parliament
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Liz Truss | 23,753 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Stephen Gordon | 10,613 | |||
Labour | Peter Smith | 9,119 | |||
UKIP | Kay Hipsey [4] | 3,061 | |||
BNP | Dennis Pearce[5] | 1,774 | |||
Green | Lori Allen | 830 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Christopher Fraser | 25,881 | 46.9 | −5.3 | |
Labour | Charmaine Morgan | 15,795 | 28.7 | −5.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | April Pond | 10,207 | 18.5 | +7.8 | |
UKIP | Delia Hall | 2,738 | 5.0 | +2.4 | |
Independent | Kim Hayes | 506 | 0.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,086 | 18.3 | |||
Turnout | 55,127 | 62.5 | −0.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +0.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gillian Shephard | 27,633 | 52.2 | +10.2 | |
Labour | Anne Hanson | 18,267 | 34.5 | −3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Gordon Dean | 5,681 | 10.7 | −3.2 | |
UKIP | Ian Smith | 1,368 | 2.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 9,366 | 17.7 | +13.5 | ||
Turnout | 52,949 | 63.1 | −10.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +6.7 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gillian Shephard | 24,694 | 42.0 | −12.6 | |
Labour | Adrian Hefferman | 22,230 | 37.8 | +10.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | David Bucton | 8,178 | 13.9 | −6.3 | |
Referendum | R. Hoare | 3,694 | 6.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 2,434 | 4.2 | −23.3 | ||
Turnout | 73.1 | −6.2 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | −11.65 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gillian Shephard | 33,637 | 54.6 | ||
Labour | Mary Page | 16,706 | 27.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats | John Marsh | 11,237 | 18.2 | ||
Majority | 16,931 | 27.5 | |||
Turnout | 79.3 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
See also
References
- ^ BBC News; MP Fraser poised to leave Commons, 28 May 2009
- ^ Daily Telegraph MPs' expenses: Christopher Fraser says that claim for trees was necessary 26 May 2009
- ^ South West Norfolk UKPolling
- ^ http://candidates.ukip.org/index.php?pg=show&eid=399
- ^ http://bnp.org.uk/2010/03/tory-councillors-narrowly-defeated-in-attempt-to-approve-king%E2%80%99s-lynn-mosque-after-bnp-objections-dominate-hearing/