Arundel and South Downs (UK Parliament constituency)

Arundel and South Downs
Arundel and South Downs
County constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Arundel and South Downs in West Sussex
	Location of West Sussex within England
County	West Sussex
Population	97,267 (2011 census)
Electorate	76,697 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Arundel, Hassocks, Petworth, Pulborough and Steyning
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Nick Herbert (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Arundel and Horsham

51°51′22″N 0°33′32″W / 51.856°N 0.559°W / 51.856; -0.559

Arundel and South Downs (/ˈærʊndəl/) is a constituency^{[n 1]} created in 1997, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Nick Herbert of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

The constituency contains the town of Arundel and villages and hamlets within the South Downs national park boundaries or encircled by the park, the largest of which are Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Petworth, Pulborough, Steyning (/stɛnɪŋ/) and Storrington.

2010 – reviewed boundaries adopted

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in West Sussex which Parliament approved in 2007, the Boundary Commission for England formed new constituencies. First contested in 2010 the seat was constituted as follows:

Wards of the United Kingdom	In district/borough of:
Angmering, Arundel, Barnham, Findon, and Walberton	Arun
Bury, Petworth, and Wisborough Green	Chichester
Bramber, Upper Beeding and Woodmancote, Chanctonbury, Chantry, Cowfold,Partridge Green, Shermanbury and West Grinstead, Henfield, Pulborough and Coldwaltham, and Steyning	Horsham
Hassocks, and Hurstpierpoint and Downs.	Mid Sussex

In their recommendations, the Boundary Commission for England mooted the name Chanctonbury after uninhabited Chanctonbury Ring, an ancient hill fort at its centre. This name was rejected during the local inquiry process at which the current name was chosen.^[3]

History

Results since 1997 (creation)

The 2015 result gave the victor for the seat an increased margin versus the runner up relative to the previous election — at 44.8% of votes over the closest runner-up, the majority is approximately double the smallest majority since the 1997 formation of the seat. It made the seat the 8th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[4]

De-selection of incumbent seeking re-election in 2005

The incumbent Howard Flight MP had national media coverage in the run-up to the 2005 general election due to his deselection requested by the party leader for membership of Conservative Way Forward, lobbying for spending cuts to be more severe than set out in the small cuts in the 2005 manifesto. Flight hinted his preferred cuts would be as implemented by a Conservative government in his view. He had represented the constituency since its creation at the 1997 general election. Anne Marie Morris, Laura Sandys and Nick Herbert put themselves forward for nomination as replacement candidates. The chosen candidate, Nick Herbert, won the seat at the election.^[5] Morris and Sandys became MPs elsewhere in 2010.

Predecessor seats

Arundel and South Downs and its predecessor seats have in the 20th century been a Conservative Party stronghold save that the minor contributory Horsham seat to the area's electorate saw victory by 8.6% of the vote over the Labour Party in 1966, followed statistically by a next-most-marginal victory again with the Labour Party as runner-up, in 1950, of 14.4%.

Between 1974 and 1983, much of the South Downs area was part of the Shoreham constituency, with the town of Arundel remaining in the Arundel constituency.

Prior to 1974, the seat was largely part of the Arundel and Shoreham constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[6]	Party
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	1997	Howard Flight	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	2005	Nick Herbert	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Arundel and South Downs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Herbert	37,573	62.4	+1.6
	Labour	Caroline Fife	13,690	22.7	+11.5
	Liberal Democrats	Shweta Kapadia	4,783	7.9	+0.7
	Green	Jo Prior	2,542	4.2	−2.2
	UKIP	John Wallace	1,668	2.8	−11.7
Majority			23,883	39.7	−6.6
Turnout			60,256	74.6	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.95

General Election 2015: Arundel and South Downs^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Herbert	34,331	60.8	+3.0
	UKIP	Peter Grace	8,154	14.4	+8.8
	Labour	Christopher Wellbelove	6,324	11.2	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Shweta Kapadia	4,062	7.2	−20.7
	Green	Isabel Thurston	3,606	6.4	+6.4
Majority			26,177	46.3	+16.4
Turnout			56,477	73.1	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

General Election 2010: Arundel and South Downs^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Herbert	32,333	57.8	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Deedman	15,642	27.9	+0.8
	Labour	Tim Lunnon	4,835	8.6	−8.5
	UKIP	Stuart Bower	3,172	5.7	+0.3
Majority			16,691	29.9
Turnout			55,982	72.2	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Arundel and South Downs^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Herbert	24,752	49.8	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Deedman	13,443	27.1	+4.7
	Labour	Sharon Whitlam	8,482	17.1	−3.6
	UKIP	Andrew Moffat	2,700	5.4	+0.7
	Protest Vote Party	Mark Stack	313	0.6	+0.6
Majority			11,309	22.8
Turnout			49,690	68.5	3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.5

General Election 2001: Arundel and South Downs^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Flight	23,969	52.2	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Derek R. Deedman	10,265	22.4	−3.4
	Labour	Charles S. Taylor	9,488	20.7	+2.4
	UKIP	Robert Perrin	2,167	4.7	+1.8
Majority			13,704	29.8
Turnout			45,889	64.7	−10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.25

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Arundel and South Downs^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Flight	27,251	53.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Goss	13,216	25.7	N/A
	Labour	Richard Black	9,376	18.3	N/A
	UKIP	James Herbert	1,494	2.9	N/A
Majority			14,035	27.3	N/A
Turnout			51,337	75.5	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Notes and references

Notes

^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

^ "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
^ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ Boundary Commission for England, fourth periodic report, 1995
^ "List of Conservative MPs elected in 2015 by % majority". UK Political.info. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
^ "BBC NEWS - UK - Politics - Tory shortlist to replace Flight". newsrss.bbc.co.uk.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

Election result, 2005 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001 (Election Demon)
Election results, 1997 – 2005 (Guardian)

[3] A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

[4] As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

[1] "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

[2] "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[5] Boundary Commission for England, fourth periodic report, 1995

[6] "List of Conservative MPs elected in 2015 by % majority". UK Political.info. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

[7] "BBC NEWS - UK - Politics - Tory shortlist to replace Flight". newsrss.bbc.co.uk.

[rayment-8] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)

[electoralcalculus-9] "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2010-10] "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2005-11] "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2001-12] "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1997-13] "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[1]

[2]

[n 1]

[n 2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e Constituencies in South East England (91)
Labour (36)	Aldershot Ashford Aylesbury Banbury Basingstoke Bracknell Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven Buckingham and Bletchley Chatham and Aylesford Crawley Dartford Dover and Deal Earley and Woodley East Thanet East Worthing and Shoreham Folkestone and Hythe Gillingham and Rainham Gravesham Hastings and Rye Hove and Portslade Isle of Wight West Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes North Oxford East Portsmouth North Portsmouth South Reading Central Reading West and Mid Berkshire Rochester and Strood Sittingbourne and Sheppey Slough Southampton Itchen Southampton Test Worthing West Wycombe
Conservative (30)	Arundel and South Downs Beaconsfield Bexhill and Battle Bognor Regis and Littlehampton East Grinstead and Uckfield East Hampshire East Surrey Fareham and Waterlooville Farnham and Bordon Faversham and Mid Kent Godalming and Ash Gosport Hamble Valley Havant Herne Bay and Sandwich Isle of Wight East Maidstone and Malling Mid Buckinghamshire New Forest East New Forest West North West Hampshire Reigate Romsey and Southampton North Runnymede and Weybridge Sevenoaks Spelthorne Sussex Weald Tonbridge Weald of Kent Windsor
Liberal Democrats (24)	Bicester and Woodstock Chesham and Amersham Chichester Didcot and Wantage Dorking and Horley Eastbourne Eastleigh Epsom and Ewell Esher and Walton Guildford Henley and Thame Horsham Lewes Maidenhead Mid Sussex Newbury North East Hampshire Oxford West and Abingdon Surrey Heath Tunbridge Wells Winchester Witney Woking Wokingham
Green (1)	Brighton Pavilion
Independent (1)	Canterbury