Wealden (UK Parliament constituency)

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Wealden
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Wealden2007Constituency.svg
Boundary of Wealden in East Sussex
EnglandEastSussex.svg
Location of East Sussex within England
County East Sussex
Electorate 82,998 (December 2019) [1]
Major settlements Crowborough, Uckfield
1983–2024
Created from East Grinstead, Lewes and Rye [2]
Replaced by Sussex Weald

Wealden was a constituency [n 1] in East Sussex in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented by members of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1983. Its final MP from 2015 to 2024, Nus Ghani, is the first Muslim woman to be elected as a Conservative member of Parliament.

Contents

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was renamed Sussex Weald , Subject to boundary changes - including losing the town of Uckfield to the newly created constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield, and gaining the smaller town of Heathfield in part compensation. The new seat was first contested at the 2024 general election.

History

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).

Political history

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.

Prominent frontbenchers

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.

Boundaries

Wealden (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2010–2024

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.

2010–2024: 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 covered much of the Wealden district of East Sussex. However, some of the district in the south fell into the constituencies of Lewes, Bexhill and Battle and Eastbourne.

Constituency profile

Approximately half of the population in the constituency lived in the area's three main towns: Crowborough, Hailsham and Uckfield. The rest of the seat was 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]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [4] Party
1983 Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith Conservative
2001 Charles Hendry Conservative
2015 Nus Ghani Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wealden [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nus Ghani 37,043 60.8 −0.4
Liberal Democrats Chris Bowers11,38818.7+8.3
Labour Angela Smith9,37715.4−6.8
Green Georgia Taylor3,0995.1+1.9
Majority25,65542.1+3.1
Turnout 60,90773.3−1.0
Conservative hold Swing -4.4
General election 2017: Wealden [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nus Ghani 37,027 61.2 +4.2
Labour Angela Smith13,39922.2+11.4
Liberal Democrats Chris Bowers6,28110.4+1.3
Green Colin Stocks1,9593.2−3.2
UKIP Nicola Burton1,7983.0−13.7
Majority23,62839.0−1.3
Turnout 60,46474.3+3.3
Conservative hold Swing -3.6
General election 2015: Wealden [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Nus Ghani 32,508 57.0 +0.4
UKIP Peter Griffiths [8] 9,54116.7+10.7
Labour Solomon Curtis [9] 6,16510.8+1.2
Liberal Democrats Giles Goodall5,1809.1−15.8
Green Mark Smith [10] 3,6236.4+3.9
Majority22,96740.3+9.0
Turnout 57,01771.0−0.8
Conservative hold Swing −5.8
General election 2010: Wealden [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Charles Hendry 31,090 56.6 +6.1
Liberal Democrats Chris Bowers13,91125.3+0.6
Labour Lorna Blackmore5,2669.6−7.1
UKIP Dan Docker3,3196.0+2.2
Green David Jonas1,3832.5−1.8
Majority17,17931.3+2.7
Turnout 54,96971.8+5.5
Conservative hold Swing +2.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wealden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Charles Hendry 28,975 52.1 +2.3
Liberal Democrats Christopher Wigley13,05423.5−0.2
Labour Dudley Rose9,36016.8−3.5
Green Julian Salmon2,1503.9+1.5
UKIP Keith Riddle2,1143.8+0.9
Majority15,92128.6+2.5
Turnout 55,65367.7+4.2
Conservative hold Swing +1.3
General election 2001: Wealden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Charles Hendry 26,279 49.8 0.0
Liberal Democrats Steve Murphy12,50723.7−2.0
Labour Kathy Fordham10,70520.3+3.1
UKIP Keith Riddle1,5382.9+2.0
Green Julian Salmon1,2732.4New
Pensioner Coalition Cyril Thornton4530.9New
Majority13,77226.1+2.0
Turnout 52,75663.5−10.2
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wealden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Geoffrey Johnson-Smith 29,417 49.8 −12.0
Liberal Democrats Michael Skinner15,21325.7−1.3
Labour Nicholas Levine10,18517.2+8.0
Referendum Barry Taplin3,5276.0New
UKIP Margaret English5690.9New
Natural Law Paul Cragg1880.30.0
Majority14,20424.1−10.5
Turnout 59,09973.7−7.3
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.

General election 1992: Wealden [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Geoffrey Johnson-Smith 37,263 61.7 −2.5
Liberal Democrats Michael Skinner16,33227.1−0.4
Labour Steve Billcliffe5,5799.2+0.9
Green Ian Guy-Moore1,0021.7New
Natural Law Roger Graham1820.3New
Majority20,93134.6−2.1
Turnout 60,35881.0+6.0
Conservative hold Swing −1.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wealden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Geoffrey Johnson-Smith 35,154 64.2 0.0
SDP David Sinclair15,04427.5−2.1
Labour Charles Ward4,5638.3+2.1
Majority20,11036.7+2.1
Turnout 54,76175.0+3.2
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Wealden
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Geoffrey Johnson-Smith 31,926 64.2
SDP David Pace14,74129.6
Labour Patricia Knight3,0606.2
Majority17,18534.6
Turnout 49,72771.8
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

  1. ↑ "Election history of Wealden". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "'Wealden', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Wealden
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
  5. ↑ "Wealden Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "Wealden parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  7. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
  9. ↑ "Labour party selects teenager from Hastings as their candidate for MP". Crowborough Life. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Home". Wealden Green Party.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Index". UK General Election results April 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Sources

50°59′56″N0°12′43″E / 50.999°N 0.212°E / 50.999; 0.212

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