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Boston and Skegness (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°00′N 0°01′E / 53.00°N 0.02°E / 53.00; 0.02
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Boston and Skegness
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire for the 2010 general election
Outline map
Location of Lincolnshire within England
CountyLincolnshire
Population101,684 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate70,620 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentMatt Warman (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromHolland with Boston and East Lindsey

Boston and Skegness is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since May 2015 by Matt Warman of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

Boundaries

Boston and Skegness is bordered by the constituencies of Louth and Horncastle to the north, Sleaford and North Hykeham to the west, and South Holland and The Deepings to the south.

The constituency boundaries changed at the 2010 general election, bringing in the two rural wards of Stickey and Croft from Louth and Horncastle.

Constituency profile

Boston, Lincolnshire is a historically important town with a traditional town square with frequent markets and an iconic church spire. Skegness is the hub town of coastal villages including holiday villages. The resort has many amusements, long beaches, mini-golf/crazy-golf courses and other holiday activities, especially in summer.

Apart from tourism, much of the working population is employed in agriculture, with a particular emphasis on arable farming and flowers. Manufacturing, food processing, retail and defence are also important to the local economy.[3]

According to the 2011 Census Boston is now "home to a higher proportion of eastern European immigrants than anywhere else in England and Wales ... 10.6% of the town's 64,600-strong population comes from one of the "new" EU countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or Romania"[4]

History

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Holland with Boston and East Lindsey. Parts of the more rural south were separated from Holland with Boston to create South Holland and The Deepings. The in part predecessor area's veteran MP Richard Body[n 3] held the seat at the 1997 general election with a 1.4% majority. Since 2005 with majorities of more than 10%, it has arguably been a safe seat for the Conservative Party.

After retiring from Parliament, Body left the Conservatives and joined the UK Independence Party. His membership later lapsed and he joined the English Democrats.[5] UKIP came third in the constituency in the 2005 election with 9.6% compared with a national average of 2.2%.

Mark Simmonds had a 1.3% majority over Labour in the 2001 election, and this increased in 2005 to 14.1%. After his re-election Simmonds was appointed Shadow Minister for International Development, before being promoted to be a Shadow Health Minister in July 2007. Following the 2010 general election, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.[6] Following the 2012 reshuffle, he was appointed a junior Foreign Office Minister under William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.[7]

On 11 August 2014, Simmonds resigned as Africa Minister at the Foreign Office. He stood down as MP for Boston and Skegness at the May 2015 general election, citing the "intolerable" pressure on his family life as the reason for his resignation.[8]

On 8 May 2015, Matt Warman was duly elected as the Member of Parliament. The conservative majority shrunk to 10% with UKIP second. His first speech as MP focussed on the fact that the area was not a single issue constituency.

2014 Open Primary

After Mark Simmonds announced that he would not stand at the 2015 general election, the local Conservatives decided to select their candidate using the open primary system.

Four candidates were selected from over 50 applications, and members of the public who were entitled to vote in the constituency were encouraged to attend. In a very close vote, Matt Warman won.[9]

About 80 members of the public turned up to the open primary, receiving well over 100 registrations to attend.

Members of Parliament

Holland with Boston and East Lindsey prior to 1997

Election Member[10] Party
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1997 Sir Richard Body Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2001 Mark Simmonds Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2015 Matt Warman Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Boston and Skegness
General Election 2015: Boston and Skegness[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matt Warman 18,981 43.8 −5.7
UKIP Robin Hunter-Clarke 14,645 33.8 +24.3
Labour Paul Kenny 7,142 16.5 −4.2
Liberal Democrats David Watts 1,015 2.3 −12.4
Green Victoria Percival 800 1.8 N/A
An Independence from Europe Chris Pain 324 0.7 N/A
Independent Peter Johnson 170 0.4 N/A
The Pilgrim Party Lyn Luxton 143 0.3 N/A
BNP Robert West 119 0.3 −5.0
Majority 4,336 10.0 −18.8
Turnout 43,339 63.9 +2.8
Conservative hold Swing -15
General Election 2010: Boston and Skegness[13][14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Simmonds 21,325 49.4 +3.2
Labour Paul Kenny 8,899 20.6 −11.1
Liberal Democrats Philip Smith 6,371 14.8 +6.1
UKIP Christopher Pain[n 4] 4,081 9.5 −0.1
BNP David Owens 2,278 5.3 +2.9
Independent Peter Wilson 171 0.4 N/A
Majority 12,426 28.8 +14.7
Turnout 43,125 61.1 +2.2
Conservative hold Swing +7.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Boston and Skegness[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Simmonds 19,329 46.2 +3.3
Labour Paul Kenny 13,422 32.1 −9.5
UKIP Richard Horsnell 4,024 9.6 +7.8
Liberal Democrats Alan Riley 3,649 8.7 −3.7
BNP Wendy Russell 1,025 2.4 N/A
Green Marcus Petz 420 1.0 −0.3
Majority 5,907 14.1
Turnout 41,869 58.8 +0.5
Conservative hold Swing +6.4
General Election 2001: Boston and Skegness[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Simmonds 17,298 42.9 +0.5
Labour Elaine Bird 16,783 41.6 +0.6
Liberal Democrats Duncan Moffatt 4,994 12.4 −4.2
UKIP Cyril Wakefield 717 1.8 N/A
Green Mark Harrison 521 1.3 N/A
Majority 515 1.3
Turnout 40,313 58.4 −10.6
Conservative hold Swing -0.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Boston and Skegness[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Body 19,750 42.4 N/A
Labour Philip McCauley 19,103 41.0 N/A
Liberal Democrats Jim Dodsworth 7,721 16.6 N/A
Majority 647 1.4 N/A
Turnout 46,574 68.9 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Served Holland with Boston in Westminster from 1966 to 1997
  4. ^ This was UKIP's second best result of the election after the special case of Buckingham.
References
  1. ^ "Boston and Skegness: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ 2001 Census
  4. ^ "Census reveals rural town of Boston has most eastern European immigrants". The Guardian. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Where are they now? Sir Richard Body". Total Politics. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Defra role for Boston MP Mark Simmonds". The Boston Standard. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  7. ^ "UPDATE: Foreign Office reveals Boston MP's responsibilities after reshuffle appointment". The Boston Standard. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  8. ^ ""Minister quits because £120,000 salary and expenses is not enough to support his family in London". The Telegraph. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  9. ^ Warman, Matt. "For Boston and Skegness". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)
  11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Statement of persons nominated". Boston Borough Council. 9 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 26 July 2013 suggested (help)
  14. ^ "General Election candidates". Boston and Skegness General Election 2010. Boston Borough Council. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  15. ^ "UK > England > East Midlands > Boston & Skegness". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.


53°00′N 0°01′E / 53.00°N 0.02°E / 53.00; 0.02

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