South East Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South East Cambridgeshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South East Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire
Location of Cambridgeshire within England
County	Cambridgeshire
Electorate	84,668 (2018) [1]
Major settlements	Ely
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Lucy Frazer (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely

South East Cambridgeshire was a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 to 2024 by Lucy Frazer, a member of the Conservative Party who has served as the Culture Secretary since 2023. ^{[n 2]} The constituency was established for the 1983 general election and was based on the cathedral city of Ely.

Under the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was subject to major boundary changes. As a result, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with the majority of the electorate being included in the new constituency of Ely and East Cambridgeshire . ^[2]

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. Its first MP, Francis Pym, was a Conservative Cabinet Minister, serving in roles such as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1973–1974) in the Heath government and Secretary of State for Defence (1979–1981), Leader of the House of Commons (1981–1982) and most prominently Foreign Secretary (1982–1983, during the Falklands War) under Margaret Thatcher. However, during the four years he served South East Cambridgeshire, he was a Tory 'wet' backbencher, having been sacked by Thatcher for famously remarking during the 1983 election that "Landslides don't on the whole produce successful governments".

It has to date been a safe Conservative seat, although in 2010 the margin was cut to a relatively small 10.3% by the Liberal Democrat candidate (possibly helped by controversies surrounding the Labour candidate). In 2015 and 2017 Labour achieved the largest increase in their share of the vote; in 2017 they achieved their highest ever vote share in the seat (27.7%) and overtook the Liberal Democrats for the first time since 1997; despite this, the Conservatives achieved over 50% of the vote in the seat for the first time since 1992.

According to approximate analysis of the 2016 EU membership referendum, South East Cambridgeshire (which is made up of wards from East Cambridgeshire District Council, which voted 51% to leave, as well as South Cambridgeshire District Council, which voted 60% to remain) voted 54% to remain in the EU. ^[3]

Constituency profile

The constituency includes the small city of Ely and is predominantly low-lying and agricultural, with many residents commuting to work in Cambridge. Workless claimants were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.4% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian . ^[4]

South East Cambridgeshire
Racial makeup (2021) [5]
•  White	91.8%
•  Asian	3.8%
•  Mixed	2.4%
•  Black	1.0%
• Other	0.9%
Religion (2021)
•  Christian	47.3%
• None	42.8%
• Not answered	6.6%
•  Muslim	1.1%
•  Hindu	0.9%
• Other	0.5%
•  Buddhist	0.5%
•  Jewish	0.2%
•  Sikh	0.1%

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Bottisham, Burwell, Cheveley, Dullingham Villages, Ely North, Ely South, Ely West, Fordham Villages, Isleham, Soham, The Swaffhams, and Woodditton; and
• The District of South Cambridgeshire wards of Abington, Balsham, Bar Hill, Castle Camps, Coton, Cottenham, Elsworth, Fulbourn, Girton, Histon, Linton, Longstanton, Milton, Over, Swavesey, Teversham, The Wilbrahams, Waterbeach, and Willingham. ^[6]

The seat was created for the 1983 general election which followed on from the merger under the Local Government Act 1972, of the two administrative counties of Huntingdon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, with effect from 1 April 1974. It was formed from eastern parts of the abolished constituency of Cambridgeshire, together with the city of Ely, which had been in the abolished constituency of Isle of Ely.

1997–2010

• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Bottisham, Burwell, Cheveley, Dullingham Villages, Ely North, Ely South, Ely West, Fordham Villages, Haddenham, Isleham, Soham, Stretham, The Swaffhams, Witchford, and Woodditton; and
• The District of South Cambridgeshire wards of Abington, Balsham, Castle Camps, Cottenham, Fulbourn, Histon, Linton, Milton, Over, Teversham, The Wilbrahams, Waterbeach, and Willingham. ^[7]

The westernmost area was transferred to the new constituency of South Cambridgeshire.  Minor gain from North East Cambridgeshire.

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

2010–2024

• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Bottisham, Burwell, Cheveley, Dullingham Villages, Ely East, Ely North, Ely South, Ely West, Fordham Villages, Haddenham, Isleham, Soham North, Soham South, Stretham, and The Swaffhams; and
• The District of South Cambridgeshire wards of Balsham, Fulbourn, Histon and Impington, Linton, Milton, Teversham, The Wilbrahams, Waterbeach, and Willingham and Over. ^[8]

Further minor loss to South Cambridgeshire.

The constituency included the eastern half of South Cambridgeshire district and the southern part of East Cambridgeshire. Ely, the largest community, has cathedral city status, and there are many smaller settlements including Burwell, Fulbourn, Isleham, Linton, Milton, Soham and Waterbeach.

Members of Parliament

Election	Member [9]	Party
1983	Francis Pym		Conservative
1987	Sir Jim Paice		Conservative
2015	Lucy Frazer		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South East Cambridgeshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lucy Frazer	32,187	50.0	–3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Pippa Heylings	20,697	32.1	+13.1
	Labour	James Bull	10,492	16.3	–11.4
	Independent	Edmund Fordham	1,009	1.6	New
Majority			11,490	17.9	–7.7
Turnout			64,385	74.2	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	–8.3

Edmund Fordham was originally the Brexit Party candidate for the Bury St Edmunds constituency in the 2019 general election. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

General election 2017: South East Cambridgeshire ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lucy Frazer	33,601	53.3	+4.8
	Labour	Huw Jones	17,443	27.7	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Lucy Nethsingha	11,958	19.0	–1.2
Majority			16,158	25.6	–2.7
Turnout			63,002	73.2	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	–3.8

General election 2015: South East Cambridgeshire ^{[16] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lucy Frazer [18] [n 3]	28,845	48.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Chatfield [18]	12,008	20.2	–17.6
	Labour	Huw Jones [18]	9,013	15.1	+7.5
	UKIP	Deborah Rennie [20]	6,593	11.1	+7.4
	Green	Clive Semmens [21]	3,047	5.1	+3.8
Majority			16,837	28.3	+17.9
Turnout			59,506	70.4	+1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.0

General election 2010: South East Cambridgeshire ^{[22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	27,629	48.0	+0.8'"`UNIQ−−ref−00000054−QINU`"'
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Chatfield	21,683	37.6	+6.2
	Labour	John Cowan	4,380	7.6	–13.8 '"`UNIQ−−ref−00000057−QINU`"'
	UKIP	Andy Monk	2,138	3.7	New
	Green	Simon Sedgwick-Jell	766	1.3	New
	Independent	Geoffrey Woollard	517	0.9	New
	CPA	Daniel Bell	489	0.8	New
Majority			5,946	10.4	–5.0
Turnout			57,602	69.3	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	–2.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South East Cambridgeshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	26,374	47.1	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Chatfield	17,750	31.7	+4.8
	Labour	Fiona Ross	11,936	21.3	–5.1
Majority			8,624	15.4	–1.9
Turnout			56,060	65.3	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.0

General election 2001: South East Cambridgeshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	22,927	44.2	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sal Brinton	13,937	26.9	+1.8
	Labour	Andrew Inchley	13,714	26.4	–0.1
	UKIP	Neil Scarr	1,308	2.5	New
Majority			8,990	17.3	0.0
Turnout			51,886	63.5	–10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	–0.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South East Cambridgeshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	24,397	42.9	–15.0
	Labour	Rex Collinson	15,048	26.5	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Sal Brinton	14,246	25.1	+4.8
	Referendum	John Howlett	2,838	5.0	New
	Building a Fair Society	Karl Lam	167	0.3	New
	Natural Law	Peter While	111	0.2	–0.2
Majority			9,349	17.3	–20.2
Turnout			56,807	75.1	–5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	–10.8

General election 1992: South East Cambridgeshire ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	36,693	57.9	–0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Wotherspoon	12,883	20.3	–7.2
	Labour	Arthur Jones	12,688	20.0	+6.3
	Green	John Marsh	836	1.3	New
	Natural Law	Bridget Langridge	231	0.4	New
Majority			23,810	37.5	+6.2
Turnout			63,331	80.6	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South East Cambridgeshire ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Paice	32,901	58.8	+1.2
	SDP	Peter Lee	15,399	27.5	–2.3
	Labour	Thomas Ling	7,694	13.7	+1.1
Majority			17,502	31.3	+3.5
Turnout			55,994	77.4	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

General election 1983: South East Cambridgeshire ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Pym	28,555	57.6
	SDP	Christopher Slee	14,791	29.8
	Labour	Mary Jackson	6,261	12.6
Majority			13,764	27.8
Turnout			49,607	74.2
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Cambridgeshire

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. Note: In January 2014 Lucy Frazer, a barrister, was "reaffirmed" as Conservative candidate for South East Cambridgeshire on Friday despite claims that she had been beaten in an open primary by another woman, Heidi Allen, ^[19] who is the Conservative candidate in the neighbouring constituency, South Cambridgeshire.

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "Eastern | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England . Retrieved 20 June 2023.
3. Baxter, Martin. "Cambridgeshire South East: Seat, Ward and Prediction Details". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017.
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency Archived 2017-08-02 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian
5. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/topic/home-affairs/communities/demography/census/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)
10. "Cambridgeshire South East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News . Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
11. "Brexit Party names its Bury St Edmunds prospective parliamentary candidate". 16 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
12. "'Disappointment' at Brexit Party's election decision to withdraw from Conservative seats". 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
13. "General Election 2019: South East Cambridgeshire candidates answer four key questions". 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
14. Hill, John (11 May 2017). "PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION THURSDAY, 8 JUNE 2017, SOUTH EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTITUENCY. STATEMENT AS TO PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL" (PDF). East Cambridgeshire District Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
15. "Candidates standing in the General Election in Cambridgeshire". ITV News. 12 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
16. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Election 2019: Cambridgeshire South East". BBC News . Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
18. "UK ELECTION RESULTS: CAMBRIDGESHIRE SOUTH EAST 2015". Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
19. "The battle of the Tory women: Farcical scenes after 'invalid' vote to select candidate for safe seat". Independent. 12 January 2014. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
20. "The Cambridge & South East Cambs Branch of the UK Independence Party". ukip-cambridge.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
21. "Clive Semmens confirmed as candidate for South East Cambridgeshire seat". eastcambs.greenparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
22. http://www.scambs.gov.uk/admin/documents/retrieve.asp?pk_document=908869%5B‍%5D
23. "Election 2010: Cambridgeshire South East". BBC News . Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
24. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
25. "British Parliamentary Election results 1983-97: English Counties". www.election.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 August 2000. Retrieved 4 May 2010.

External links

• South East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association
• South East Cambridgeshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• South East Cambridgeshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

52°07′52″N0°18′36″E / 52.131°N 0.310°E / 52.131; 0.310