List of parliamentary constituencies in Somerset
The county of Somerset is divided into 5 Parliamentary constituencies, which are all County constituencies.
Constituencies
† Conservative ‡ Labour ¤ Liberal Democrat
| Constituency[nb 1] | Electorate[1] | Majority[2][nb 2] | Member of Parliament[2] | Nearest opposition[2] | Electoral wards[3][4] | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgwater and West Somerset CC | 85,327 | 24,439 | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ian Liddell-Grainger
† |
bgcolor="Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Oliver Thornton‡ | Sedgemoor District Council: Bridgwater Bower, Bridgwater Eastover, Bridgwater Hamp, Bridgwater Quantock, Bridgwater Sydenham, Bridgwater Victoria, Cannington and Quantocks, East Poldens, Huntspill and Pawlett, King's Isle, North Petherton, Puriton, Sandford, West Poldens, Woolavington. West Somerset District Council: Alcombe East, Alcombe West, Aville Vale, Brompton Ralph and Haddon, Carhampton and Withycombe, Crowcombe and Stogumber, Dulverton and Brushford, Dunster, Exmoor, Minehead North, Minehead South, Old Cleeve, Porlock and District, Quantock Vale, Quarme, Watchet, West Quantock, Williton. |  |
| Somerton and Frome CC | 85,866 | 19,217 | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | David Warburton† | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | | Adam Boyden | Mendip District Council: Beacon, Beckington and Rode, Coleford, Creech, Frome Berkley Down, Frome Fromefield, Frome Keyford, Frome Park, Frome Welshmill, Mells, Nordinton, Postlebury, Stratton, Vale. South Somerset District Council: Blackmoor Vale, Bruton, Burrow Hill, Camelot, Cary, Curry Rivel, Islemoor, Langport and Huish, Martock, Milborne Port, Northstone, Tower, Turn Hill, Wessex, Wincanton. |  |
| Taunton Deane CC | 88,676 | 11,700 | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Rebecca Pow† | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | | Gideon Amos | Taunton Deane Borough Council: Bishop's Hull, Bishop's Lydeard, Blackdown, Bradford-on-Tone, Comeytrowe, Milverton and North Deane, Monument, Neroche, North Curry, Norton Fitzwarren, Ruishton and Creech, Staplegrove, Stoke St.Gregory, Taunton Blackbrook and Holway, Taunton Eastgate, Taunton Fairwater, Taunton Halcon, Taunton Killams and Mountfield, Taunton Lyngford, Taunton Manor and Wilton, Taunton Pyrland and Rowbarton, Trull, Wellington East, Wellington North, Wellington Rockwell Green and West, West Monkton, Wiveliscombe and West Deane. |  |
| Wells CC | 84,124 | 9,991 | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | James Heappey† | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | | Tessa Munt | Mendip District Council: Ashwick and Ston Easton, Avalon, Chilcompton, Glastonbury St Benedict's, Glastonbury St Edmund's, Glastonbury St John's, Glastonbury St Mary's, Knowle, Moor, Nedge, Pylcombe, Rodney and Priddy, St Cuthbert (Out) North and West, Shepton East, Shepton West, Street North, Street South, Street West, Wells Central, Wells St Cuthbert's, Wells St Thomas’. Sedgemoor District Council: Axbridge, Axe Vale, Berrow, Brent North, Burnham North, Burnham South, Cheddar and Shipham, Highbridge, Knoll, Wedmore and Mark. |  |
| Yeovil CC | 82,468 | 16,181 | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Marcus Fysh† | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" | | Mick Clark | South Somerset District Council: Blackdown, Brympton, Chard Avishayes, Chard Combe, Chard Crimchard, Chard Holyrood, Chard Jocelyn, Coker, Crewkerne, Eggwood, Hamdon, Ilminster, Ivelchester, Neroche, Parrett, St Michael's, South Petherton, Tatworth and Forton, Windwhistle, Yeovil Central, Yeovil East, Yeovil South, Yeovil West, Yeovil Without. |  |
From 2010
The Boundary Commission for England changed the constituencies to realign boundaries with the boundaries of current local government wards, and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies. In two cases the changes meant that the constituencies were renamed. These changes were implemented at the 2010 United Kingdom general election.[5]
| Name | Pre-2010 Boundaries | Post-2010 Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
 |
Proposed boundary changes
The Boundary Commission for England submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) in September 2018. Although the proposals were immediately laid before Parliament they were not brought forward by the Government for approval. Accordingly, they did not come into effect for the 2019 election which took place on 12 December 2019, and which was contested using the constituency boundaries in place since 2010.
Under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Sixth Review was based on reducing the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and a strict electoral parity requirement that the electorate of all constituencies should be within a range of 5% either side of the electoral quota.
On 24 March 2020, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Chloe Smith, issued a written statement to Parliament setting out the Government's thinking with regard to parliamentary boundaries. They propose to bring forward primary legislation to remove the statutory obligation to implement the 2018 Boundary Review recommendations, as well as set the framework for future boundary reviews in time for the next review which is due to begin in early 2021 and report no later than October 2023. It is proposed that the number of constituencies now remains at the current level of 650, rather than being reduced to 600, while retaining the requirement that the electorate should be no more than +/- 5% from the electoral quota.[6]
Results history
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[7]
2019
The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Somerset in the 2019 general election were as follows:
| Party | Votes | % | Change from 2017 | Seats | Change from 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 174,145 | 56.7% |  2.8%
|
5 | 0 |
| Liberal Democrats | 89,038 | 29.0% | 3.6%
|
0 | 0 |
| Labour | 32,522 | 10.6% |  6.4%
|
0 | 0 |
| Greens | 6,801 | 2.2% | 0.4%
|
0 | 0 |
| Others | 4,600 | 1.5% | 0.4%
|
0 | 0 |
| Total | 307,106 | 100.0 | 5 |
Percentage votes
| Election year | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 51.2 | 50.6 | 45.3 | 36.5 | 40.9 | 41.4 | 41.5 | 47.2 | 53.9 | 56.7 |
| Labour | 11.7 | 11.7 | 12.9 | 17.4 | 16.5 | 14.9 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 17.0 | 10.6 |
| Liberal Democrat1 | 37.0 | 37.6 | 40.2 | 40.6 | 39.6 | 40.1 | 45.1 | 23.9 | 25.4 | 29.0 |
| Green Party | - | * | * | * | * | * | 0.5 | 5.3 | 1.8 | 2.2 |
| UKIP | - | - | - | * | * | * | 3.7 | 12.9 | 1.2 | * |
| Other | 0.1 | - | 1.5 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
11983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance
* Included in Other
Seats
| Election year | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Liberal Democrat1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
11983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance
Maps
-
1983 -
1987
-
1992 -
1997 -
2001 -
2005
-
2010 -
2015 -
2017
-
2019
Historical representation by party
A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.
1885 to 1918 (10 MPs)
Conservative Liberal Liberal Unionist
1918 to 1950 (7 MPs)
Common Wealth Conservative Independent Progressive Labour Liberal
1950 to 1983 (7 MPs)
1983 to present (5 MPs)
Conservative Liberal Liberal Democrats
See also
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Avon for those covering the Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset unitary authorities.
Notes
References
- ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (2020-01-28). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, page 4". Office of Public Sector Information. Crown copyright. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ Boundary Commission for England pp. 1004–1007
- ^ "New Parliamentary Constituencies for England SN/PC/04297" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 2009-11-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
- ^ "Update: Strengthening Democracy:Written statement - HCWS183". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (2020-04-17). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)