North West Leicestershire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire
Outline map
Location of Leicestershire within England
CountyLeicestershire
Electorate72,022 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsCoalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentAndrew Bridgen (Independent)
SeatsOne
Created fromBosworth and Loughborough

North West Leicestershire is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Bridgen, originally a Conservative who sat as an Independent following his suspension in January 2023 and subsequent expulsion, until he joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023.[2][n 2]

History

The constituency was created in 1983, and first won by the Conservative David Ashby. He stood down in 1997 and the seat was then won by Labour's David Taylor, who held the seat until he died of a heart attack in December 2009. Taylor had already announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election. With the next election being due on 6 May 2010, it was considered uneconomic and (based on precedent) unnecessary to arrange a by-election. In the 2010 election, Andrew Bridgen took the seat for the Conservatives, with a swing of 12% from Labour to the Conservatives and with a smaller Lab-LD swing. Bridgen's majority was 7,511 or 14.5% of the total votes cast.

Constituency profile

North West Leicestershire's main settlements are the small towns of Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The population is divided between Labour-inclined former mining areas with high rates of employment[3] and low social housing dependency,[4][n 3] and Conservative-inclined rural villages, with most people focused close to the two towns named.[5] The seat has been a bellwether since 1983, as the winning party has formed the government.

In 2011 Coalfield Resources plc were given permission to develop an opencast coal mining pit on the site of the former Minorca colliery on the outskirts of Measham, in the seat, which will be 1 mi (1.6 km) across and extract 1,250,000 tonnes (1,230,000 tons) of coal over five years, and 250,000 tonnes (about 245,000 tons) of clay. This will be one of three large mines all operated by the main UK coal-extracting company.[6]

Boundaries

1983–1997: The District of North West Leicestershire, and the Borough of Charnwood wards of Shepshed East and Shepshed West.

1997–present: The District of North West Leicestershire.

North West Leicestershire constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Bosworth to the south and Loughborough to the east.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be reduced to bring the electorate within the permitted range by the transfer of the two small wards of Appleby, and Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe to the newly created constituency of Hinckley and Bosworth.[7]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[8] Party
1983 David Ashby Conservative
1997 David Taylor Labour
2010 Andrew Bridgen Conservative
2023 Independent
Reclaim
Independent

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: North West Leicestershire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Craig Smith[9]
Labour Amanda Hack[10]
Independent Andrew Bridgen[11]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North West Leicestershire[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Bridgen 33,811 62.8 +4.6
Labour Terri Eynon 13,411 24.9 -8.5
Liberal Democrats Grahame Hudson 3,614 6.7 +0.3
Green Carl Benfield 2,478 4.6 +2.5
Independent Edward Nudd 367 0.7 New
Libertarian Dan Liddicott 140 0.3 New
Majority 20,400 37.9 +13.1
Turnout 53,821 68.2 -2.8
Conservative hold Swing +6.6
General election 2017: North West Leicestershire[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Bridgen[14] 31,153 58.2 +8.7
Labour Sean Sheahan[15] 17,867 33.4 +6.0
Liberal Democrats Michael Wyatt 3,420 6.4 +2.5
Green Mia Woolley[16] 1,101 2.1 −0.2
Majority 13,286 24.8 +2.7
Turnout 53,541 71.0 −0.4
Conservative hold Swing +1.4
General election 2015: North West Leicestershire[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Bridgen 25,505 49.5 +4.9
Labour Jamie McMahon 14,132 27.4 −2.7
UKIP Andy McWilliam[18] 8,704 16.9 +14.7
Liberal Democrats Mark Argent[19] 2,033 3.9 −12.7
Green Benjamin Gravestock[20] 1,174 2.3 New
Majority 11,373 22.1 +7.6
Turnout 51,548 71.4 -1.5
Conservative hold Swing +3.8


General election 2010: North West Leicestershire[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Bridgen 23,147 44.6 +8.6
Labour Ross Willmott 15,636 30.1 −15.4
Liberal Democrats Paul Reynolds 8,639 16.6 +4.5
BNP Ian Meller 3,396 6.5 +3.4
UKIP Martin Green 1,134 2.2 −1.1
Majority 7,511 14.5 N/A
Turnout 51,952 72.9 +6.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +12.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North West Leicestershire[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op David Taylor 21,449 45.5 −6.6
Conservative Nicola Le Page 16,972 36.0 +2.1
Liberal Democrats Roderick Keys 5,682 12.1 +1.8
UKIP John Blunt 1,563 3.3 +1.0
BNP Clive Potter 1,474 3.1 New
Majority 4,477 9.5 -8.7
Turnout 47,140 66.8 +1.0
Labour Co-op hold Swing −4.4
General election 2001: North West Leicestershire[22][24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op David Taylor 23,431 52.1 −4.3
Conservative Nick Weston 15,274 33.9 +2.9
Liberal Democrats Charlie Fraser-Fleming 4,651 10.3 +1.7
UKIP William Nattrass 1,021 2.3 New
Independent Robert Nettleton 632 1.4 New
Majority 8,157 18.2 -7.2
Turnout 43,219 65.8 −14.2
Labour Co-op hold Swing -3.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North West Leicestershire[25][24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op David Taylor 29,332 56.4 +12.5
Conservative Robert Goodwill 16,113 31.0 −14.5
Liberal Democrats Stan Heptinstall 4,492 8.6 −1.6
Referendum Maurice Abney-Hastings 2,008 4.0 New
Majority 13,219 25.4 N/A
Turnout 51,945 80.0 -6.1
Labour Co-op gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1992: Leicestershire North West[26][27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Ashby 28,379 45.5 −2.1
Labour David Taylor 27,400 43.9 +9.6
Liberal Democrats Jeremy Beckett 6,353 10.2 −6.9
Natural Law David Fawcett 229 0.4 New
Majority 979 1.6 −11.7
Turnout 62,361 86.1 +3.3
Conservative hold Swing −5.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Leicestershire North West[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Ashby 27,872 47.6 +3.0
Labour Susan Waddington 20,044 34.3 +1.7
Liberal David Emmerson 10,034 17.1 −4.6
Green Helen Michetschlager 570 1.0 −0.1
Majority 7,828 13.3 +1.4
Turnout 58,520 82.85 +1.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Leicestershire North West[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Ashby 24,760 44.6
Labour Mel Read 18,098 32.6
Liberal Geoffrey Cort 12,043 21.7
Ecology Dinah Freer 637 1.15
Majority 6,662 12.0
Turnout 55,538 81.07
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

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.
  3. ↑ This should be contrasted with most constituencies in County Durham, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire which historically had a similar but more densely populated mining population and which have higher Indicators of Multiple Deprivation and are Labour safe seats based on length of service by one political party

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. ↑ Quinn, Ben (10 May 2023). "Andrew Bridgen becomes first Reclaim MP after expulsion from Tories". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  5. ↑ "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
  6. ↑ "Leicestershire opencast coal mine gains approval". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part I.
  8. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
  9. ↑ "Coalville-based councillor Smith will stand for Conservatives in North West Leicestershire at next General Election". Coalville Nub News. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Labour candidate selected to challenge for Tory seat held for more than a decade". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen quits Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party". Independent. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Leicestershire North West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  13. ↑ "General Election 2017: North West Leicestershire". The Daily Express. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  14. ↑ Andrew Bridgen [@ABridgen] (25 April 2017). "Delighted and honoured to have been unanimously readopted as the NW Leics Conservative candidate for the forthcoming General Election" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "East Midlands Labour candidates announced - East Midlands Labour". Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Elections - North West Leicestershire District Council". www.nwleics.gov.uk.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "UK Polling Report".
  19. ↑ http://www.markargent4nwleics.org.uk
  20. ↑ "Prospective General Election Candidates | Green Party". Green Party Members' Website.
  21. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ↑ North West Leicestershire general election, 2005 results, North West Leicestershire District Council
  24. 1 2 Henig, Simon; Lewis Baston (2002). The Political Map of Britain. London: Politico's. p. 477. ISBN 1-84275-015-1.
  25. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  28. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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