Copeland (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Copeland
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Copeland2007Constituency.svg
Boundary of Copeland in Cumbria
EnglandCumbria.svg
Location of Cumbria within England
County Cumbria
Electorate 63,696 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements Whitehaven
19832024
SeatsOne
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, since a by-election in February 2017. It was retained at the snap 2017 general election four months later. The seat had been held by Labour candidates at elections between 1983 and 2015 included.

Contents

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 this seat is 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 . It was first contested at the 2024 general election. Keswick is included in the new constituency of Penrith and Solway, and Millom has been transferred to Barrow and Furness. [2]

History

The sole forerunner to the constituency was the abolished constituency of Whitehaven. Copeland consistently returned Labour Party candidates since its creation in 1983 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

Copeland (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Following the renaming of the Whitehaven constituency as Copeland, Jack Cunningham, who had previously been the member for Whitehaven, stood for and won the Copeland seat. Its boundaries remained unchanged, being coterminous with the local government district of Copeland.

Boundary change

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 extend the constituency beyond the district of Copeland. They include the town of Keswick, which has a larger electorate than the other three new and sparsely populated wards, despite their extensive area. [4] The new wards are 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

ElectionMember [5] Party
1983 Jack Cunningham Labour
2005 Jamie Reed Labour
2017 by-election Trudy Harrison Conservative

Elections

Copeland election results Copeland election results.png
Copeland election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Copeland [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 22,856 53.7 +4.6
Labour Tony Lywood17,01440.0−5.1
Liberal Democrats John Studholme1,8884.4+1.1
Green Jack Lenox7651.8New
Majority5,84213.7+9.7
Turnout 42,52368.9−1.3
Conservative hold Swing +4.9
General election 2017: Copeland [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 21,062 49.1 +13.3
Labour Gillian Troughton19,36745.1+2.8
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Hanson1,4043.3−0.2
UKIP Herbie Crossman1,0942.5−13.0
Majority1,6954.0N/A
Turnout 42,92770.2+6.4
Conservative hold Swing +5.3
By-election 2017: Copeland [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 13,748 44.3 +8.5
Labour Gillian Troughton11,60137.3−5.0
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Hanson2,2527.2+3.7
UKIP Fiona Mills2,0256.5−9.0
Independent Michael Guest8112.6New
Green Jack Lenox5151.7−1.3
Independent Roy Ivinson1160.4New
Majority2,1477.0N/A
Turnout 31,88951.3−12.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +6.7
General election 2015: Copeland [14] [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jamie Reed 16,750 42.3 −3.7
Conservative Stephen Haraldsen14,18635.8−1.3
UKIP Michael Pye6,14815.5+13.2
Liberal Democrats Danny Gallagher1,3683.5−6.7
Green Allan Todd1,1793.0+2.1
Majority2,5646.5−2.4
Turnout 39,63163.8−3.8
Labour hold Swing −1.2
General election 2010: Copeland [16] [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jamie Reed 19,699 46.0 −4.5
Conservative Chris Whiteside15,86637.1+5.4
Liberal Democrats Frank Hollowell4,36510.2−1.3
BNP Clive Jefferson1,4743.4New
UKIP Edward Caley-Knowles9942.3+0.1
Green Jill Perry3890.9New
Majority3,8338.9−9.9
Turnout 42,78767.6+5.4
Labour hold Swing −4.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Copeland [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jamie Reed 17,033 50.5 −1.3
Conservative Chris Whiteside10,71331.7−5.8
Liberal Democrats Frank Hollowell3,88011.5+0.8
UKIP Edward Caley-Knowles7352.2New
Independent Brian Earley7342.2New
English Democrat Alan Mossop6622.0New
Majority6,32018.8+4.5
Turnout 33,75762.3−2.6
Labour hold Swing +2.3
General election 2001: Copeland [19]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 17,991 51.8 −6.4
Conservative Mike Graham13,02737.5+8.3
Liberal Democrats Mark Gayler3,73210.7+1.5
Majority4,96414.3−14.7
Turnout 34,75064.9−11.4
Labour hold Swing −7.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Copeland [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 24,077 58.2 +9.5
Conservative Andrew Cumpsty12,08129.2−14.2
Liberal Democrats Roger Putnam3,8149.2+1.6
Referendum Chris Johnston1,0362.5New
ProLife Alliance Gerard Hanratty3890.9New
Majority11,99629.0+23.7
Turnout 41,39776.3−7.2
Labour hold Swing +11.9
General election 1992: Copeland [21] [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 22,328 48.7 +1.5
Conservative Philip Davies19,88943.4+0.4
Liberal Democrats Roger Putnam3,5087.6−1.5
Natural Law James Sinton1480.3New
Majority2,4395.3+1.1
Turnout 45,87383.5+2.2
Labour hold Swing +0.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Copeland [23]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 20,999 47.2 +3.0
Conservative Ashton Toft19,10543.0+3.1
SDP Edward Colgan4,0529.1−6.8
Green Robert Gibson3190.7New
Majority1,8944.2−0.1
Turnout 44,47581.3+3.1
Labour hold Swing
General election 1983: Copeland [24]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 18,756 44.2 −8.2
Conservative Veronica Wilson16,91939.9+0.1
SDP John Beasley6,72215.9+9.9
Majority1,8374.3−8.3
Turnout 42,39778.2
Labour win (new seat)

See also

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.

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References

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  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.
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  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)
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  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.
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  17. Copeland, BBC News
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  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.
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54°25′52″N3°23′20″W / 54.431°N 3.389°W / 54.431; -3.389