Louth and Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)

Louth and Horncastle
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Louth and Horncastle in Lincolnshire.
Location of Lincolnshire within England.
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	76,233 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Victoria Atkins (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	East Lindsey
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Louth and Horncastle is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Victoria Atkins, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1997–2010: The District of East Lindsey wards of Alford, Chapel St Leonards, Coningsby, Donington on Bain, Fotherby, Grimoldby, Halton Holegate, Hogsthorpe, Holton le Clay, Horncastle, Hundleby, Legbourne, Mablethorpe, Mareham le Fen, Marshchapel, New Leake, North Holme, North Somercotes, North Thoresby, Partney, Priory, Roughton, St James', St Margaret's, St Mary's, St Michael's, Spilsby, Sutton and Trusthorpe, Tattershall, Tetford, Tetney, Theddlethorpe St Helen, Trinity, Willoughby with Sloothby, Withern with Stain, and Woodhall Spa.

2010–present: The District of East Lindsey wards of Alford, Binbrook, Chapel St Leonards, Coningsby and Tattershall, Grimoldby, Halton Holegate, Holton le Clay, Horncastle, Hundleby, Legbourne, Ludford, Mablethorpe Central, Mablethorpe East, Mablethorpe North, Mareham le Fen, Marshchapel, North Holme, North Somercotes, North Thoresby, Priory, Roughton, St James’, St Margaret’s, St Mary’s, St Michael’s, Skidbrooke with Saltfleet Haven, Spilsby, Sutton on Sea North, Sutton on Sea South, Tetford, Tetney, Trinity, Trusthorpe and Mablethorpe South, Willoughby with Sloothby, Withern with Stain, and Woodhall Spa.

History of boundaries

From 1885 to 1983, Louth and Horncastle both existed as separate constituencies. Then in 1983, Horncastle was moved into the new seat of Gainsborough and Horncastle, while Louth was moved into the newly formed East Lindsey constituency. These boundaries remained the same until 1997, when the current Louth and Horncastle constituency was formed.

Constituency profile

This large stretch of Lincolnshire coastline includes the seaside resorts of Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea, this immediate coastline has a minority of small output areas with severe deprivation following the decline of the tourism industry apart from holiday cottages, being further north than popular family resorts in Skegness.^[2] The seat's eponymous towns of Louth and Horncastle lie inland amid a rural area of the Lincolnshire Wolds where farming is an important sector, with most constituents on modest to mid-level incomes, few unemployed and little dependence on social housing.

History

The seat was created in 1997. Conservatives have been dominant in the area for decades, the closest result was in 1997, when a Labour Party candidate came the closest of any opponents to being elected.

Members of Parliament

The MP for this seat is Victoria Atkins. She replaced Peter Tapsell in 2015. He previously represented the predecessor seats of East Lindsey and Horncastle from 1966 to 1997, and before that represented Nottingham West from 1959 to 1964 before being defeated by Labour. Prior to standing down, he was the longest-serving Conservative MP, albeit with a break in service, and was the only MP of any party first elected in the 1950s. Following the retirement of Alan Williams, Tapsell became, on his re-election in 2010, Father of the House. He was succeeded in that position in 2015 by Sir Gerald Kaufman.

Before 1997, see East Lindsey

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1997	Sir Peter Tapsell	Conservative
	2015	Victoria Atkins	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Louth and Horncastle[4][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Victoria Atkins[6]	25,755	51.2	+1.5
	UKIP	Colin Mair	10,778	21.4	+17.1
	Labour	Matthew Brown	9,077	18.0	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Lisa Gabriel	2,255	4.5	-17.7
	Green	Romy Rayner	1,549	3.1	+3.1
	Lincolnshire Independents	Daniel Simpson	659	1.3	+0.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter Hill[7]	263	0.5	+0.5
Majority			14,977	29.8
Turnout			50,336	67.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Louth and Horncastle[8][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	25,065	49.6	+3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	11,194	22.2	+1.6
	Labour	Patrick Mountain	8,760	17.3	-8.0
	BNP	Julia Green	2,199	4.4	N/A
	UKIP	Pat Nurse	2,183	4.3	-3.4
	Lincolnshire Independents	Daniel Simpson	576	1.1	N/A
	English Democrats	Colin Mair[10]	517	1.0	N/A
Majority			13,871	27.5
Turnout			50,494	65.0	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Louth and Horncastle[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,744	46.6	−1.9
	Labour	Frank Hodgkiss	11,848	25.4	−6.1
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	9,480	20.3	+0.2
	UKIP	Christopher Pain	3,611	7.7	N/A
Majority			9,896	21.2
Turnout			46,683	62.0	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General Election 2001: Louth and Horncastle[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,543	48.5	+5.0
	Labour	David Bolland	13,989	31.5	+1.8
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	8,928	20.1	-4.4
Majority			7,554	17.0
Turnout			44,460	62.1	-10.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Louth and Horncastle[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Tapsell	21,699	43.4	N/A
	Labour	John Hough	14,799	29.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Martin	12,207	24.4	N/A
	Green	Rosemary Robinson	1,248	2.5	N/A
Majority			6,900	13.8	N/A
Turnout				72.6	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• Louth constituency (1885–1983)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire

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. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. 2001 Census
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)
4. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. "Louth & Horncastle parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
6. "Victoria Atkins". Conservative Party. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
7. "Louth and Horncastle gets first Monster Raving Loony Party candidate". East Lindsey Target. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
8. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. "UK > England > East Midlands > Louth & Horncastle". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
10. ED Candidate list
11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 53°18′N 0°00′E / 53.30°N 0.00°E