Wealden | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | East Sussex |
Electorate | 82,998 (December 2019) [1] |
Major settlements | Crowborough, Uckfield |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Nus Ghani (Conservative) |
Created from | East Grinstead, Lewes and Rye [2] |
Wealden is a constituency [n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Nus Ghani, a Conservative. Ghani is the first Muslim woman to be elected as a Conservative member of Parliament.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to boundary changes, losing the town of Uckfield to the newly created constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield. It will gain the smaller town of Heathfield in part compensation and will be renamed Sussex Weald, to be first contested at the next general election.
This seat was created in the third periodic review of constituencies in 1983, from a mixture of the previous Mid and Northern divisions of East Sussex (also known as Lewes and East Grinstead).
The seat's history is that of a safe Conservative seat. Before the 2015 election, the Liberal Democrats, including their two predecessor parties, were represented by the main opposition candidate, but they then fell to fourth place. The best result for the Labour Party was in 2017, though it was 39% below the winning vote share.
Locally born Charles Hendry served as a Minister of State in the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012 following two years in the shadow role in opposition.
1983–1997: The District of Wealden wards of Buxted, Chiddingly and East Hoathly, Crowborough East, Crowborough North, Crowborough West, Danehill, Fletching, Forest Row, Framfield, Frant, Hailsham Central and North, Hailsham East, Hailsham South and West, Hartfield, Heathfield, Hellingly, Horam, Maresfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Uckfield, Wadhurst, Waldron, and Withyam.
1997–2010: The District of Wealden wards of Buxted, Chiddingly and East Hoathly, Crowborough East, Crowborough North, Crowborough St John's, Crowborough West, Danehill, Fletching, Forest Row, Framfield, Frant, Hailsham Central and North, Hailsham East, Hailsham South and West, Hartfield, Heathfield, Hellingly, Horam, Maresfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Uckfield, Wadhurst, Waldron, and Withyam.
2010–present: The District of Wealden wards of Buxted and Maresfield, Chiddingly and East Hoathly, Crowborough East, Crowborough Jarvis Brook, Crowborough North, Crowborough St John's, Crowborough West, Danehill/Fletching/Nutley, Forest Row, Framfield, Frant/Withyham, Hailsham Central and North, Hailsham East, Hailsham South and West, Hartfield, Hellingly, Horam, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Uckfield Central, Uckfield New Town, Uckfield North, Uckfield Ridgewood, and Wadhurst.
The constituency covers much of the Wealden district of East Sussex. However, some of the district in the south falls into the constituencies of Lewes, Bexhill and Battle and Eastbourne.
Approximately half of the population in the constituency lives in the area's three main towns: Crowborough, Hailsham and Uckfield. The rest of the seat is predominantly rural and has many small towns, villages and hamlets. The Wealden landscape is varied, ranging from the Ashdown Forest in the north to the South Downs and the coastal part is included in seats to the south.
A considerable portion of the population is retired or work in London, Brighton or other regional employment bases at a managerial or advanced professional level. Electoral Calculus describes the seat as "Strong Right" characterised by retired, socially conservative voters who strongly supported Brexit. [3]
Election | Member [4] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith | Conservative | |
2001 | Charles Hendry | Conservative | |
2015 | Nus Ghani | Conservative |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nus Ghani [5] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Danielle Newson [6] | ||||
Green | Rachel Millward [7] | ||||
Reform UK | David Morgan [8] | ||||
SDP | Stephen Gardner [9] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Swing | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nus Ghani | 37,043 | 60.8 | -0.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Chris Bowers | 11,388 | 18.7 | +8.3 | |
Labour | Angela Smith | 9,377 | 15.4 | -6.8 | |
Green | Georgia Taylor | 3,099 | 5.1 | +1.9 | |
Majority | 25,655 | 42.1 | +3.1 | ||
Turnout | 60,907 | 73.3 | -1.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -4.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nus Ghani | 37,027 | 61.2 | +4.2 | |
Labour | Angela Smith | 13,399 | 22.2 | +11.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Chris Bowers | 6,281 | 10.4 | +1.3 | |
Green | Colin Stocks | 1,959 | 3.2 | -3.2 | |
UKIP | Nicola Burton | 1,798 | 3.0 | -13.7 | |
Majority | 23,628 | 39.0 | -1.3 | ||
Turnout | 60,464 | 74.3 | +3.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -3.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nus Ghani | 32,508 | 57.0 | +0.4 | |
UKIP | Peter Griffiths [13] | 9,541 | 16.7 | +10.7 | |
Labour | Solomon Curtis [14] | 6,165 | 10.8 | +1.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Giles Goodall | 5,180 | 9.1 | −15.8 | |
Green | Mark Smith [15] | 3,623 | 6.4 | +3.9 | |
Majority | 22,967 | 40.3 | +9.0 | ||
Turnout | 57,017 | 71.0 | -0.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −5.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Hendry | 31,090 | 56.6 | +6.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Chris Bowers | 13,911 | 25.3 | +0.6 | |
Labour | Lorna Blackmore | 5,266 | 9.6 | −7.1 | |
UKIP | Dan Docker | 3,319 | 6.0 | +2.2 | |
Green | David Jonas | 1,383 | 2.5 | -1.8 | |
Majority | 17,179 | 31.3 | +2.7 | ||
Turnout | 54,969 | 71.8 | +5.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +2.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Hendry | 28,975 | 52.1 | +2.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Christopher Wigley | 13,054 | 23.5 | −0.2 | |
Labour | Dudley Rose | 9,360 | 16.8 | −3.5 | |
Green | Julian Salmon | 2,150 | 3.9 | +1.5 | |
UKIP | Keith Riddle | 2,114 | 3.8 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 15,921 | 28.6 | +2.5 | ||
Turnout | 55,653 | 67.7 | +4.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +1.3 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Charles Hendry | 26,279 | 49.8 | 0.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Steve Murphy | 12,507 | 23.7 | −2.0 | |
Labour | Kathy Fordham | 10,705 | 20.3 | +3.1 | |
UKIP | Keith Riddle | 1,538 | 2.9 | +2.0 | |
Green | Julian Salmon | 1,273 | 2.4 | New | |
Pensioner Coalition | Cyril Thornton | 453 | 0.9 | New | |
Majority | 13,772 | 26.1 | +2.0 | ||
Turnout | 52,756 | 63.5 | -10.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Johnson-Smith | 29,417 | 49.8 | −12.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Michael Skinner | 15,213 | 25.7 | −1.3 | |
Labour | Nicholas Levine | 10,185 | 17.2 | +8.0 | |
Referendum | Barry Taplin | 3,527 | 6.0 | New | |
UKIP | Margaret English | 569 | 0.9 | New | |
Natural Law | Paul Cragg | 188 | 0.3 | 0.0 | |
Majority | 14,204 | 24.1 | -10.5 | ||
Turnout | 59,099 | 73.7 | -7.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Johnson-Smith | 37,263 | 61.7 | −2.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Michael Skinner | 16,332 | 27.1 | −0.4 | |
Labour | Steve Billcliffe | 5,579 | 9.2 | +0.9 | |
Green | Ian Guy-Moore | 1,002 | 1.7 | New | |
Natural Law | Roger Graham | 182 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 20,931 | 34.6 | −2.1 | ||
Turnout | 60,358 | 81.0 | +6.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −1.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Johnson-Smith | 35,154 | 64.2 | 0.0 | |
SDP | David Sinclair | 15,044 | 27.5 | −2.1 | |
Labour | Charles Ward | 4,563 | 8.3 | +2.1 | |
Majority | 20,110 | 36.7 | +2.1 | ||
Turnout | 54,761 | 75.0 | +3.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Johnson-Smith | 31,926 | 64.2 | ||
SDP | David Pace | 14,741 | 29.6 | ||
Labour | Patricia Knight | 3,060 | 6.2 | ||
Majority | 17,185 | 34.6 | |||
Turnout | 49,727 | 71.8 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Wealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Crowborough, Polegate and Uckfield, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The district's name comes from the Weald, the landscape and ancient woodland which occupies much of the centre and north of the area.
Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of Duddleswell and Horney Common; and parts of Ashdown Forest all lie within Maresfield parish.
Eastbourne is a constituency for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created as one of nine in Sussex in 1885, since when it has reduced in geographic size reflecting the growth of its main settlement, Eastbourne.
Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundaries. At one time its importance lay in the Wealden iron industry, and later it became commercially important in the poultry and egg industry.
Danehill is a village in East Sussex, England.
Hellingly is a village, and can also refer to a civil parish, and to a district ward, in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England.
Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells.
The Cuckoo Line is an informal name for the now defunct railway service which linked Polegate and Eridge in East Sussex, England, from 1880 to 1968. It was nicknamed the Cuckoo Line by drivers, from a tradition observed at the annual fair at Heathfield, a station on the route. At the fair, which was held each April, a lady would release a cuckoo from a basket, it being supposedly the 'first cuckoo of spring'. The railway line served the following Sussex communities: Polegate, Hailsham, Hellingly, Horam for Waldron, Heathfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield and Eridge. Services continued through Eridge and onward via Groombridge to Tunbridge Wells.
The 2003 Wealden District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Wealden District Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999 reducing the number of seats by 3. The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
The Rape of Pevensey is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. With an area of 228,930 acres (926.4 km2) it is the largest of the Sussex rapes.
The 2015 Wealden District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of the Wealden District Council in England. It was held on the same day as other local elections.
Buxted Parish Council governs the village of Buxted, a civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The council appoints one councillor who is then known as the Chairman or Chairwoman. The current Chairperson is Councillor Vivienne Blandford.
East Grinstead and Uckfield is a proposed constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it will first be contested at the next general election.
Sussex Weald is a proposed constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it will first be contested at the next general election.