Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°41′02″N 1°19′12″W / 50.684°N 1.320°W

Isle of Wight
County constituency for the House of Commons
Location of Isle of Wight within England.
County	Isle of Wight
Electorate	110,924 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1832
Member of parliament	Andrew Turner (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Hampshire Newtown Yarmouth
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Isle of Wight (/ˈwaɪt/^[2]) is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Andrew Turner of the Conservative Party.

Created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election it covers the whole of the Isle of Wight and has had the largest electorate in all elections from 1983 onwards.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

The Isle of Wight forms a single constituency of the House of Commons. The constituency covers exactly the same land as the ceremonial county of the Isle of Wight and the area administered by the unitary authority, Isle of Wight Council which consists almost wholly of the island itself plus a few uninhabited rocks.

With an electorate of 110,924 (as of 2010),^[3] the constituency has by far the largest electorate in the UK, more than 50% above the England average of 71,537.^[3] This is five times the size of the smallest electorate (Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly known as the Western Isles), despite the Isle of Wight having some of the same problems as other island constituencies.^[4]

Recent history

Successive Boundary Commission Reports considered the possibility of splitting the island into two constituencies (or possibly having a constituency crossing the Solent onto the mainland) but with a distinct lack of local enthusiasm for either option the Boundary Commission, party-interested and neutral commentators felt that the island would still be best represented by a single MP. One problem the independent body cited in 2008 was a difficulty of dividing the island in two in a way that would be acceptable to all interests.^[5]

History

Before the Reform Act 1832 the island usually had three Parliamentary boroughs: Newport, Newtown, and Yarmouth each electing two MPs. In 1654 an Isle of Wight constituency was created for the First Protectorate Parliament but the island subsequently reverted to the three constituencies. Otherwise, the island was represented by the two members for Hampshire. The Reform Act abolished Newtown and Yarmouth parliamentary boroughs, and created a county constituency for the whole of the Isle of Wight. The county electorate included freeholders, qualified by property, in the remaining parliamentary borough. The separate Newport borough constituency was abolished in 1885.

The constituency has traditionally been a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Between 1974 and 1987 the seat was a Liberal seat,^[6][7][8] then becoming Conservative until 1997 when the Liberal Democrats won on a reduced Conservative vote.^[8][9] The seat reverted to the Conservatives in 2001.^[9] At the 2015 election, the Liberal Democrats slumped to fifth place.

Members of Parliament

Pre 1832

• 1654: Lord Lisle; William Sydenham

Since 1832

Andrew Turner has served as MP since 2001.

Election		Member[10]	Party
	1832	Sir Richard Simeon, Bt	Liberal
	1837	William Holmes à Court	Conservative
	1847	John Simeon	Liberal
	1851 by-election	Edward Dawes	Liberal
	1852	Francis Venables-Vernon-Harcourt	Conservative
	1857	Charles Cavendish Clifford	Liberal
	1865	John Simeon	Liberal
	1870 by-election	Alexander Baillie-Cochrane	Conservative
	1880	Evelyn Ashley	Liberal
	1885	Richard Webster	Conservative
	1900	John Seely	Conservative
	1904		Liberal
	1906	Godfrey Baring	Liberal
	1910	Douglas Hall	Conservative
	1922	Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke	Liberal
	1923	John Seely	Liberal
	1924	Peter Macdonald	Conservative
	1959	Mark Woodnutt	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Stephen Ross	Liberal
	1987	Barry Field	Conservative
	1997	Peter Brand	Liberal Democrats
	2001	Andrew Turner	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Isle of Wight[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner[12]	28,591	40.7	-6.0
	UKIP	Iain McKie[13]	14,888	21.2	+17.7
	Green	Vix Lowthion[14]	9,404	13.4	+12.1
	Labour	Stewart Blackmore[15]	8,984	12.8	+1.2
	Liberal Democrat	David Goodall[16]	5,235	7.5	-24.2
	Independent	Ian Stephens[17]	3,198	4.5	N/A
Majority			13,703	19.5	+4.5
Turnout			70,300	65.0	+1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Isle of Wight[18][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	32,810	46.7	−2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jill Wareham	22,283	31.7	+2.2
	Labour	Mark Chiverton	8,169	11.6	−5.6
	UKIP	Michael Tarrant	2,435	3.5	+0.1
	BNP	Geoff Clynch	1,457	2.1	N/A
	English Democrats	Ian Dunsire	1,233	1.8	N/A
	Green	Bob Keats	931	1.3	N/A
	Middle England Party	Paul Martin	616	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Pete Harris	175	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Paul Randle-Jolliffe	89	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Edward Corby	66	0.1	−0.7
Majority			10,527	15.0
Turnout			70,264	63.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005:[20] Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	32,717	48.9	+9.2
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Rowlands	19,739	29.5	−5.8
	Labour	Mark Chiverton	11,484	17.2	+2.0
	UKIP	Michael Tarrant	2,352	3.5	+0.2
	Independent	Edward Corby	551	0.8
Majority			12,978	19.4
Turnout			66,843	61.3	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.5

General Election 2001:[9] Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	25,223	39.7	+5.7
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Brand	22,397	35.3	−7.5
	Labour	Deborah Gardiner	9,676	15.2	+2.1
	UKIP	David Lott	2,106	3.3	+1.9
	Independent	David Holmes	1,423	2.2
	Green	Paul Scivier	1,279	2.0	+1.3
	Isle of Wight Party	Philip Murray	1,164	1.8
	Socialist Labour	James Spensley	214	0.3
Majority			2,826	4.4
Turnout			63,482	60.8	−11.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	6.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Isle of Wight[9][21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Peter Brand	31,274	42.7	−2.9
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	24,868	34.0	−13.9
	Labour	Deborah Gardiner	9,646	13.2	+7.2
	Referendum	Tim Bristow	4,734	6.5	N/A
	UKIP	Malcom Turner	1,072	1.5	N/A
	Independent	Harry Rees	848	1.2	N/A
	Green	Paul Kevin Scivier	544	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	Clive Daly	87	0.1	−0.3
	Rainbow Warriors	Jonathan Eveleigh	86	0.1	N/A
Majority			6,406	8.6
Turnout			74,193	72.0	−7.8
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	6.6

General Election 1992:[8] Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Field	38,163	47.9	−3.3
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Peter Brand	36,336	45.6	+2.7
	Labour	Ken Pearson	4,784	6.0	+0.1
	Natural Law	Clive Daly	350	0.4	N/A
Majority			1,827	2.3	−6.0
Turnout			79,633	79.8	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987:[8] Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Field	40,175	51.2	+4.9
	Liberal	Michael Alan Young	33,733	42.9	-8.1
	Labour	Kenn Pearson	4,626	5.9	+3.5
Majority			6,442	8.3
Turnout			78,560	79.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1983: Isle of Wight [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	38,407	51.0	+2.8
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	34,904	46.3	-1.4
	Labour	Catherine Wilson	1,828	2.4	-1.6
	Isle of Wight Residents Party	Thomas Brian Joseph McDermott	208	0.3	+0.3
Majority			3,503	4.7
Turnout				80.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Isle of Wight[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	35,889	48.2	+3.1
	Conservative	Dudley Fishburn	35,537	47.7	+5.7
	Labour	C Wilson	3,014	4.0	-9
Majority			352
Turnout				81.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Isle of Wight[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	29,697	45.1	-5.1
	Conservative	Dudley Fishburn	27,657	42.0	+3
	Labour	L.D. Brooke	8,562	13.0	+2.2
Majority			2,040
Turnout				76.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Isle of Wight[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	34,808	50.2	+28
	Conservative	Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt	27,042	39.0	-13.4
	Labour	TC Bisson	7,495	10.8	-11.8
Majority			7,766
Turnout				81.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1970: Isle of Wight[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt	30,437	52.4	+3.8
	Labour	Kent William Boulton	13,111	22.6	-6.4
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	12,883	22.2	-0.2
	Vectis National Party	Ronald W.J Cowdell	1,607	2.8	+2.8
Majority			17,326
Turnout				72.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Isle of Wight[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt	25,862	48.6	-4.9
	Labour	Peter Stephenson	15,411	29.0	-2.6
	Liberal	Stephen Sherlock Ross	11,915	22.4	+7.5
Majority			10,451	19.65
Turnout			75.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Isle of Wight[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt	27,497	53.5	-9.4
	Labour	William Mann	16,244	31.6	-5.5
	Liberal	Miss. Barbara Ellen Mary Bliss	7,666	14.9	+14.9
Majority			11,253	21.9
Turnout				74.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Isle of Wight[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt	31,228	62.9	+0.3
	Labour	Edward Cecil Amey	18,396	37.1	-0.3
Majority			12,832	25.9
Turnout				74.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Isle of Wight[27] t
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Drummond Macdonald	31,335	62.6	+0.8
	Labour	Sydney George Conbeer	18,698	37.4	-0.8
Majority			12,637	25.3
Turnout				74.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Isle of Wight[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Drummond Macdonald	33,501	61.8	+1.3
	Labour	Sydney George Conbeer	20,712	38.2	-1.3
Majority			12,789	23.6
Turnout				80.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Isle of Wight[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Drummond Macdonald	32,984	60.5	+13.9
	Labour	Sydney George Conbeer	21,496	39.5	-1.2
Majority			11,488	21.1
Turnout				80.61
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Isle of Wight[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Drummond Macdonald	22,036	46.6	-16.58
	Labour	W.J. Miller	19,252	40.7	+3.87
	Liberal	Miss. May O'Conor	5,967	12.6	+12.6
Majority			2,784	5.9
Turnout			47,255	76.0
	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: Peter Macdonald
• Labour: Dr. RA Lyster
• Liberal: Helen de Guerry Browne

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Isle of Wight[31]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Macdonald	26,748	63.18	-14.07
	Labour	W.J. Miller	15,586	36.83	+14.07
Majority			11,162	26.37
Turnout			42,334	69.44
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 27 October 1931: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Drummond Macdonald	32,728	77.25	+29.05
	Labour	J E Drummond	9,639	22.75	+9.05
Majority			23,089	54.50
Turnout				71.12
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election in the 1920s

General Election 30 May 1929: Isle of Wight[32]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Peter Drummond Macdonald	21,949	48.2	-4.2
	Liberal	St John Hutchinson	17,383	38.1	+0.3
	Labour	H E Weaver	6,256	13.7	+3.9
Majority			4.566	10.1	-4.5
Turnout				79.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.3

General Election 29 October 1924: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Peter Drummond Macdonald	19,346	52.4	+6.1
	Liberal	Rt Hon. John Edward Bernard Seely	13,944	37.8	-8.8
	Labour	H E Weaver	3,620	9.8	+2.7
Majority			5,402	14.6	14.9
Turnout				80.1

General Election 6 December 1923: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rt Hon. John Edward Bernard Seely	16,249	46.6	+10.4
	Unionist	Peter Drummond Macdonald	16,159	46.3	+14.7
	Labour	Mrs E Palmer	2,475	7.1	-4.1
Majority			90	0.3	+4.3
Turnout				76.6	+1.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.2

General Election 15 November 1922: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke	12,202	36.2	-4.6
	Unionist	J T W Perowne	10,620	31.6	-27.6
	Independent Conservative	Arthur C T Veasey	7,061	21.0	n/a
	Labour	Harold Charles Shearman	3,756	11.2
Majority			1,582	4.6
Turnout				75.4	+9.9

Election in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918:
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Capt. Douglas Bernard Hall	16,274	59.2	+8.4
	Liberal	Sir Godfrey Baring	11,235	40.8	-8.4
Majority			5,039	18.4
Turnout				65.5

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Douglas Bernard Hall
• Liberal: Sir Godfrey Baring

Constantine Scaramanga-Ralli

General Election December 1910[33]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Bernard Hall	7,192	50.8	-0.2
	Liberal	Constantine Scaramanga-Ralli	6,969	49.2	+0.2
Turnout			14,161	88.7	-2.3
Majority			223	1.6	-0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.2

General Election January 1910:Isle of Wight [34]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Bernard Hall	7,414	51.0	+6.8
	Liberal	Godfrey Baring	7,123	49.0	-6.8
Majority			291	2.0
Turnout			14,537	91.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1900s

Godfrey Baring

General Election 1906:Isle of Wight[34]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Baring	7,453	55.8	n/a
	Conservative	A H Morgan	5,892	44.2	n/a
Majority			1,561	11.6	n/a
Turnout			13,345	87.8	n/a
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

Jack Seely

Isle of Wight by-election, 1904[34]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Unionist	John Edward Bernard Seely	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Independent Unionist gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

General Election 1900:Isle of Wight[34]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Edward Bernard Seely	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Isle of Wight by-election, 1900[35]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Edward Bernard Seely	6,432
	Liberal	Godfrey Baring	5,370
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• Politics of the Isle of Wight

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.

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. "Wight". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
3. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". Archived from the original on 6 November 2010.
4. "The Bow Group "Crossbow" – 50th Anniversary edition (page 41)" (PDF). www.bowgroup.org. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
5. "Boundary Commission for England – Isle of Wight". www.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
6. "UK General Election results – October 1974". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
7. "UK General Election results – May 1979". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
8. "British Parliamentary Election Results 1983–1997". www.election.demon.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
9. "BBC News – Results and Constituencies – Isle of Wight". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "I"
11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/isle-of-wight-2015.html
13. http://iainmckie.co.uk/
14. http://isleofwight.greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/11/26/isle-of-wight-green-party-announce-parliamentary-candidate/
15. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/isle-of-wight-2015.html
16. http://davidgoodall.org.uk/en/article/2015/1008895/campaign-launch
17. http://onthewight.com/2015/01/22/ian-stephens-to-stand-as-independent-candidate-for-isle-of-wight-mp/
18. Statement of Persons Nominated, Isle of Wight Council
19. Island set for race to be next MP
20. "IWight – Isle of Wight General election results 2005". www.iwight.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
21. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
22. "UK General Election results – February 1974". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
23. "UK General Election results – June 1970". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
24. "UK General Election results – March 1966". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
25. "UK General Election results – March 1964". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
26. "UK General Election results – October 1959". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
27. "UK General Election results – May 1955". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
28. "UK General Election results – October 1951". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
29. "UK General Election results – February 1950". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
30. "UK General Election results – July 1945". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
31. "UK General Election results – 1935". www.politicsresources.net. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
32. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F.W.S.
33. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918
34. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
35. The Constitiutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 145 (169 in web page), Isle of Wight