Bridgwater and West Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater and West Somerset
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bridgwater and West Somerset in Somerset.
Location of Somerset within England.
County	Somerset
Population	106,450 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	82,936 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Bridgwater
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Bridgwater, Taunton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Bridgwater and West Somerset is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since creation in 2010 by Ian Liddell-Grainger of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]}

History

Bridgwater was one of the original parliamentary borough constituencies in England^{[n 3]} (with fifteen years of non-existence in the late 19th century after the seat was abolished for corruption in 1870 and being subsumed into a slightly larger seat on a review of Somerset's representation by the Boundary Commission^[3] in 1885).

In 2010 seven candidates stood. The second placed candidate was a Liberal Democrat, Theo Butt Philip, 11.2% ahead of the candidate from the Labour Party. The incumbent, Ian Liddell-Grainger is a former Major in the Territorial Army, farmer and defence advisor.

Boundaries

The District of Sedgemoor wards of Bridgwater Bower, Bridgwater Eastover, Bridgwater Hamp, Bridgwater Quantock, Bridgwater Sydenham, Bridgwater Victoria, Cannington and Quantocks, East Poldens, Huntspill and Pawlett, King’s Isle, North Petherton, Puriton, Sandford, West Poldens, and Woolavington, and the District of West Somerset (the wards of Alcombe East, Alcombe West, Aville Vale, Brompton Ralph and Haddon, Carhampton and Withycombe, Crowcombe and Stogumber, Dulverton and Brushford, Dunster, Exmoor, Minehead North, Minehead South, Old Cleeve, Porlock and District, Quantock Vale, Quarme, Watchet, West Quantock, and Williton).

Members of Parliament

See: Bridgwater constituency

Election		Member[4]	Party
	2010	Ian Liddell-Grainger	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Bridgwater and West Somerset[5][6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Liddell-Grainger	25,020	46.0	+0.7
	UKIP	Stephen Fitzgerald	10,437	19.2	+14.4
	Labour	Michael Lerry	9,589	17.6	+0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Theo Butt Philip[7]	6,765	12.4	-15.9
	Green	Julie Harvey-Smith	2,636	4.8	+3.3
Majority			14,583	26.8	+9.8
Turnout			54,447	67.6	-3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

The Liberal Democrats initially selected Justine Baker as their candidate.^[8] After being accepted for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Baker resigned in order to apply to stand as the candidate for Taunton Deane, a more winnable seat, she was not successful^[9] and ultimately was not a candidate anywhere in the 2015 General Election. She was replaced by Theo Butt Philip, who had been the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 General Election.

General Election 2010: Bridgwater and West Somerset[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Liddell-Grainger*	24,675	45.3	-0.1
	Liberal Democrat	Theo Butt Philip	15,426	28.3	+5.7
	Labour	Kathy Pearce	9,332	17.1	-8.5
	UKIP	Peter Hollings	2,604	4.8	+1.1
	BNP	Donna Treanor	1,282	2.4	+2.4
	Green	Charles Graham	859	1.6	-1.2
	Independent	Bob Cudlipp	315	0.6	+0.6
Majority			9,249	17.0
Turnout			54,493	71.2	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.9

* Served as the MP for Bridgwater 2001–2010

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Somerset

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.
3. Original is usually classified as sending representatives to the Model Parliament of 1295.

References

1. "Bridgwater and West Somerset: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "New Parliamentary Constituencies for England SN/PC/04297" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
4. "Ian Liddell-Grainger". Parliament UK. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
5. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. "Bridgwater & Somerset West - Election 2015". BBC News.
7. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South West
8. "Justine Baker". Lib Dems. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
9. "Rejected! Bridgwater Lib Dem candidate is lame duck after she fails to get better seat". Somerset Labour. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

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