Wyre Forest (UK Parliament constituency)

Wyre Forest
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2010
Boundary of Wyre Forest in West Midlands region
County	Worcestershire
Electorate	77,800 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Bewdley Kidderminster Stourport-on-Severn
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Mark Garnier (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Kidderminster

Wyre Forest is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is Mark Garnier of the Conservative Party who was re-elected in the 2019 general election.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Wyre Forest.

1997–2010: All the wards of the District of Wyre Forest except the Rock and Ribbesford ward.

2010–present: The District of Wyre Forest.

The Wyre Forest constituency as it was drawn for the 1997 election was almost coterminous with the Wyre Forest district, with around 2,000 extra electors from the district in the neighbouring Leominster constituency. Following its review of parliamentary constituencies for the 2010 election, the Boundary Commission recommended that the portions of the district currently in Leominster move into this seat, making the constituency and district wholly coterminous. These changes were brought about in part by the consideration of Worcestershire and Herefordshire separately for the drawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries.

History

The Wyre Forest constituency was first fought under its present name in the 1983 general election, having succeeded the old Kidderminster seat, and was won for the Conservatives by Esmond Bulmer. Wyre Forest was held with relative ease by the Conservatives' Anthony Coombs in the 1987 and 1992 general elections; however the 1997 Labour landslide saw that party gain the seat with David Lock securing a majority of almost 7,000. Anger over the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital reflected on Lock at the 2001 election, and Health Concern's Richard Taylor stormed to a decisive victory, then held the seat with a considerably reduced majority in 2005. Taylor lost to the Conservatives in the 2010 general election. ^[2]

Turnout in the Wyre Forest at general elections has generally been around 2-3% above the national average, but in 2001 the constituency recorded a 68.0% turnout as against 59.4% nationally; this spike (not repeated in 2005) is widely attributed to the intense local feelings on the hospital issue.

Members of Parliament

Kidderminster prior to 1983

Election		Member [3]	Party
	1983	Esmond Bulmer	Conservative
	1987	Anthony Coombs	Conservative
	1997	David Lock	Labour
	2001	Richard Taylor	Health Concern
	2010	Mark Garnier	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Wyre Forest ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	14,489	32.1	33.1
	Labour	Vicki Smith	13,677	30.3	7.5
	Reform UK	Bill Hopkins	9,682	21.4	New
	Liberal Democrats	Shazu Miah	2,809	6.2	1.9
	Green	John Davis	2,443	5.4	1.5
	Independent	Leigh Whitehouse	1,535	3.4	New
	Independent	Nigel Geary	523	1.2	New
Majority			812	1.8	24.3
Turnout			45,158	58.3	40.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	20.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wyre Forest ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	32,960	65.2	6.8
	Labour	Robin Lunn	11,547	22.8	9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Shazu Miah	4,081	8.1	4.3
	Green	John Davis	1,973	3.9	1.9
Majority			21,413	42.4	18.3
Turnout			50,561	64.8	1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.2

General election 2017: Wyre Forest ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	29,859	58.4	13.1
	Labour	Matt Lamb	16,525	32.3	13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Shazu Miah	1,943	3.8	1.3
	UKIP	George Connolly	1,777	3.5	12.6
	Green	Brett Caulfield	1,025	2.0	0.3
Majority			13,334	26.1	0.1
Turnout			51,223	65.8	2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Wyre Forest

General election 2015: Wyre Forest ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	22,394	45.3	8.4
	Labour	Matt Lamb	9,523	19.3	5.0
	UKIP	Michael Wrench	7,967	16.1	13.2
	NHA	Richard Taylor	7,211	14.6	17.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Crick	1,228	2.5	9.4
	Green	Natalie McVey	1,117	2.3	New
Majority			12,871	26.0	20.8
Turnout			49,440	63.8	3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: Wyre Forest ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	18,793	36.9	7.8
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	16,150	31.7	6.9
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	7,298	14.3	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Neville Farmer	6,040	11.9	New
	UKIP	Michael Wrench	1,498	2.9	0.6
	BNP	Gordon Howells	1,120	2.2	New
Majority			2,643	5.2	N/A
Turnout			50,899	66.8	2.9
	Conservative gain from Health Concern		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wyre Forest ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	18,739	39.9	18.2
	Conservative	Mark Garnier	13,489	28.7	9.6
	Labour	Marc Bayliss	10,716	22.8	0.7
	Liberal	Frances Oborski	2,666	5.7	New
	UKIP	Rustie Lee	1,074	2.3	1.5
	Monster Raving Loony	Bert Priest	303	0.6	New
Majority			5,250	11.2	24.8
Turnout			46,987	64.2	3.8
	Health Concern hold		Swing	13.9

General election 2001: Wyre Forest ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	28,487	58.1	New
	Labour	David Lock	10,857	22.1	26.7
	Conservative	Mark Simpson	9,350	19.1	17.0
	UKIP	Jim Millington	368	0.8	0.2
Majority			17,630	36.0	N/A
Turnout			49,062	68.0	7.4
	Health Concern gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wyre Forest ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Lock	26,843	48.8	+18.0
	Conservative	Anthony Coombs	19,897	36.1	−11.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Cropp	4,377	8.0	−13.4
	Referendum	William Till	1,956	3.6	New
	Liberal	Chris Harvey	1,670	3.0	New
	UKIP	Jim Millington	312	0.6	New
Majority			6,946	12.7	N/A
Turnout			55,055	75.4	−8.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Wyre Forest ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Coombs	28,983	47.8	0.7
	Labour	Ross Maden	18,642	30.8	11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Jones	12,958	21.4	12.6
Majority			10,341	17.0	3.8
Turnout			60,583	82.3	4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wyre Forest ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Coombs	25,877	47.1	1.3
	Liberal	Anthony Batchelor	18,653	34.0	1.6
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	10,365	18.9	0.3
Majority			7,224	13.1	2.9
Turnout			54,895	77.6	2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.5

General election 1983: Wyre Forest ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Esmond Bulmer	24,809	48.4
	Liberal	Anthony Batchelor	16,632	32.4
	Labour	Roger Williams	9,850	19.2
Majority			8,177	16.0
Turnout			51,291	75.1
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Tory hails 'fresh start' for Wyre Forest - Kidderminster Shuttle
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
4. "Wyre Forest". BBC. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
5. "Wyre Forest Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
6. "Wyre Forest results". BBC News . Retrieved 9 June 2017.
7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online . Retrieved 7 May 2010.
10. "Result: Wyre Forest". BBC News. 6 May 2005.
11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
16. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Wyre Forest UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Wyre Forest UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

52°24′N2°15′W / 52.40°N 2.25°W / 52.40; -2.25