South West Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°57′29″N 0°29′28″W / 51.958°N 0.491°W

South West Bedfordshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South West Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire.
Location of Bedfordshire within England.
County	Bedfordshire
Electorate	76,178 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Houghton Regis
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Andrew Selous (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	South Bedfordshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

South West Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.^{[n 1]} As with all constituencies of the UK Parliament, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.

The serving Member since 2001 is Conservative Andrew Selous, who succeeded Conservative David Madel. Selous has been re-elected three times: in 2005, 2010, and 2015.

History

The constituency was created in 1983, mostly from the former seat of South Bedfordshire. It was represented by Sir David Madel, a Conservative, from its creation until his retirement in 2001; he almost suffered one of the biggest upsets of the 1997 general election, when the Labour Party's candidate spectacularly cut his majority from 21,273 to just 132.

The present Conservative MP for the seat is Andrew Selous; he won the seat in 2001, when he managed to increase the party's majority, but only just: this increased somewhat more substantially each time in 2005 and 2010, ultimately to more than 16,000. The 2010 election also saw the second-placed candidate's party change, to the Liberal Democrats, similar to the results of 1983 and 1987, when this was the joint platform for R. Byfield and J.R. Burrow respectively, the (SDP-Liberal Alliance).

Boundaries

1983-1997: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Beaudesert, Brooklands, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Heath and Reach, Hockliffe, Houghton Central, Houghton East, Houghton South, Icknield, Kensworth, Linslade, Northfields, Plantation, Priory, Southcott, Stanbridge, Studham, Totternhoe, and Watling, and the District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Aspley, Cranfield, Marston, and Woburn.

1997-2010: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Beaudesert, Brooklands, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Heath and Reach, Hockliffe, Houghton Central, Houghton East, Houghton South, Icknield, Kensworth, Linslade, Northfields, Plantation, Priory, Southcott, Stanbridge, Studham, Totternhoe, and Watling.

2010-present: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of All Saints, Chiltern, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Grovebury, Heath and Reach, Houghton Hall, Icknield, Kensworth and Totternhoe, Linslade, Manshead, Northfields, Parkside, Planets, Plantation, Southcott, Stanbridge, Tithe Farm, and Watling.

Constituency profile

At the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the constituency of South West Bedfordshire was recorded as 102,031 persons, of whom 50,277 were male, and 51,754 were female.^[2] 74.30% of usual residents aged 16-74 are economically active, including 4.22% unemployed. A further 13.27% of the population are retired (lower than both the regional average of 14.4% and national average of 13.7%), and 3.75% are students.^[3] A statistical compilation by The Guardian showed unemployment benefits claimants in the constituency for April 2013 were 3.3% of the population, lower than the regional average of 3.6%.^[4]

Turnout at the 2015 General Election was 51,304, or 64.4% of those eligible to vote; lower than the national turnout of 66.4%.^[5][6]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1983	Sir David Madel	Conservative
	2001	Andrew Selous	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: South West Bedfordshire^[8][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Selous [9]	28,212	55.0	+2.2
	Labour	Daniel Scott [9]	10,399	20.3	+0.7
	UKIP	John van Weenen [10]	7,941	15.5	+11.3
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Rutherford [11]	2,646	5.2	−14.9
	Green	Emily Lawrence [12]	2,106	4.1	N/A
Majority			17,813	34.7
Turnout			51,304	64.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: South West Bedfordshire^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Selous	26,815	52.8	+4.5
	Liberal Democrat	Rod Cantrill	10,166	20.0	+3.2
	Labour	Jenny Bone	9,948	19.6	−10.6
	UKIP	Martin Newman	2,142	4.2	+0.0
	BNP	Mark Tolman	1,703	3.4	N/A
Majority			16,649	32.8
Turnout			50,774	66.3	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: South West Bedfordshire^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Selous	22,114	48.3	+6.2
	Labour	Joyce Edna Still	13,837	30.2	−10.2
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Mark Strange	7,723	16.9	+2.1
	UKIP	Tom Wise	1,923	4.2	+1.5
	Open-Forum	Kenson Felix Francis Gurney	217	0.5	N/A
Majority			8,277	18.1
Turnout				61.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2001: South West Bedfordshire^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Andrew Selous	18,477	42.1	+1.4
	Labour	Andrew Richard Date	17,701	40.4	−0.1
	Liberal Democrat	Martin James Pantling	6,473	14.8	+0.5
	UKIP	Tom Wise	1,203	2.7	+1.9
Majority			776	1.7
Turnout			43,854	62.1	−13.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: South West Bedfordshire^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Madel	21,534	40.7	−15.5
	Labour	Andrew Richard Date	21,402	40.5	+14.7
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Henry Martin Owen	7,559	14.3	−2.3
	Referendum	Mrs. Rosalind Hill	1,761	3.3	N/A
	UKIP	Tom Wise	446	0.8	N/A
	Natural Law	Alexander Le Carpentier	162	0.3	−0.1
Majority			132	0.2
Turnout			52,864	75.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−16.1

General Election 1992: Bedfordshire South West^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Madel	37,498	57.1	−1.0
	Labour	Barry Edward Elliott	16,225	24.7	+6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mark John Freeman	10,988	16.7	−5.5
	Green	Peter John Rollings	689	1.0	−0.3
	Natural Law	John Dobie Gilmour	239	0.4	N/A
Majority			21,273	32.4	−3.5
Turnout			65,639	81.9	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: South West Bedfordshire^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Madel	36,140	58.2	+3.2
	Social Democratic	John Richard Burrow	13,835	22.3	−5.5
	Labour	Paul Howard Dimoldenberg	11,352	18.3	+1.1
	Green	Peter John Rollings	822	1.3	N/A
Majority			22,305	35.9
Turnout			62,149	78.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: South West Bedfordshire^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Madel	31,767	55.0	N/A
	Social Democratic	Richard Byfield	16,036	27.8	N/A
	Labour	William Cochrane	9,899	17.2	N/A
Majority			15,731	27.2	N/A
Turnout			57,702	75.6	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. South West Bedfordshire is a county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
3. "Key Figures for 2011 Census: Economic Activity". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
4. "Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
5. "Statement Of Persons Nominated And Notice Of Poll" (PDF). Acting Returning Officer. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
6. "The May 2015 UK elections: Report on the administration of the 7 May 2015 elections, including the UK Parliamentary general election" (PDF). p. 3.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
8. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
10. "2015 Parliamentary Adopted Candidates". myukip.com. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
11. "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats.
12. "Bedfordshire South West parliamentary constituency - Election 2015 - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/images/South%20Beds%20Statement%20of%20Nomination_tcm5-27595.pdf
15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Bedfordshire South West". politicsresources.net.
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 6 Dec 2010.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "UK General Election results: June 1987 [Archive]". politicsresources.net.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "UK General Election results: June 1983 [Archive]". politicsresources.net.