Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (UK Parliament constituency)
50°47′56″N 0°35′56″W / 50.799°N 0.599°W
| Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in West Sussex for the 2010 general election | |
 Location of West Sussex within England | |
| County | West Sussex |
| Population | 98,433 (2011 census)[1] |
| Electorate | 70,535 (December 2010)[2] |
| Major settlements | Bognor Regis, Felpham and Littlehampton |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | vacant |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Arundel |
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Contemp. RP) /ˈbɒɡnə ɹʷiːd͡ʒɪs ænd lɪtl̩hæmptn̩/, /-æmtn̩/ is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 2]
Boundaries and constituency profile
1997-2010: The District of Arun wards of Aldwick East, Aldwick West, Bersted, Felpham East, Felpham West, Hotham, Littlehampton Beach, Littlehampton Central, Littlehampton Ham, Littlehampton River, Littlehampton Wick, Marine, Middleton on Sea, Orchard, Pagham, and Pevensey.
2010–present: The District of Arun wards of Aldwick East, Aldwick West, Beach, Bersted, Brookfield, Felpham East, Felpham West, Ham, Hotham, Marine, Middleton-on-Sea, Orchard, Pagham and Rose Green, Pevensey, River, Wick with Toddington, and Yapton.
The constituency is elongated along the south coast of England. It includes the towns of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.
The constituency has a diverse economy. Small-scale agriculture, manufacturing, and trades make up most of the local economy, supplemented by services and tourism.
The population of the constituency is a mixture of young families, supporting the constituency's sporting facilities, public services, golf courses and general domestic spending. People in retirement are also a notable demographic, who have moved to the coast from London and other British urban areas to live by the South Coast of England.
The proportion of social housing is lower than the UK average.[3]
History
Political history
The vote share and majority for the Conservative incumbent, Gibb, who won the first six general elections in this seat, has grown since 2001, to reach over 17,000 votes.
At the first three general elections the Labour candidate was runner up, notably denting Gibb's winning margin to 5,632 votes in 2001. In 2010 the Liberal Democrat candidate took second place, more than 4,000 votes ahead of Labour's candidate and 13,063 short of Gibb's total. Mirroring nationwide performance, the Lib Dem vote share fell in 2015, while the UKIP vote share rose, here becoming the runner up, 13,944 votes short of Gibb's tally.
In June 2016, an estimated 64.8% of local adults voting in the EU membership referendum chose to leave the European Union instead of to remain. This was matched in two January 2018 votes in Parliament by its MP.[4]
In 2017 Labour's candidate of 2015 was reselected to stand and took second place.
The year 2017 saw an independent candidate, Paul Sanderson, the chaplain of The Littlehampton Academy come within 1% of retaining his political deposit and ahead of the UKIP and Green candidates.
Gibb is seeking a seventh electoral win in 2019, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates are those of 2017, the Green party have selected a new candidate, Andrew Elston is standing as an independent and London Assembly member and former party spokesperson for education David Kurten, the only non-West Sussex resident, stands for UKIP.
Contents and regional context
The seat was created from the western, more populous part of the Arundel seat on its 1997 abolition. Before the latter's creation in 1974 Bognor Regis was part of the Chichester seat and Littlehampton part of the Arundel and Shoreham seat.
Notable representatives
Since its creation, the seat has been represented by Nick Gibb of the Conservative Party. Gibb had worked for the party for over 10 years, and became an MP at his third attempt. After 13 years in opposition, he joined David Cameron's coalition government after the 2010 election, becoming Minister of State for School Standards, working under Education Secretary Michael Gove. He left the government in a 2012 reshuffle, being replaced by David Laws. He then returned to the same department, now run by Nicky Morgan, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare, Education and School Reform in 2014. The following year, he again took up his previous post, which he has now held under three Prime Ministers (Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson) and five Education Secretaries (Gove, Morgan, Justine Greening, Damian Hinds and Gavin Williamson).
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member[5] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 1997 | Nick Gibb | Conservative |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Carol Birch | ||||
| Labour | Alan Butcher | ||||
| Independent | Andrew Elston | ||||
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | ||||
| UKIP | David Kurten | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Francis Oppler | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 30,276 | 59.0 | +7.6 | |
| Labour | Alan Butcher | 12,782 | 24.9 | +11.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Francis Oppler | 3,352 | 6.5 | −2.5 | |
| Independent | Paul Sanderson | 2,088 | 4.1 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Patrick Lowe | 1,861 | 3.6 | −18.1 | |
| Green | Andrew Bishop | 993 | 1.9 | −2.2 | |
| Majority | 17,494 | 34.1 | +4.5 | ||
| Turnout | 51,352 | 67.7 | +3.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -1.75 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 24,185 | 51.3 | −0.1 | |
| UKIP | Graham Jones | 10,241 | 21.7 | +15.3 | |
| Labour | Alan Butcher | 6,508 | 13.8 | −0.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Francis Oppler | 4,240 | 9.0 | −14.5 | |
| Green | Simon McDougall | 1,942 | 4.1 | +4.1 | |
| Majority | 13,944 | 29.6 | +1.7 | ||
| Turnout | 47,116 | 64.5 | −1.7 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 24,087 | 51.4 | +6.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Simon McDougall | 11,024 | 23.5 | +1.6 | |
| Labour | Michael Jones | 6,580 | 14.0 | −11.4 | |
| UKIP | Douglas Denny | 3,036 | 6.5 | −1.5 | |
| BNP | Andrew Moffat | 1,890 | 4.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | Melissa Briggs | 235 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,063 | 27.9 | |||
| Turnout | 46,852 | 66.2 | +3.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 18,183 | 44.6 | −0.6 | |
| Labour | George O'Neill | 10,361 | 25.4 | −5.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Simon McDougall | 8,927 | 21.9 | +4.3 | |
| UKIP | Adrian Lithgow | 3,276 | 8.0 | +3.4 | |
| Majority | 7,822 | 19.2 | |||
| Turnout | 40,747 | 62.1 | +3.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 17,602 | 45.2 | +1.0 | |
| Labour | George O’Neill | 11,959 | 30.7 | +2.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Pamela Peskett | 6,846 | 17.6 | −6.4 | |
| UKIP | George Stride | 1,779 | 4.6 | +1.3 | |
| Green | Lilius Cheyne | 782 | 2.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,643 | 14.5 | |||
| Turnout | 38,968 | 58.2 | −11.4 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −0.6 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nick Gibb | 20,537 | 44.2 | −12.6 | |
| Labour | Roger A. Nash | 13,216 | 28.5 | +15.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | James M.M. Walsh | 11,153 | 24.0 | −2.7 | |
| UKIP | George Stride | 1,537 | 3.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,321 | 15.8 | |||
| Turnout | 46,443 | 69.6 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −13.8 | |||
See also
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Sussex
- Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election in individual constituencies
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
- ^ "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 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.
- ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
- ^ https://www.theyworkforyou.com/divisions/pw-2018-01-17-104-commons/mp/10241
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)
- ^ http://www.arun.gov.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n14617.pdf&ver=14967
- ^ "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.
- ^ Arun District Council Archived August 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "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)
External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.