North Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

North Somerset
County constituency for the House of Commons
North Somerset in Somerset
Location of Somerset within England
County	Somerset
Electorate	78,469 (2018) [1]
Major settlements	Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Liam Fox (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Woodspring
1950–1983
Created from	Frome and Weston-super-Mare
Replaced by	Woodspring, Wansdyke and Wells [2]
1885–1918
Created from	East Somerset
Replaced by	Frome and Weston-super-Mare

North Somerset is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liam Fox, a Conservative who served as Secretary of State for International Trade, a new position in the Cabinet, from 2016 to 2019. ^{[n 2]}

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to moderate boundary changes which will involve the loss of the Yatton area which will move into the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills to be first contested at the next general election. ^[3]

History

Earlier versions of the seat existed in 1885–1918 and 1950–1983.

First creation

Parliament passed the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 creating the larger constituency of North Somerset from the 1885 general election, which was later abolished for the 1918 general election.

Second creation

North Somerset was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election.

Third creation

Following the review of parliamentary representation in the North Somerset district by the Boundary Commission for England, the former Woodspring constituency was renamed as North Somerset without substantial boundary changes. ^[4]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Keynsham, Long Ashton, and Temple Cloud, and the civil parishes of Binegar, Chilcompton, and Midsomer Norton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Keynsham, Norton Radstock, and Portishead, the Rural Districts of Bathavon and Clutton, and part of the Rural District of Long Ashton.

2010–present: The District of North Somerset wards of Backwell, Clevedon Central, Clevedon East, Clevedon North, Clevedon South, Clevedon Walton, Clevedon West, Clevedon Yeo, Easton-in-Gordano, Gordano, Nailsea East, Nailsea North and West, Pill, Portishead Central, Portishead Coast, Portishead East, Portishead Redcliffe Bay, Portishead South and North Weston, Portishead West, Winford, Wraxall and Long Ashton, Wrington, and Yatton.

Proposed

The composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be reduced in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Yatton ward to the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills. ^[5]

Constituency profile

This is essentially the former Woodspring seat with a new name. A coastal strip between the Severn Estuary and the M5 motorway includes the towns of Clevedon and Portishead, while inland from the motorway is the town of Nailsea and a predominantly rural area dotted with villages. This is a fairly affluent constituency with average incomes and low proportion of unemployment claimants ^[6] – about a third of the population commute to work, mostly in Bristol and Bath. ^[7]

The Woodspring seat returned Conservative MPs, and had been held by Fox since 1992. Fox won the new constituency by nearly 14 percentage points over the Liberal Democrats in 2010, while Labour took second place in 2015 and 2017.

Members of Parliament

Year	Member	Party
1885	Evan Henry Llewellyn		Conservative
1892	Courtenay Warner		Liberal
1895	Evan Henry Llewellyn		Conservative
1906	William Henry Bateman Hope		Liberal
1910	Joseph King		Liberal
1918	constituency abolished
1950	Sir Ted Leather		Conservative
1964	Paul Dean		Conservative
1983	constituency abolished: see Woodspring
2010	Liam Fox		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Cartman [8]
	Conservative	Liam Fox [9]
	Reform UK	Alexander Kokkinoftas [10]
	Green	Oscar Livesey-Lodwick [11]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North Somerset ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	32,801	52.9	–1.3
	Labour	Hannah Young	15,265	24.6	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Cartman	11,051	17.8	+8.2
	Green	Phil Neve	2,938	4.7	+1.5
Majority			17,536	28.3	+0.7
Turnout			62,055	77.4	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 2017: North Somerset ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	33,605	54.2	+0.7
	Labour	Greg Chambers	16,502	26.6	+12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Foord	5,982	9.6	-3.1
	Independent	Donald Davies	3,929	6.3	New
	Green	Charley Pattison	1,976	3.2	-3.3
Majority			17,103	27.6	-11.6
Turnout			61,994	76.9	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.8

General election 2015: North Somerset ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	31,540	53.5	+4.2
	Labour	Greg Chambers	8,441	14.3	+3.2
	UKIP	Ian Kealey [15]	7,669	13.0	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Marcus Kravis	7,486	12.7	−23.0
	Green	David Derbyshire	3,806	6.5	+6.5
Majority			23,099	39.2	+25.6
Turnout			58,942	73.6	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: North Somerset ^{[16] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	28,549	49.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Mathew	20,687	35.7
	Labour	Steve Parry-Hearn	6,448	11.1
	UKIP	Sue Taylor	2,257	3.9
Majority			7,862	13.6
Turnout			57,941	75.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	43,173	54.34	+9.4
	Labour	AJ Smith	22,122	27.85	-3.8
	Liberal	David Sanders	12,898	16.23	-6.7
	Ecology	R Carder	1,254	1.58	New
Majority			21,051	26.49	+13.26
Turnout			79,447	82.24	+1.81
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	32,146	44.88
	Labour	HR White	22,671	31.65
	Liberal	JM Bourne	16,428	22.93
	United Democratic Party	JK Polling	387	0.54	New
Majority			9,475	13.23
Turnout			71,632	80.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	34,576	46.09
	Labour	HR White	22,421	29.89
	Liberal	JM Bourne	18,023	24.02	New
Majority			12,155	16.20
Turnout			75,020	85.06
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	38,975	58.1	+11.7
	Labour	John T Mitchard	28,121	41.9	-0.8
Majority			10,854	16.2	+12.5
Turnout			67,096	79.1	-6.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	28,824	46.4	0.0
	Labour	Brian Tilley	26,526	42.7	+2.9
	Liberal	Mark E Willies	6,745	10.9	-2.9
Majority			2,298	3.7	-2.9
Turnout			62,095	85.3	-0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	27,814	46.4	-9.9
	Labour	DT White	23,896	39.8	-3.9
	Liberal	Mark E Willies	8,253	13.8	New
Majority			3,918	6.6	-6.0
Turnout			59,963	85.4	-0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	30,432	56.3	+2.1
	Labour	E Fraser Wilde	23,649	43.7	-2.1
Majority			6,783	12.6	+4.2
Turnout			54,081	85.5	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	26,985	54.2	+1.8
	Labour	David Llewellyn	22,802	45.8	-1.8
Majority			4,183	8.4	+3.6
Turnout			54,081	85.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	27,465	52.4	+6.8
	Labour	Robert J Hurst	24,917	47.6	+3.8
Majority			2,548	4.8	+3.0
Turnout			52,382
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	23,953	45.6
	Labour	Xenia Field	23,050	43.8
	Liberal	Albert Ernest Whitcher	5,573	10.6
Majority			903	1.8
Turnout			52,576	87.7
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Strachey

General election 1885: North Somerset ^{[18] [19] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,170	54.4
	Liberal	Edward Strachey	3,491	45.6
Majority			679	8.8
Turnout			7,661	75.0
Registered electors			10,209
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: North Somerset ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,252	67.1	+12.7
	Liberal	James Dormer Marshall [21]	2,087	32.9	-12.7
Majority			2,165	34.2	+25.4
Turnout			6,339	62.1	-12.9
Registered electors			10,209
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1890s

Warner

General election 1892: North Somerset ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Courtenay Warner	3,920	50.1	+17.2
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	3,901	49.9	−17.2
Majority			19	0.2	N/A
Turnout			7,821	77.5	+15.4
Registered electors			10,086
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.2

General election 1895: North Somerset ^{[18] [19] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,652	54.0	+4.1
	Liberal	Courtenay Warner	3,966	46.0	-4.1
Majority			686	8.0	N/A
Turnout			8,618	84.4	+6.9
Registered electors			10,208
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: North Somerset ^{[18] [19] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Even Llewellyn	4,530	53.0	−1.0
	Liberal	William Hope	4,014	47.0	+1.0
Majority			516	6.0	−2.0
Turnout			8,544	80.0	−4.4
Registered electors			10,682
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0

Hope

General election 1906: North Somerset ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hope	6,626	60.2	+13.2
	Conservative	William Mason	4,380	39.8	-13.2
Majority			2,246	20.4	N/A
Turnout			11,006	88.9	+8.9
Registered electors			12,381
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.2

Elections in the 1910s

King

General election January 1910: North Somerset ^{[18] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph King	6,568	53.2	-7.0
	Conservative	Frank Beachim Beauchamp	5,768	46.8	+7.0
Majority			800	6.4	-14.0
Turnout			12,336	91.4	+2.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-7.0

General election December 1910: North Somerset ^{[18] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph King	6,299	53.9	+0.7
	Conservative	Frank Beachim Beauchamp	5,378	46.1	-0.7
Majority			921	7.8	+1.4
Turnout			11,677	86.5	-4.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.7

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Joseph King
• Unionist: J Windsor Levis ^[24]

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon

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. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "'Somerset North', Feb 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
3. "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
4. "FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES IN THE UNITARY AUTHORITY OF NORTH SOMERSET". Boundary Commission for England. 8 November 2000. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.
6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
7. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
8. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 4 March 2024.
9. "Dr Liam Fox re-adopted as the Conservative Party's Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset". Liam Fox . Retrieved 4 March 2024.
10. "North Somerset Constituency". Reform UK . Retrieved 4 March 2024.
11. "North Somerset Greens name Oscar Livesey Lodwick as candidate". North Somerset Times. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
12. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
13. "Somerset North". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "UK Polling Report".
16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Somerset North". BBC News. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
18. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 380. ISBN   9781349022984.
19. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
20. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
21. "The Nomination" . Shepton Mallet Journal. 9 July 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 11 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
23. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
24. Standard 21 June 1913