Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)

Nuneaton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Nuneaton in Warwickshire.
Location of Warwickshire within England.
County	Warwickshire
Electorate	68,288 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Marcus Jones (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Warwickshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Nuneaton is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Marcus Jones, a Conservative.^{[n 2]} Since 1997, the seat has been seen as an important national bellwether.^[2]

In the 2015 general election, Nuneaton was the first key marginal seat between the Conservatives and Labour to declare its results.^[3] Instead of seeing the predicted victory for Labour,^[4] the seat saw a swing of 3.0% towards the Conservatives which proved to be a big indication that they were heading for victory in the 2015 general election, contrary to prior opinion poll projections.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Division of Coventry, the Municipal Borough of Coventry, and part of the Sessional Divisions of Atherstone and Coleshill.

1918-1945: The Municipal Borough of Nuneaton, the Urban District of Bulkington, and the Rural Districts of Atherstone, Coventry, Foleshill, and Nuneaton.

1945-1955: The Municipal Borough of Nuneaton, the Urban District of Bedworth, and the Rural District of Atherstone.

1955-1974: The Municipal Borough of Nuneaton, and the Urban District of Bedworth.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Nuneaton, and the Urban District of Bedworth as altered by the Coventry Order 1965.

1983-2010: The Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth wards of Abbey, Arbury, Attleborough, Bulkington, Camp Hill, Chilvers Coton, Galley Common, St Nicolas, Stockingford, Weddington, and Whitestone, and the Borough of Rugby wards of Earl Craven, Fosse, and Wolvey.

2010-present: The Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth wards of Abbey, Arbury, Attleborough, Bar Pool, Camp Hill, Galley Common, Kingswood, St Nicolas, Weddington, Wem Brook, and Whitestone, and the Borough of North Warwickshire wards of Arley and Whitacre, and Hartshill.

The boundary changes which took effect for the 1983 general election removed the town of Bedworth, which was transferred to the newly created North Warwickshire constituency. As a result, the sitting MP Les Huckfield declined to stand and unsuccessfully sought nomination in other constituencies such as Wigan^[5] and Sedgefield.^[6]

History

The constituency was created as a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, in an area whose population had expanded as coal miners poured in from other parts of the country. At one time 20 collieries operated in the area and now one of three major British coal mines continued with operations in the constituency at Daw Mill atop the Warwickshire Coalfield (known as the Warwickshire Thick) in the north of the county until 2012 when it closed. The associated heavy industry and mining-centred economy coupled with the Representation of the People Act 1918 (Fourth Reform Act) led to Nuneaton being held by the Labour Party for nearly 50 years until lost in the 1983 Conservative Landslide to Lewis Stevens, a Conservative who retained the seat in 1987.

Labour regained the constituency at the 1992 election. Bill Olner beat Stevens and retained the seat in 2001 and 2005. Olner announced in 2007 that he would not be contesting the 2010 general election and would be standing down at the end of the 2005-2010 parliament.^[7] Former Nuneaton and Bedworth Council Leader, Marcus Jones was successful in taking the seat for the Conservative Party at the 2010 election and retained the seat in 2015.

2015 general election significance

In the 2015 general election, Nuneaton was the first marginal constituency between the Conservatives and Labour to declare its results. The result proved to be significant as it saw a 3.0% swing to the Conservatives, despite the seat being Labour's 38th biggest target^[8] and Labour being predicted to win the seat.^[4] The result therefore proved to be a major indication that the Conservatives were going to win a majority of seats in the House of Commons for the first time since the 1992 general election, something which went against national opinion polls which pointed towards Labour gains in the key marginal constituencies.^[9]

It was later reported that the moment incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron knew his Conservative Party had won the general election was when Nuneaton declared its results at 1.53 am on the 8th May 2015.^[10]

This has led to many pointing out the similarities between Nuneaton and the former constituency of Basildon which in 1987 and 1992, Labour unexpectedly failed to win. This is why the Nuneaton result has been seen as the 'Basildon Moment' of 2015, since the Basildon constituency similarly foreshadowed the Conservative's election victory in 1992.^[11]

Labour's failure to win Nuneaton in the 2015 general election was seen as symbolic of their national failure. This meant Nuneaton was chosen by the Labour Party as the host of their first televised leadership debate during their 2015 leadership election.^[12]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[13]	Party
1885	Jasper Wilson Johns	Liberal
1886	John Stratford Dugdale	Conservative
1892	Francis Newdigate, from 1902 Francis Newdigate-Newdegate	Conservative
1906	William Johnson	Liberal
1909		Labour
1914		Liberal
1918	Sir Henry Maddocks	Coalition Conservative
1923	Herbert Willison	Liberal
1924	Arthur Hope	Conservative
1929	Francis Smith	Labour
1931	Edward North	Conservative
1935	Reginald Fletcher	Labour
1942 by-election	Frank Bowles	Labour
1965 by-election	Frank Cousins	Labour
1967 by-election	Les Huckfield	Labour
1983	Lewis Stevens	Conservative
1992	Bill Olner	Labour
2010	Marcus Jones	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Nuneaton^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Marcus Jones	20,827	45.5	+4.0
	Labour	Vicky Fowler	15,945	34.9	-2.0
	UKIP	Alwyn Waine ^[15]	6,582	14.4	N/A
	Green	Keith Kondakor ^[16]	1,281	2.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Christina Jebb ^[17]	816	1.8	-13.6
	TUSC	Paul Reilly	194	0.4	N/A
	English Democrat	Steve Paxton	104	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,882	10.7	+6.1
Turnout			45,749	67.2	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

General Election 2010: Nuneaton^[18]^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Marcus Jones	18,536	41.5	+4.6
	Labour	Jayne Innes ^[20]	16,467	36.9	-9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Christina Jebb	6,846	15.3	+2.8
	BNP	Martyn Findley	2,797	6.3	N/A
Majority			2,069	4.6	N/A
Turnout			44,646	65.8	+6.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Nuneaton^[21]^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bill Olner	19,945	44.0	-8.1
	Conservative	Mark Pawsey	17,665	39.0	+4.3
	Liberal Democrat	Ali Asghar	5,884	13.0	+1.9
	UKIP	Keith Tyson	1,786	3.9	+1.9
Majority			2,280	5.0	-12.4
Turnout			45,279	61.7	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.2

General Election 2001: Nuneaton ^[23]^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bill Olner	22,577	52.1	-4.1
	Conservative	Mark Lancaster	15,042	34.7	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Tony Ferguson	4,820	11.1	+2.3
	UKIP	Brian James	873	2.0	+1.5
Majority			7,535	17.4	-7.9
Turnout			43,312	60.1	-14.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.95

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Nuneaton ^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bill Olner	30,080	56.2	+10.5
	Conservative	Richard Blunt	16,540	30.9	-12.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ron Cockings	4,732	8.8	-2.4
	Referendum	Roy English	1,533	2.9	N/A
	Independent	David Bray	390	0.7	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Everitt	238	0.5	N/A
Majority			13,540	25.3	+22.5
Turnout			53,513	74.4	-8.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.3

General Election 1992: Nuneaton ^[26]^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bill Olner	27,157	45.8	+11.2
	Conservative	Lewis Stevens	25,526	43.0	-1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Ruth Merritt	6,671	11.2	-8.0
Majority			1,631	2.8	N/A
Turnout			59,354	83.0	+2.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.55

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Nuneaton ^[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lewis Stevens	24,630	44.9	+4.4
	Labour	Valerie Veness	18,975	34.6	+4.0
	Liberal	Andrew Trembath	10,550	19.2	N/A
	Green	John Morrissey	719	1.3	N/A
Majority			5,655	10.3	+0.4
Turnout			54,874	80.3	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.2

General Election 1983: Nuneaton ^[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lewis Stevens	20,666	40.5	+2.8
	Labour	John Haynes	15,605	30.6	-19.3
	Social Democratic	Ruth Levitt	14,264	28.0	N/A
	Independent	GE Davies	504	1.0	+0.0
Majority			5,061	9.9	N/A
Turnout			51,039	77.3	-1.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+11.05

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	31,403	49.9	-6.2
	Conservative	Lewis Stevens	23,715	37.7	+12.5
	Liberal	CEG Williams	6,184	9.8	-8.8
	National Front	RP Matthews	6,184	9.8	-8.8
	Independent	GE Davies	504	1.0	N/A
Majority			7,688	12.2	-18.6
Turnout			62,959	78.5	+4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.35

General Election, October 1974: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	32,308	56.1	+2.25
	Conservative	R Freeman	14,547	25.3	-1.05
	Liberal	N Hawkins	10,729	18.6	-1.19
Majority			17,761	30.8	+2.58
Turnout			57,584	73.9	-8.51
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.65

General Election, February 1974: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	34,258	53.85	-3.58
	Conservative	D Samuel	16,765	26.35	-6.34
	Liberal	D Inman	12,491	19.79	+10.00
Majority			17,493	27.50	+2.86
Turnout			63,614	82.41	+6.21
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.38

General Election 1970: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	32,877	57.43	+15.35
	Conservative	Susan M Lewis-Smith	18,769	32.79	+0.06
	Liberal	Alex DN Harrison	5,602	9.79	-7.85
Majority			14,108	24.64	+2.22
Turnout			57,248	76.20	-3.48
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.65

Elections in the 1960s

By Election 1967: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	18,239	42.08	-11.9
	Conservative	David Laidlaw Knox	14,185	32.73	+1.17
	Liberal	Alan Meredith	7,644	17.64	+3.18
	All Party Alliance	John Creasey	2,755	6.36	N/A
	Independent	Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett	517	1.19	N/A
Majority			4,054	9.35	-13.07
Turnout			43,340	67.90	-11.78
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.37

General Election 1966: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Frank Cousins	27,452	53.98	+5.06
	Conservative	David S Marland	16,049	31.56	-3.37
	Liberal	Alan Meredith	7,356	14.46	-1.68
Majority			11,403	22.42	-1.28
Turnout			50,857	79.68	-0.43
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.22

By Election 1965: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Frank Cousins	18,325	48.92	-3.86
	Conservative	David S Marland	13,084	34.93	+5.85
	Liberal	John Campbell	6,047	16.14	-1.99
Majority			5,241	13.99	-9.71
Turnout			37,456	60.80	-19.91
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.86

General Election 1964: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	26,059	52.78	+0.34
	Conservative	David S Marland	14,357	29.08	-3.26
	Liberal	John Campbell	8,953	18.13	+2.91
Majority			11,702	23.70	+3.61
Turnout			49,369	80.11	-1.69
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.80

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	24,894	52.44	-3.39
	Conservative	Charles G Miller	15,354	32.34	-0.62
	Liberal	John Campbell	7,227	15.22	+4.00
Majority			9,540	20.09	-2.77
Turnout			47,475	81.80	-2.11
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.39

General Election 1955: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	25,112	55.83	-5.8
	Conservative	Robert Dermott D Griffith	14,828	32.96	+3.74
	Liberal	John Beeching Frankenburg	5,048	11.22	+0.47
Majority			10,284	22.86	-7.94
Turnout			44,988	79.69	-5.33
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.06

General Election 1951: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	35,651	60.03	+1.33
	Conservative	JE Tippett	17,356	29.22	+1.62
	Liberal	GC Middleton	6,386	10.75	-2.95
Majority			18,295	30.80	-0.40
Turnout			59,393	85.02	-2.28
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.15

General Election 1950: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	35,129	58.7
	Conservative	Mrs. Phylis G Spencer	16,488	27.6
	Liberal	Jack A Harris	8,177	13.7
Majority			18,641	31.2
Turnout				87.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	30,587	58.5
	Conservative	Com. John Maurice Fitzroy-Newdegate	12,267	23.4
	Liberal	Wing-Com. Peter John Ambrose Calvocoressi	8,986	17.2
	Independent	Leonard Melling	468	0.9
Majority			18,320	35.0
Turnout				78.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Nuneaton by-election, 1942
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis George Bowles	unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1939/40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Labour: Reginald Fletcher

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Reginald Thomas Herbert Fletcher	33,237	48.4
	Conservative	John Moores	28,000	40.8
	Liberal	William Thomas Stanton	7,384	10.8
Majority			5,237	7.6
Turnout			68,621	75.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1931: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edward Tempest Tunstall North	25,839	41.7
	Labour	Francis Samuel Smith	23,375	37.7
	Liberal National	Herbert Willison	12,811	20.6
Majority			2,464	4.0
Turnout			62,025	78.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Francis Samuel Smith	27,102	44.4	+13.1
	Liberal	Herbert Willison	19,104	31.3	+0.3
	Unionist	Arthur Oswald James Hope	14,189	24.3	-13.4
Majority			7,998	13.1	19.5
Turnout				84.1	+5.4
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+13.2

General Election 1924: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Arthur Oswald James Hope	15,242	37.7	+7.2
	Labour	Francis Samuel Smith	12,679	31.3	+2.2
	Liberal	Herbert Willison	12,550	31.0	-9.4
Majority			2,563	6.4
Turnout				78.7
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Nuneaton ^[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Herbert Willison	14,518	40.4	+11.2
	Unionist	Sir Henry Maddocks	10,940	30.5	-7.8
	Labour	Thomas Barron	10,437	29.1	-3.4
Majority			3,578	9.9	15.7
Turnout				72.6	+2.8
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+9.5

General Election 1922: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Henry Maddocks	12,765	38.3	-7.9
	Labour	J Stevenson	10,842	32.5	+6.7
	Liberal	T Slack	9,730	29.2	+5.7
Majority			1,923	5.8	-14.6
Turnout				69.8	+13.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-7.3

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Nuneaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Henry H Maddocks	11,198	46.2
	Labour	Ivor Gregory	6,269	25.8
	Liberal	William Henry Grant	5,707	23.5
	National Democratic	William Henry Dyson	1,101	4.5
Majority			4,929	20.4
Turnout				55.9
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Notes and references

Notes

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

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Editorial, Reuters. "Parliamentary bellwether Nuneaton votes strongly for Leave". Retrieved 2016-09-17.
↑ "Conservatives win Nuneaton key battleground". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
1 2 http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NuneatonCX3-March-2015-Full-tables.pdf
↑ Alamanac of British Politics, 3rd edition, Robert Waller
↑ "The glittering prize", The Telegraph, 16 July 2000 accessed 24 April 2010
↑ Coventry Telegraph 27 March 2007 Accessed 26 November 2007
↑ http://labourlist.org/2013/01/labours-106-battleground-target-seats-for-2015/
↑ Holehouse, Matthew (17 March 2015). "Labour ahead in key marginals". The Daily Telegraph. London.
↑ Walker, Peter (2015-05-12). "Can the explanation for Labour's election failure be found in Nuneaton?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
↑ "Why Nuneaton was the Basildon of 2015". BBC News. 13 May 2015.
↑ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/14/nuneaton-labour-party-voters-rejected
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/wife-expelled-tory-stand-ukip-8309064
↑ http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Green-councillor-joins-MP-battle/story-24521088-detail/story.html
↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/list_of_selected_candidates
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "UK > England > West Midlands > Nuneaton". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/d42.stm
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Results for Nuneaton".
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Nuneaton". BBC News.
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

External links

Constituencies in the West Midlands (59)

Conservative (34)	Aldridge-Brownhills Bromsgrove Burton Cannock Chase Dudley South Halesowen and Rowley Regis Hereford and South Herefordshire Kenilworth and Southam Lichfield Ludlow Meriden Mid Worcestershire North Herefordshire North Shropshire North Warwickshire Nuneaton Redditch Rugby Shrewsbury and Atcham Solihull South Staffordshire Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stone Stourbridge Stratford-on-Avon Sutton Coldfield Tamworth Telford The Wrekin Warwick and Leamington West Worcestershire Worcester Wyre Forest

Labour (25)	Birmingham, Edgbaston Birmingham, Erdington Birmingham, Hall Green Birmingham, Hodge Hill Birmingham, Ladywood Birmingham, Northfield Birmingham, Perry Barr Birmingham, Selly Oak Birmingham, Yardley Coventry North East Coventry North West Coventry South Dudley North Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke-on-Trent Central Stoke-on-Trent North Stoke-on-Trent South Walsall North Walsall South Warley West Bromwich East West Bromwich West Wolverhampton North East Wolverhampton South East Wolverhampton South West

West Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (2) UKIP (3)

Coordinates: 52°30′N 1°27′W / 52.50°N 1.45°W / 52.50; -1.45

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