South West Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

South West Bedfordshire
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
SouthWestBedfordshire2007Constituency.svg
Boundary of South West Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire in England 2023-04-01.svg
Location of Bedfordshire within England
County Bedfordshire
Electorate 79,137 (2018) [1]
Major settlements Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard
19832024
SeatsOne
Created from South Bedfordshire
Replaced by Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard

South West Bedfordshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. [n 1] As with all constituencies of the UK Parliament, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

The serving Member from 2001 to 2024 was Conservative Andrew Selous, who succeeded Conservative David Madel. Selous was re-elected five times: in 2005, 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was subject to only minor boundary changes, but was renamed Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard with effect from the 2024 general election. [2]

Constituency profile

At the 2011 Census, the population of the constituency was 102,031, of whom 50,277 were male, and 51,754 were female. [3] 74.30% of residents aged 16–74 are economically active, including 4.22% unemployed. A further 13.27% of the population are retired (lower than both the regional average of 14.4% and national average of 13.7%), and 3.75% are students. [4] A statistical compilation by The Guardian showed unemployment benefits claimants in the constituency for April 2013 were 3.3% of the population, lower than the regional average of 3.6%. [5]

Turnout at the 2015 general election was 51,304, or 64.4% of those eligible to vote; lower than the national turnout of 66.4%. [6] This rose at the time of the 2017 general election to 55,635, or 69.8% of those eligible to vote, which was a percentage point higher than the national turnout of 68.8%. [7]

History

The constituency was created in 1983, mostly from the former seat of South Bedfordshire. It was represented by Sir David Madel, a Conservative, from its creation until his retirement in 2001; he almost suffered one of the biggest upsets of the 1997 general election, when the Labour candidate spectacularly slashed his majority from 21,273 in 1992 to just 132.

The last MP for the seat was the Conservative Andrew Selous; he won the seat in 2001, when he managed to increase the party's majority, but only just; this increased somewhat more substantially each time in 2005 and 2010, ultimately to more than 16,000. The 2010 election also saw the second-placed candidate's party change, to the Liberal Democrats, similar to the results of 1983 and 1987, when this was the joint platform for R. Byfield and J.R. Burrow respectively, the (SDP-Liberal Alliance).

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

The constituency was formed largely from the bulk of the abolished seat of South Bedfordshire, including Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard and Linslade.  It was extended northwards to include south-western part of Mid Bedfordshire.

1997–2010

South West Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Northern areas (comprising the District of Mid Bedfordshire wards) transferred back to Mid Bedfordshire.

2010–2024

Local authority wards revised, but no changes to boundaries.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [11] Party
1983 Sir David Madel Conservative
2001 Andrew Selous Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South West Bedfordshire [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 32,212 60.4 +1.2
Labour Callum Anderson 13,62925.6−8.2
Liberal Democrats Emma Matanle5,43510.2+5.5
Green Andrew Waters2,0313.8+2.1
Majority18,58334.8+9.4
Turnout 53,30766.7−3.1
Conservative hold Swing +4.7
General election 2017: South West Bedfordshire [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 32,961 59.2 +4.2
Labour Daniel Scott18,79333.8+13.5
Liberal Democrats Daniel Norton2,6304.7−0.5
Green Morvern Rennie9501.7−2.4
CPA Morenike Mafoh3010.5New
Majority14,16825.4−9.3
Turnout 55,63569.8+5.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2015: South West Bedfordshire [14] [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous [16] 28,212 55.0 +2.2
Labour Daniel Scott [16] 10,39920.3+0.7
UKIP John van Weenen [17] 7,94115.5+11.3
Liberal Democrats Stephen Rutherford [18] 2,6465.2−14.8
Green Emily Lawrence [19] 2,1064.1New
Majority17,81334.7+1.9
Turnout 51,30464.4−1.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2010: South West Bedfordshire [20] [21]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 26,815 52.8 +4.5
Liberal Democrats Rod Cantrill10,16620.0+3.2
Labour Jenny Bone9,94819.6−10.6
UKIP Martin Newman2,1424.20.0
BNP Mark Tolman1,7033.4New
Majority16,64932.8+14.7
Turnout 50,77466.3+4.5
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South West Bedfordshire [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 22,114 48.3 +6.2
Labour Joyce Still13,83730.2−10.2
Liberal Democrats Andrew Strange7,72316.9+2.1
UKIP Tom Wise 1,9234.2+1.5
Open-ForumKenson Gurney2170.5New
Majority8,27718.1+16.4
Turnout 45,81461.8−0.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2001: South West Bedfordshire [23]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 18,477 42.1 +1.4
Labour Andrew Date17,70140.4−0.1
Liberal Democrats Martin Pantling6,47314.8+0.5
UKIP Tom Wise 1,2032.7+1.9
Majority7761.7+1.5
Turnout 43,85462.1−13.7
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South West Bedfordshire [24] [25]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Madel 21,534 40.7 −15.5
Labour Andrew Date21,40240.5+14.7
Liberal Democrats Stephen Owen7,55914.3−2.3
Referendum Rosalind Hill1,7613.3New
UKIP Tom Wise 4460.8New
Natural Law Alexander Le Carpentier1620.3−0.1
Majority1320.2−32.2
Turnout 52,86475.8−6.1
Conservative hold Swing −16.1
General election 1992: Bedfordshire South West [26] [27]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Madel 37,498 57.1 −1.1
Labour Barry Elliott16,22524.7+6.4
Liberal Democrats Mark Freeman10,98816.7−5.6
Green Peter Rollings6891.0−0.3
Natural Law John Gilmour2390.4New
Majority21,27332.4−3.5
Turnout 65,63981.9+3.2
Conservative hold Swing −3.7

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South West Bedfordshire [28] [29]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Madel 36,140 58.2 +3.2
SDP John Burrow13,83522.3−5.5
Labour Paul Dimoldenberg11,35218.3+1.1
Green Peter Rollings8221.3New
Majority22,30535.9+8.7
Turnout 62,14978.7+3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: South West Bedfordshire [30] [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative David Madel 31,767 55.0
SDP Richard Byfield16,03627.8
Labour William Cochrane9,89917.2
Majority15,73127.2
Turnout 57,70275.6
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. South West Bedfordshire is a county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).

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51°57′29″N0°29′28″W / 51.958°N 0.491°W / 51.958; -0.491