Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)

Christchurch
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Christchurch in Dorset.
Location of Dorset within England.
County	1983– Dorset 1572–1918: Hampshire
Population	83,596 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	69,008 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Christchurch
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Christopher Chope (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Christchurch and Lymington, North Dorset, New Forest
1572–1918
Number of members	1572–1832: Two 1832–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	New Forest and Christchurch
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Christchurch is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Christopher Chope of the Conservative Party. Centred on the town of the same name in Dorset that has a non-commercial harbour it includes the small resort of Mudeford, Ferndown, West Moors, St Leonards and station-served woodside settlement of Highcliffe and has been a Conservative safe seat since 1997.^{[n 2]}

History

The original Christchurch constituency, a parliamentary borough, existed from 1572 until 1918.

The constituency was re-created as a county constituency in 1983 from parts of the seats of Christchurch and Lymington, North Dorset and New Forest. It has since 1983 seen strong Conservative majorities, with the exception of a 1993 by-election caused by the death of Robert Adley when it was won by Diana Maddock a Liberal Democrat. The Conservatives regained the seat at the next general election in 1997, despite their landslide defeat nationally and Chris Chope has retained it ever since.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of Wimborne wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Golf Links, Longham, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives South, St Leonards and St Ives West, Stapehill, Tricketts Cross, Verwood, West Moors North, West Moor South, and West Parley.

1997-2010: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of East Dorset wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Golf Links, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives South, St Leonards and St Ives West, Tricketts Cross, Verwood, West Moors North, West Moors South, and West Parley.

2010-present: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of East Dorset wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Ferndown Links, Longham, Parley, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives West, Stapehill, and West Moors.

Constituency profile

The area is not as rural as the adjoining New Forest constituencies, nor as urban as Bournemouth and Poole, and contains a mixed assortment of coastal retirement havens, outlying Bournemouth suburbs and the town of Christchurch itself which has expanded to include dedicated villages of sheltered housing on its outskirts.

Consequently, the present Christchurch seat contains one of the most elderly electorates in the country - only Eastbourne and Devon East have an older average voter age and Christchurch has the highest proportion of over-60s of all UK seats. Having recovered from an early-1990s by-election loss, it is a safe Conservative seat, with MP Christopher Chope attaining a majority of over 30% at the last general election. It is the safest Tory seat in the South West and on most analyses is on the fringe of the area that usually qualifies as the South West, served by a station with direct links to the capital and closest to London.

Bournemouth airport is located within the seat.

Members of Parliament

Parliamentary borough (1572–1918)

MPs 1571–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
Parliament of 1571	Andrew Rogers	John Hyett
Parliament of 1572-1581	Henry Knollys	Matthew Evans
Parliament of 1584-1585	Alexander Nevill
Parliament of 1586-1587	Henry Ashley
Parliament of 1588-1589	Justinian Champernoun	Sampson Lennard
Parliament of 1593	John Herbert	John Agmondesham[3]
Parliament of 1597-1598	Simon Willis	Andrew Rogers
Parliament of 1601		Henry Meere
Parliament of 1604-1611	Richard Martin	Nicholas Hyde
Addled Parliament (1614)	Sir Thomas Norton	Henry Breton
Parliament of 1621-1622	Sir George Hastings	Nathaniel Tomkins
Happy Parliament (1624-1625)	Sir George Astmyll
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Thomas Wilford
Parliament of 1625-1626	Robert Mason
Parliament of 1628-1629	Henry Croke
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member[4]	First party		Second member[4]	Second party
April 1640		Arnold Herbert			Henry Tulse
November 1640		Matthew Davis	Royalist
1642				Tulse died September(?) 1642 - seat left vacant
March 1643	Davis disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645		Richard Edwards	Parliamentarian		John Kempe	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Kempe not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Christchurch was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		John Bulkeley			Henry Tulse
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
March 1660		John Hildesley			Henry Tulse
1661		Humphrey Weld
February 1679		Sir Thomas Clarges
August 1679					George Fulford
1685					Anthony Ettrick
1689		Francis Gwyn			William Ettrick
1695		Viscount Cornbury
1701		Francis Gwyn
1710		(Sir) Peter Mews[5]
1717					Francis Gwyn[6]
1724 by-election					Edward Prideaux Gwyn
1726 by-election		Jacob Banks
1727		Joseph Hinxman			Charles Wither
1732 by-election					Philip Lloyd
1734					Edward Hooper
1740 by-election		(Sir) Charles Armand Powlett[7]
1748 by-election					Sir Thomas Robinson
1751 by-election		Harry Powlett
1754		Hon. John Mordaunt
1761		Hon. Thomas Robinson			James Harris	Whig
Nov,mber 1770 by-election		James Harris (junior)	Whig
1774		Hon. Thomas Villiers Hyde[8]	Tory
1780		Sir James Harris	Whig
1781 by-election					(Sir) John Frederick[9]
1788 by-election		Hans Sloane	Tory
1790					George Rose
1796		William Stewart Rose
May 1800 by-election		William Chamberlayne
1802		William Sturges Bourne	Tory
1812		William Edward Tomline
March 1818 by-election					Sir George Henry Rose	Tory
June 1818		William Sturges Bourne	Tory
1826		George Pitt Rose
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1918

Year		Member[10][4]	Party
	1832	Sir George Tapps-Gervis	Conservative
	1837	Sir George Henry Rose	Conservative
	1844	Hon. Edward Harris	Conservative
	1852	John Edward Walcott	Conservative
	1868	Edmund Haviland-Burke	Liberal
	1874	Sir Henry Drummond Wolff	Conservative
	1880	Horace Davey	Liberal
	1885	Charles Edward Baring Young	Conservative
	1892	Abel Henry Smith	Conservative
	1900	Kenneth Robert Balfour	Conservative
	1906	Arthur Acland Allen	Liberal
	1910	Henry Page Croft	Conservative
	1917		National
	1918	constituency abolished

County constituency

MPs since 1983

Election		Member[11][4]	Party
	1983	Robert Adley	Conservative
	1993 by-election	Diana Maddock	Liberal Democrat
	1997	Christopher Chope	Conservative

Elections 1983-2015

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Christchurch^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	28,887	58.1	+1.7
	UKIP	Robin Grey	10,663	21.5	+13.0
	Labour	Andrew Satherley	4,745	9.5	-0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Andy Canning[13]	3,263	6.6	-18.7
	Green	Shona Dunn [14]	2,149	4.3	+4.3
Majority			18,224	36.7	+5.5
Turnout			49,707	71.7	-0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.6

General Election 2010: Christchurch^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	27,888	56.4	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Martyn Hurll	12,478	25.3	+1.2
	Labour	Robert Deeks	4,849	9.8	-5.8
	UKIP	David Williams	4,201	8.5	+3.4
Majority			15,410	31.2
Turnout			49,416	71.8	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Christchurch^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	28,208	54.7	−0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Leslie Coman	12,649	24.5	−3.3
	Labour	Jim King	8,051	15.6	+0.5
	UKIP	David Hughes	2,657	5.2	+3.2
Majority			15,559	30.2
Turnout			51,565	69.6	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General Election 2001: Christchurch^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	27,306	55.1	+8.7
	Liberal Democrat	Dorothy Webb	13,762	27.8	-14.8
	Labour	Judith Begg	7,506	15.1	+8.2
	UKIP	Margaret Strange	993	2.0	+0.9
Majority			13,544	27.3
Turnout			49,567	67.5	-11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Christchurch^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Chope	26,095	46.43
	Liberal Democrat	Diana Margaret Maddock	23,930	42.58
	Labour	Charles Mannan	3,884	6.91
	Referendum	Ray Spencer	1,684	3.0
	UKIP	R.H. Dickinson	606	1.08
Majority			2,165	3.85
Turnout			56,199	78.53
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	18.30

By-election 1993: Christchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Diana Margaret Maddock	33,164	62.2	+38.6
	Conservative	Robert Hayward	16,737	31.4	−32.2
	Labour	Nigel James Dominic Lickley	1,453	2.7	−9.4
	Anti-Federalist League	Alan Sked	878	1.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	404	0.8	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Andrew Bannon	357	0.7	N/A
	Sack Graham Taylor	Peter G. Newman	80	0.2	N/A
	Buy The Daily Sport	Tara Bardot-Jackson	67	0.1	N/A
	Save the National Health Service	Peter A. Hollyman	60	0.1	N/A
	Highlander IV Wednesday Promotion	John P. Crockard	48	0.1	N/A
	Natural Law	Mark Roderick Francis Griffiths	45	0.1	−0.3
	Ian For King	Mark Belcher	23	0.0	N/A
	Alfred The Chicken	Karl Fitzhugh	18	0.0	N/A
	Rainbow Alliance	John R. Walley	16	0.0	N/A
Majority			16,427	30.8
Turnout			53,350	74.2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+35.4

General Election 1992: Christchurch^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Adley	36,627	63.5	−2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Rev. Dennis Bussey	13,612	23.6	−0.9
	Labour	Alan Lloyd	6,997	12.1	+2.6
	Natural Law	James Trevor Barratt	243	0.4	N/A
	Chauvinist Raving Alliance	Adrian David Wareham	175	0.3	N/A
Majority			23,015	39.9	−1.4
Turnout			57,654	80.7	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Christchurch^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Adley	35,656	65.9	−1.2
	Social Democratic	Miss Hilary Jean McKenzie	13,282	24.5	−0.8
	Labour	Ms. Caralyn Elisabeth Longhurst	5,174	9.6	+2.0
Majority			22,374	41.4
Turnout			54,112	76.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Christchurch^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Adley	31,722	67.1	N/A
	Social Democratic	Stephen Elwyn Alexander	11,984	25.3	N/A
	Labour	John Roger Mitchell	3,590	7.6	N/A
Majority			19,738	41.7	N/A
Turnout			47,296	72.2	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1885-1918

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Christchurch ^[23][24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Edward Baring Young	2,184	52.1
	Liberal	Horace Davey	2,006	47.9
Majority			178	4.2
Turnout				90.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1886: Christchurch ^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Edward Baring Young	2,072	53.1	+1.0
	Liberal	Alpheus Cleophas Morton	1,833	46.9	-1.0
Majority			239	6.2	+2.0
Turnout				84.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 1890s

Smith

General Election 1892: Christchurch ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	2,803
	Liberal	Banister Fletcher	2,600
Majority			203
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Christchurch ^[24][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	3,198
	Liberal	Thomas Allnutt Brassey	3,114
Majority			84
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Christchurch ^[24][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kenneth Robert Balfour	3,411
	Liberal	Thomas Allnutt Brassey	3,408
Majority			3
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Allen

General Election 1906: Christchurch ^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Arthur Acland Allen	4,634	53.3	+3.4
	Conservative	Kenneth Robert Balfour	4,067	46.7	-3.4
Majority			567	6.6	6.8
Turnout				91.3	+7.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.4

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Christchurch ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Henry Page Croft	5,538
	Liberal	Arthur Acland Allen	4,807
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Verney

General Election December 1910: Christchurch ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Henry Page Croft	5,275
	Liberal	Frederick William Verney	4,619
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Henry Page Croft
• Liberal:

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Christchurch: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
2. "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.
3. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/agmondesham-john-ii-1543-98
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)
5. Knighted July 1712
6. Gwyn was re-elected in 1722, but had also been elected for Wells, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Christchurch
7. Knighted (KB), 1749
8. Styled Lord Hyde from June 1776
9. Succeeded to a baronetcy, April 1783
10. "Christchurch 1660-1918". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
11. "Christchurch 1983-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South West
14. http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/North-Dorset-Green-Party-announces-candidate/story-25997325-detail/story.html
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
24. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
25. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
26. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
27. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
28. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
29. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Sources

• The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 1983)
• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) * J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Christchurch — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.