Mid Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 52°01′37″N 0°22′59″W / 52.027°N 0.383°W / 52.027; -0.383

Mid Bedfordshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Mid Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire.
Location of Bedfordshire within England.
County	Bedfordshire
Electorate	76,381 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Ampthill, Flitwick, Shefford, Turvey, Toddington and Woburn
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Nadine Dorries (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Mid Bedfordshire is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Nadine Dorries, a Conservative.^{[n 2]} Apart from four early years the constituency has returned a Conservative since its creation in 1918.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Leighton Buzzard, and the Rural Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Eaton Bray.

1950-1974: The Urban Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Sandy, the Rural Districts of Ampthill and Biggleswade, and in the Rural District of Bedford the civil parishes of Cardington, Colmworth, Cople, Eastcotts, Eaton Socon, Elstow, Great Barford, Kempston Rural, Little Barford, Renhold, Roxton, Stagsden, Stewartby, Wilden, Willington, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.

1974-1983: The Urban Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Sandy, the Rural Districts of Ampthill and Biggleswade, and in the Rural District of Bedford the civil parishes of Cardington, Colmworth, Cople, Eastcotts, Elstow, Great Barford, Kempston Rural, Little Barford, Renhold, Roxton, Stagsden, Staploe, Stewartby, Wilden, Willington, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.

1983-1997: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Arlesey, Biggleswade Ivel, Biggleswade Stratton, Blunham, Campton and Meppershall, Clifton and Henlow, Clophill, Haynes and Houghton Conquest, Langford, Maulden, Northill, Old Warden and Southill, Potton, Sandy All Saints, Sandy St Swithun's, Shefford, Shillington and Stondon, Stotfold, Wensley, and Wrest, and the Borough of North Bedfordshire wards of Eastcotts, Great Barford, Kempston East, Kempston Rural, Kempston West, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.

1997-2010: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Aspley, Campton and Meppershall, Clifton and Henlow, Clophill, Cranfield, Flitton and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, Haynes and Houghton Conquest, Marston, Maulden, Shefford, Shillington and Stondon, Westoning, Woburn, and Wrest, and the Borough of Bedford wards of Kempston Rural, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.

2010-present: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Aspley Guise, Clifton and Meppershall, Cranfield, Flitton, Greenfield and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, Houghton, Haynes, Southill and Old Warden, Marston, Maulden and Clophill, Shefford, Campton and Gravenhurst, Shillington, Stondon and Henlow Camp, Silsoe, Westoning and Tingrith, and Woburn, the Borough of Bedford wards of Turvey, Wilshamstead, and Wootton, and the District of South Bedfordshire wards of Barton-le-Clay, Streatley, and Toddington.

History

Mid Bedfordshire was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

It has elected Conservative MPs since 1931. It was held from 1983 to 1997 by the Attorney General (for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish aspects of the legal system and as advisor to HM Government) Sir Nicholas Lyell, who then transferred to the newly created seat of North East Bedfordshire; his old seat was won by Jonathan Sayeed, a former MP in Bristol. Sayeed was forced to retire in 2005 due to ill health, following a row over allegations he had profited from his private educational tours of Parliament and a resulting deselection attempt by the constituency party. Nadine Dorries has held the seat since, but the Conservative whip was withdrawn from her in 2012 and returned six months later, after appearing on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.^[2] For the 2005 and 2010 elections the most successful opposition party candidate was a Liberal Democrat. However following their nationwide retreat in 2015, Labour once more occupies this position.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[3]	Party
	1918	Maximilian Townley	Conservative
	1922	Frederick Linfield	Liberal
	1924	William Warner	Conservative
	1929	Milner Gray	Liberal
	1931	Alan Lennox-Boyd	Conservative
	1960 by-election	Stephen Hastings	Conservative
1983		significant boundary changes
	1983	Sir Nicholas Lyell	Conservative
1997		significant boundary changes
	1997	Jonathan Sayeed	Conservative
	2005	Nadine Dorries	Conservative
	2012		Independent
	2013		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Mid Bedfordshire^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nadine Dorries ^[6]	32,544	56.1	+3.6
	Labour	Charlynne Pullen ^[6]	9,217	15.9	+1.1
	UKIP	Nigel Wickens^[7]	8,966	15.4	+10.3
	Liberal Democrat	Linda Jack ^[8]	4,193	7.2	-17.7
	Green	Gareth Ellis ^[9]	2,462	4.2	+2.8
	Independent	Tim Ireland^[10]	384	0.7	+0.7
	Monster Raving Loony	Ann Kelly^[11]	294	0.5	+0.5
Majority			23,327	40.2	+12.6
Turnout				71.6	-0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

In June 2015 the independent candidate, Tim Ireland, lodged an unsuccessful election petition accusing Nadine Dorries of breaches of section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 by making false statements about his character.^[12]^[13] The petition was dismissed by the courts on 30 July 2015.^[14]

General Election 2010: Mid Bedfordshire^[15]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nadine Dorries	28,815	52.5	+5.9
	Liberal Democrat	Linda Jack	13,663	24.9	+1.4
	Labour	David Reeves	8,108	14.8	-7.7
	UKIP	Bill Hall	2,826	5.1	+2.4
	Green	Malcolm Bailey	773	1.4	-1.2
	English Democrats	John Cooper	712	1.3	N/A
Majority			15,152	27.6
Turnout			54,897	72.2	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Mid Bedfordshire^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nadine Dorries	23,345	46.3	−1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Chapman	11,990	23.8	+4.1
	Labour	Martin Lindsay	11,351	22.5	−7.6
	UKIP	Richard Joselyn	1,372	2.7	0.0
	Green	Ben Foley	1,292	2.6	N/A
	Veritas	Howard Martin	769	1.5	N/A
	Independent	Saqhib Ali	301	0.6	N/A
Majority			11,355	22.5
Turnout			50,420	68.3	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.6

General Election 2001: Mid Bedfordshire^[18]^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Sayeed	22,109	47.4	+1.4
	Labour	James Valentine	14,043	30.1	−2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Graham Mabbutt	9,205	19.7	+2.9
	UKIP	Chris Laurence	1,281	2.7	N/A
Majority			8,066	17.3
Turnout			46,638	65.9	−13.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.9

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Mid Bedfordshire^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Sayeed	24,176	46.0	−16.4
	Labour	Neil Mallett	17,086	32.5	+12.7
	Liberal Democrat	Tim J. Hill	8,823	16.8	+1.0
	Referendum	Mrs. Shirley C. Marler	2,257	4.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Marek J. Lorys	174	0.3
Turnout			52,534	78.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14.6%^[21]

General Election 1992: Mid Bedfordshire^[22]^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Lyell	40,230	58.2	-0.8
	Labour	Richard A. Clayton	15,092	21.8	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Nikolas Charles Hills	11,957	17.3	-5.7
	Liberal	Phil Cottier	1,582	2.3	+2.3
	Natural Law	Marek J. Lorys	279	0.4	+0.4
Majority			25,138	36.4	+0.3
Turnout			69,140	84.4	+5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.3

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Mid Bedfordshire^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Lyell	37,411	58.98
	Social Democratic	Nikolas Charles Hills	14,560	22.95
	Labour	John Heywood	11,463	18.07
Majority			22,851	36.02
Turnout				78.63
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mid Bedfordshire^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Lyell	33,042	56.85
	Liberal	M. Howes	15,661	26.94
	Labour	J. Tizard	9,420	16.21
Majority			17,381	29.90
Turnout				76.93
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Mid Bedfordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	37,724	56.87
	Labour	F.G. Peacock	17,140	25.84
	Liberal	C.A.P. Smout	11,467	17.29
Majority			20,584	31.03
Turnout				81.32
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Mid Bedfordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	26,885	45.70
	Labour	J.E. Crow	17,559	29.85
	Liberal	P.W. Meyer	14,388	24.46
Majority			9,326	15.85
Turnout				78.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Mid Bedfordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	28,973	45.28
	Labour	David F. Harrowell	17,862	27.92
	Liberal	P.W. Meyer	17,151	26.80
Majority			11,111	17.36
Turnout				85.87
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 73,116
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	29,670	52.51
	Labour	David F Harrowell	19,035	33.69
	Liberal	John P. Christian	7,799	13.80
Majority			10,635	18.82
Turnout				77.28
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 61,923
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	23,477	46.02
	Labour	C. Trevor Bell	20,369	39.98
	Liberal	Paul L. Rose	7,138	14.01
Majority			3,078	6.04
Turnout				82.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 58,640
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	22,414	46.03
	Labour	C. Trevor Bell	17,096	35.11
	Liberal	Wilfred G. Matthews	9,184	18.86
Majority			5,318	10.92
Turnout			48,694	83.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mid Bedfordshire by-election, 1960
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings	17,503	45.4
	Labour	Bryan Edgar Magee	11,281	29.2
	Liberal	Wilfred G. Matthews	9,550	24.8
	New Conservative	C. F. H. Gilliard	235	0.6
Majority			6,222	16.2
Turnout			38,569	71.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 53,889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	21,301	46.79
	Labour	Bryan Edgar Magee	16,127	35.42
	Liberal	Wilfred G. Matthews	8,099	17.79	n/a
Majority			5,174	11.36
Turnout				84.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 51,699
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	23,012	54.71
	Labour	Thomas Cecil Skeffington-Lodge	19,048	45.29
Majority			3,964	9.42
Turnout				81.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Mid Bedfordshire Electorate 50,811
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	19,681	45.39
	Labour	T.L. 'Addy' Taylor	17,818	41.09
	Liberal	Donald Tweddle	5,863	13.52
Majority			1,863	4.30
Turnout				85.34
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Mid Bedfordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	17,671	41.39
	Labour	W. Howell	15,512	36.33
	Liberal	Ewart Kenneth Martell	9,511	22.28
Majority			2,159	5.06
Turnout				86.22
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Bedfordshire Mid Electorate 51,465
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	13,954	37.0
	Labour	W Howell	12,073	32.1
	Liberal	Ewart Kenneth Martell	11,641	30.9
Majority			1,881	5.0
Turnout			37,668	73.19
	Conservative 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;

Conservative: Alan Lennox-Boyd
Labour: George Matthews
Liberal: Dr L T M Gray

Election in the 1930s

General Election 14 November 1935: Electorate 41,813
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	16,054	50.3	+2.9
	Liberal	Milner Gray	11,623	36.4	-6.4
	Labour	T. H. Knight	4,224	13.2	+3.4
Majority			4,431	13.89
Turnout				76.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 27 October 1931: Electorate 40,555
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd	15,213	47.4
	Liberal	Milner Gray	13,726	42.8
	Labour	H William Fenner	3,156	9.8
Majority			1,487	4.63
Turnout				79.14
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Election in the 1920s

General Election 30 May 1929: Bedfordshire Mid
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Milner Gray	14,595	46.9	-1.1
	Unionist	William Ward Warner	12,682	40.7	-11.2
	Labour	Henry William Fenner	3,853	12.4	n/a
Majority			1,913	6.2	10.1
Turnout			8,829
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.1

General Election 29 October 1924: Bedfordshire Mid
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Ward Warner	12,317	52.0
	Liberal	Frederick Caesar Linfield	11,356	48.0
Majority			961	4.0
Turnout				76.5
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 6 December 1923: Bedfordshire Mid ^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Caesar Linfield	11,310	51.0
	Unionist	William Ward Warner	9,287	41.9
	Labour	Robert Leonard Wigzell	1,567	7.1	n/a
Majority			2,023	9.1	-3.9
Turnout				72.6
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 15 November 1922: Bedfordshire Mid ^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Caesar Linfield	11,874	56.5	+11.7
	Unionist	Maximilian Gowran Townley	9,137	43.5
Majority			2,737	13.0
Turnout				70.1	+15.3
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+11.7

Election in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918: Bedfordshire Mid ^[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Maximilian Gowran Townley	9,073	55.2	n/a
	Liberal	Sir Arthur William Black	7,352	44.8	n/a
Majority			1,721	10.4	n/a
Turnout				54.8	n/a
	Unionist win

endorsed by Coalition Government

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.
↑ Nadine Dorries suspended as Tory MP in I'm a Celebrity row, 6 November 2012
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Statement Of Persons Nominated And Notice Of Poll" (PDF). Acting Returning Officer. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
1 2 http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/bedfordshire-mid-2015.html
↑ "nigelwickens.wordpress.com". Retrieved 1 February 2015.
↑ https://www.facebook.com/CentralBedfordshireLiberalDemocrats/photos/a.431226776936741.98038.420815354644550/820127744713307/?type=1
↑ http://lutonandbeds.greenparty.org.uk/news/2015/01/31/gareth-ellis-selected-as-green-party-candidate-for-mid-bedfordshire/
↑ "Tim Ireland: Prospective Independent Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Bedfordshire". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
↑ "Candidates". OMRLP. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
↑ Perraudin, Frances (10 June 2015). "Nadine Dorries accused of making false claims about opponent during election". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
↑ Green, Chris (10 June 2015). "Nadine Dorries faces challenge after general election smear campaign allegations". The Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
↑ Green,Chris (30 July 2015). "High Court rejects attempt to unseat Nadine Dorries after legal documents sent to wrong address". The Independent (London). Retrieved 13 August 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ Archived 25 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ BBC Vote 2001 Results
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ The swing was calculated by the BBC compared with a notional 1992 result. BBC Election '97
↑ "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 6 December 2010.
↑ "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, Craig, F.W.S.
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Constituencies in the East of England (58)

Conservative (52)	Basildon and Billericay Bedford Braintree Brentwood and Ongar Broadland Broxbourne Bury St Edmunds Castle Point Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Chelmsford Colchester Epping Forest Great Yarmouth Harlow Harwich and North Essex Hemel Hempstead Hertford and Stortford Hertsmere Hitchin and Harpenden Huntingdon Ipswich Maldon Mid Bedfordshire Mid Norfolk North East Bedfordshire North East Cambridgeshire North East Hertfordshire North West Cambridgeshire North West Norfolk Norwich North Peterborough Rayleigh and Wickford Rochford and Southend East Saffron Walden St Albans South Basildon and East Thurrock South Cambridgeshire South East Cambridgeshire Southend West South Norfolk South Suffolk South West Bedfordshire South West Hertfordshire South West Norfolk Stevenage Suffolk Coastal Thurrock Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Suffolk Witham

Labour (4)	Cambridge Luton North Luton South Norwich South

Liberal Democrats (1)	North Norfolk

UK Independence Party (1)	Clacton

East of England European constituency: Conservative (3) Labour (1) UKIP (3)

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