Copeland (UK Parliament constituency)

Copeland
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Copeland in Cumbria
Location of Cumbria within England
County	Cumbria
Electorate	63,696 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Whitehaven
1983–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Whitehaven

Copeland was a constituency in Cumbria created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. ^{[n 1] [n 2]} The constituency was represented in Parliament by Trudy Harrison, of the Conservative Party, from a by-election in February 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election. The seat had been held by Labour candidates at elections between 1983 and 2015 inclusive.

Copeland was one of five Cumbria seats won (held or gained) by a Conservative candidate in 2019 out of a total of six covering the county.

The bulk of the seat was in the Lake District, together with a large proportion of its population.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished, with the majority being included in a new constituency which also includes the town of Workington, and is named Whitehaven and Workington – first contested at the 2024 general election. Keswick was included in the new constituency of Penrith and Solway, and Millom was transferred to Barrow and Furness. ^[2]

History

Copeland was created for the 1983 general election as the sole forerunner to the constituency of Whitehaven, renamed for the Borough of Copeland which had been created by the 1974 local government reorganisation. In 1983 the seat was won for Labour by Jack Cunningham, who had previously been the member for Whitehaven. It consistently returned Labour Party candidates until the by-election of 23 February 2017, when Trudy Harrison gained it for the Conservatives. Prior to that (save for the landslide in 1931 when part of the parliamentary Labour Party remained in government with the Conservative Party under Ramsay MacDonald), the last Conservative elected for the area was in 1924.

The 2015 result gave the seat the 31st most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. ^[3]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1983–2010

Following the renaming of the Whitehaven constituency as Copeland, its boundaries remained unchanged, being coterminous with the local government district of Copeland.

2010-2024

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies by making changes to this constituency for the 2010 general election, namely the addition of the wards Crummock, Dalton, Derwent Valley and Keswick in the Allerdale District.

The four new wards thus extended the constituency beyond the district of Copeland. They included the town of Keswick, which had a larger electorate than the other three new and sparsely populated wards, despite their extensive area. ^[4] The new wards were in the Lake District, like much of Copeland district. The inclusion of Keswick in the constituency was the main topic in public consultations regarding the changes.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [5]	Party
	1983	Jack Cunningham	Labour
	2005	Jamie Reed	Labour
	2017 by-election	Trudy Harrison	Conservative
	2024	Constituency abolished

Elections

Copeland election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Copeland ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trudy Harrison	22,856	53.7	+4.6
	Labour	Tony Lywood	17,014	40.0	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Studholme	1,888	4.4	+1.1
	Green	Jack Lenox	765	1.8	New
Majority			5,842	13.7	+9.7
Turnout			42,523	68.9	−1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9

General election 2017: Copeland ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trudy Harrison	21,062	49.1	+13.3
	Labour	Gillian Troughton	19,367	45.1	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Hanson	1,404	3.3	−0.2
	UKIP	Herbie Crossman	1,094	2.5	−13.0
Majority			1,695	4.0	N/A
Turnout			42,927	70.2	+6.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.3

By-election 2017: Copeland ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trudy Harrison	13,748	44.3	+8.5
	Labour	Gillian Troughton	11,601	37.3	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Hanson	2,252	7.2	+3.7
	UKIP	Fiona Mills	2,025	6.5	−9.0
	Independent	Michael Guest	811	2.6	New
	Green	Jack Lenox	515	1.7	−1.3
	Independent	Roy Ivinson	116	0.4	New
Majority			2,147	7.0	N/A
Turnout			31,889	51.3	−12.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.7

General election 2015: Copeland ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jamie Reed	16,750	42.3	−3.7
	Conservative	Stephen Haraldsen	14,186	35.8	−1.3
	UKIP	Michael Pye	6,148	15.5	+13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Danny Gallagher	1,368	3.5	−6.7
	Green	Allan Todd	1,179	3.0	+2.1
Majority			2,564	6.5	−2.4
Turnout			39,631	63.8	−3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.2

General election 2010: Copeland ^{[16] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jamie Reed	19,699	46.0	−4.5
	Conservative	Chris Whiteside	15,866	37.1	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Hollowell	4,365	10.2	−1.3
	BNP	Clive Jefferson	1,474	3.4	New
	UKIP	Edward Caley-Knowles	994	2.3	+0.1
	Green	Jill Perry	389	0.9	New
Majority			3,833	8.9	−9.9
Turnout			42,787	67.6	+5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Copeland ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jamie Reed	17,033	50.5	−1.3
	Conservative	Chris Whiteside	10,713	31.7	−5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Hollowell	3,880	11.5	+0.8
	UKIP	Edward Caley-Knowles	735	2.2	New
	Independent	Brian Earley	734	2.2	New
	English Democrat	Alan Mossop	662	2.0	New
Majority			6,320	18.8	+4.5
Turnout			33,757	62.3	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 2001: Copeland ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cunningham	17,991	51.8	−6.4
	Conservative	Mike Graham	13,027	37.5	+8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Gayler	3,732	10.7	+1.5
Majority			4,964	14.3	−14.7
Turnout			34,750	64.9	−11.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Copeland ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cunningham	24,077	58.2	+9.5
	Conservative	Andrew Cumpsty	12,081	29.2	−14.2
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Putnam	3,814	9.2	+1.6
	Referendum	Chris Johnston	1,036	2.5	New
	ProLife Alliance	Gerard Hanratty	389	0.9	New
Majority			11,996	29.0	+23.7
Turnout			41,397	76.3	−7.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.9

General election 1992: Copeland ^{[21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cunningham	22,328	48.7	+1.5
	Conservative	Philip Davies	19,889	43.4	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Putnam	3,508	7.6	−1.5
	Natural Law	James Sinton	148	0.3	New
Majority			2,439	5.3	+1.1
Turnout			45,873	83.5	+2.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Copeland ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cunningham	20,999	47.2	+3.0
	Conservative	Ashton Toft	19,105	43.0	+3.1
	SDP	Edward Colgan	4,052	9.1	−6.8
	Green	Robert Gibson	319	0.7	New
Majority			1,894	4.2	−0.1
Turnout			44,475	81.3	+3.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: Copeland ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Cunningham	18,756	44.2	−8.2
	Conservative	Veronica Wilson	16,919	39.9	+0.1
	SDP	John Beasley	6,722	15.9	+9.9
Majority			1,837	4.3	−8.3
Turnout			42,397	78.2
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• Cumbria portal

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Cumbria

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. "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.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
3. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
4. "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
6. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL" (PDF). www.copeland.gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
7. "Copeland parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" . Retrieved 16 December 2019.
8. "General election 2017: Full list of candidates". ITV News. 12 May 2017.
9. Glaze, Ben (19 January 2017). "Labour unveils Gill Troughton as its candidate for the tricky Copeland by-election". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
10. "Local NHS worker selected as UKIP candidate for the Copeland by-election". ukip.org. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
11. "Green Party announces anti-nuclear Copeland by-election candidate". Green Party. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
12. "Copeland by-election: Candidates list". BBC News. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
13. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Copeland Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Copeland". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. Copeland, BBC News
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. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
23. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Copeland UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Copeland UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

54°25′52″N3°23′20″W / 54.431°N 3.389°W / 54.431; -3.389