Ashfield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Lee Anderson,formerly of the Conservative Party (UK),but who had the whip suspended in February 2024 and two weeks later joined Reform UK to become their first MP. The constituency is in the English county of Nottinghamshire,East Midlands;located to the north west of the city of Nottingham in the Erewash Valley along the border with neighbouring county Derbyshire. Ashfield was part of the Red Wall which by and large,voted Conservative in the 2019 general election. In the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union,Ashfield voted 70% in favour of Brexit.
Anna Mary Soubry is a British barrister,journalist and former politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe from 2010 to 2019. Known for her support of pro-European policies,she was originally elected as a Conservative but left the party to join Change UK in 2019.
Gloria De Piero is a British broadcaster and former politician,who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield from 2010 to 2019.
Benjamin David Bradley is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield,Nottinghamshire,since the 2017 general election.
Jonathan Bullock is an English politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands constituency until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. He was third on the UKIP list for that constituency in the 2014 European election,and became an MEP on 1 August 2017,succeeding Roger Helmer. He was re-elected in 2019 for the Brexit Party.
Andrew James Bridgen is a British politician and businessman who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire since 2010. He was a member of the Conservative Party until his expulsion in April 2023,having had the whip suspended in January after criticising the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and claiming that an Israeli cardiologist told him it constitutes "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust". He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023 but resigned from the party in December 2023.
Jill Seymour is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2014 to 2019. Elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2014,in April 2019 she defected to the Brexit Party. Despite her defection,she was not selected as a Brexit Party candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections,and ceased to remain an MEP on 26 May 2019.
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019 with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members of the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats,a net gain of 48,on 43.6% of the popular vote,the highest percentage for any party since the 1979 general election.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election,held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019,after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020,and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Sleaford and North Hykeham in Lincolnshire,England,was held on 8 December 2016. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative member of parliament (MP) Stephen Phillips,who left Parliament on 4 November 2016 due to policy differences with the Conservative government led by the prime minister,Theresa May,over Brexit –the British withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The Conservatives nominated Caroline Johnson,a paediatrician,to replace Phillips;she won the by-election with more than 50 per cent of the vote,a sizable majority. The Conservatives' vote share fell slightly compared to the result at the previous general election in 2015.
The region of West Midlands is divided into 59 parliamentary constituencies which is made up of 35 borough constituencies and 24 county constituencies. Since the general election of December 2019,42 are represented by Conservative MPs,16 by Labour MPs,and 1 by a Liberal Democrat MP.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Catherine Blaiklock with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party,advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit. It was a significant political force at the 2019 European Parliament election,but failed to win any seats at the 2019 general election. After the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020,it was renamed to Reform UK,and it became primarily an anti-lockdown party during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022,the party has campaigned on a platform of broader right-wing populist issues,chiefly surrounding illegal migration and the government’s Net Zero energy policy.
James Freeman Wells is a British broadcaster and former politician. He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Wales constituency in the 2019 election,serving until January 2020. He was second on his party's list after Nathan Gill.
Lucy Elizabeth Harris is a British Conservative Party politician and advisor. She was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Yorkshire and the Humber constituency in the 2019 European parliamentary election. She held this role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Prior to her political career,she worked in publishing as a corporate communications executive for The Quarto Group,and later the Greater London Authority.
Matthew Richard Patten is a former British politician,who represented the Brexit Party. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands between 2019 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. He had previously been a Conservative councillor for Bradfield,Wix and Wrabness in Tendring District,Essex.
Lee Anderson is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield since 2019. Elected as a member of the Conservative Party,he defected to Reform UK in March 2024 after having the whip suspended. He is Reform UK's first and only MP.
Mark Peter Fletcher is a British politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 2019. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
The Reclaim Party is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 2020 by British actor and political activist Laurence Fox,with 100% funding from a single donor Jeremy Hosking.
The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the United Kingdom was held on 23 May 2019. These were the last elections to the European Parliament to be held before Brexit.
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of North Shropshire was held on 16 December 2021. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Owen Paterson on 5 November 2021. The by-election was won by Helen Morgan,with a 34% swing from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.
