Amber Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

This article is about the constituency in the Midlands of England. For the associated non-metropolitan district, see Amber Valley. For the community in Canada, see Amber Valley, Alberta.

Amber Valley
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Amber Valley in Derbyshire
Location of Derbyshire within England
County	Derbyshire
Population	87,883 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	69,538 (December 2010) [2]
Major settlements	Ripley, Alfreton, Heanor
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Nigel Mills (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Belper, Derbyshire South East and Ilkeston [3]

Amber Valley is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Derbyshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Nigel Mills, a Conservative. ^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created in 1983, and was held by Phillip Oppenheim of the Conservative Party from its creation until Judy Mallaber of the Labour Party won the seat in 1997. She was narrowly defeated in 2010 by Nigel Mills, a Conservative, who increased his majority in 2015 and 2017. ^[4]

Boundaries

Map of present boundaries (since 2010 general election)

Boundaries of Amber Valley from 1997 to 2010

1983–1997: The District of Amber Valley wards of Aldercar, Alfreton East, Alfreton West, Codnor, Denby and Horsley Woodhouse, Heage and Ambergate, Heanor and Loscoe, Heanor East, Heanor West, Holbrook and Horsley, Kilburn, Riddings, Ripley, Ripley and Marehay, Shipley Park, Somercotes, Swanwick, and Wingfield, and the Borough of Erewash wards of Breadsall and Morley, Little Eaton, and Stanley.

1997–2010: The Borough of Amber Valley wards of Aldercar, Alfreton East, Alfreton West, Codnor, Crich, Denby and Horsley Woodhouse, Heage and Ambergate, Heanor and Loscoe, Heanor East, Heanor West, Holbrook and Horsley, Kilburn, Riddings, Ripley, Ripley and Marehay, Shipley Park, Somercotes, Swanwick, and Wingfield, and the Borough of Erewash wards of Breadsall and Morley, Little Eaton, and Stanley.

2010–present: The Borough of Amber Valley wards of Alfreton, Codnor and Waingroves, Heage and Ambergate, Heanor and Loscoe, Heanor East, Heanor West, Ironville and Riddings, Kilburn, Denby and Holbrook, Langley Mill and Aldercar, Ripley, Ripley and Marehay, Shipley Park, Horsley and Horsley Woodhouse, Somercotes, Swanwick, and Wingfield.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be unchanged, subject to a very minor change due to ward boundary changes. ^[5]

Constituency profile

The Amber Valley constituency is located in the east of Derbyshire, and covers the market and manufacturing towns of Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley; in a majority of council elections from 1960 to 2012, these were favourably disposed to the Labour Party. The constituency also contains many rural and suburban wards, which during the same period generally had a majority in support of the Conservatives. The constituency stretches from the edge of the Peak District to the northern edge of Derby, which forms another set of neighbourhoods more favourably disposed to the Conservatives.

From 2000 to 2023 the Conservatives controlled Amber Valley Borough Council with the exception of a year from 2014 to 2015 and from 2019 to 2021 when Labour were in power. In 2023, Labour retook control. Prior to this, the council was held by Labour or under no overall control for all but three years from its formation in 1973.

The constituency's generally small majorities and bellwether status since 1983 (being won by the party that nationally holds the most parliamentary seats) means Amber Valley was, by most common measures, a marginal seat.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [6]	Party
	1983 1987 1992	Phillip Oppenheim	Conservative
	1997 2001 2005	Judy Mallaber	Labour
	2010 2015 2017 2019	Nigel Mills	Conservative

Elections

Amber Valley election results

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Amber Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linsey Farnsworth [7]
	Green	Matt McGuinness
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith [8]
	Reform UK	Alex Stevenson [9]
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Amber Valley ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Mills	29,096	63.8	7.3
	Labour	Adam Thompson	12,210	26.8	11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith	2,873	6.3	3.9
	Green	Lian Pizzey	1,388	3.0	1.6
Majority			16,886	37.0	18.9
Turnout			45,567	65.1	2.2
Registered electors			69,976
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.5

General election 2017: Amber Valley ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Mills	25,905	56.5	12.5
	Labour	James Dawson	17,605	38.4	3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith	1,100	2.4	0.6
	Green	Matt McGuinness	650	1.4	1.0
	Independent	Daniel Bamford	551	1.2	New
Majority			8,300	18.1	8.9
Turnout			45,811	67.3	1.5
Registered electors			68,065
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.5

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Amber Valley

General election 2015: Amber Valley ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Mills [13]	20,106	44.0	5.4
	Labour	Kevin Gillott [14]	15,901	34.8	2.6
	UKIP	Stuart Bent	7,263	15.9	13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith	1,360	3.0	11.4
	Green	John Devine [15]	1,087	2.4	New
Majority			4,205	9.2	8.0
Turnout			45,717	65.8	0.3
Registered electors			69,510
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.0

Going into the 2015 general election, this was the 24th most marginal constituency in Great Britain, Labour requiring a swing from the Conservatives of 0.6% to take the seat (based on the result of the 2010 general election). ^[16]

General election 2010: Amber Valley ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Mills	17,746	38.6	4.7
	Labour	Judy Mallaber	17,210	37.4	9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Snowdon	6,636	14.4	2.1
	BNP	Michael Clarke	3,195	7.0	4.4
	UKIP	Sue Ransome	906	2.0	0.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Sam Thing	265	0.6	New
Majority			536	1.2	10.0
Turnout			45,958	65.5	1.5
Registered electors			70,171
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Amber Valley ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judy Mallaber	21,593	45.6	6.3
	Conservative	Gillian Shaw	16,318	34.4	1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith	6,225	13.1	0.7
	BNP	Paul Snell	1,243	2.6	New
	Veritas	Alex Stevenson	1,224	2.6	New
	UKIP	Hugh Price	788	1.7	New
Majority			5,275	11.2	5.0
Turnout			47,391	62.9	2.6
Registered electors			75,269
	Labour hold		Swing	3.8

General election 2001: Amber Valley ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judy Mallaber	23,101	51.9	2.8
	Conservative	Gillian Shaw	15,874	35.7	2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Smith	5,538	12.4	4.7
Majority			7,227	16.2	5.1
Turnout			44,513	60.3	15.7
Registered electors			73,798
	Labour hold		Swing	2.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Amber Valley ^{[20] [21] [22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judy Mallaber	29,943	54.7	10.3
	Conservative	Phillip Oppenheim	18,330	33.4	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Shelley	4,219	7.7	1.4
	Referendum	Irene McGibbon	2,283	4.2	New
Majority			11,613	21.3	N/A
Turnout			54,775	76.0	8.7
Registered electors			72,116
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	11.7

General election 1992: Amber Valley ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip Oppenheim	27,418	46.1	5.3
	Labour	John Cooper	26,706	44.9	10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Brocklebank	5,294	8.9	5.3
Majority			712	1.2	15.8
Turnout			59,418	84.7	3.5
Registered electors			70,155
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Amber Valley ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip Oppenheim	28,603	51.4	9.7
	Labour	David Bookbinder	19,103	34.4	0.9
	Liberal	Stewart Reynolds	7,904	14.2	7.1
Majority			9,500	17.0	10.6
Turnout			55,610	81.2	4.0
Registered electors			68,478
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.3

General election 1983: Amber Valley ^{[28] [29]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip Oppenheim	21,502	41.7	N/A
	Labour	David Bookbinder	18,184	35.3	N/A
	Liberal	Brian Johnson	10,989	21.3	N/A
	Independent	Peter Griffiths	856	1.7	N/A
Majority			3,318	6.4	N/A
Turnout			51,531	77.2	N/A
Registered electors			66,720
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire
• Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election in individual constituencies

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.

References

1. "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 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.
3. "'Amber Valley', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
4. "Majority Sorted Seats". electoralcalculus.co.uk.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part I.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
7. "Labour selections: parliamentary candidates selected so far for the general election". LabourList. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
8. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 22 December 2023.
9. "Find My PPC (East Midlands)" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
10. "Amber Valley Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
11. Bloom, Dan (7 June 2017). "Here is every single 2017 general election candidate in a plain text list". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "Political parties pick candidates in Amber Valley". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
14. "The Labour Party". labour.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
15. "General Election". Derbyshire Green Party. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
16. Ransome Mpini; Charlotte Thornton; John Walton; Marcelo Zanni (24 February 2014). "Election 2015: The political battleground". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
17. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
22. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.142 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
23. The 1997 election result is calculated relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.
24. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
26. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
28. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2011.

53°02′N1°24′W / 53.03°N 1.40°W / 53.03; -1.40