North West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)

North West Norfolk
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North West Norfolk in Norfolk.
Location of Norfolk within England.
County	Norfolk
Electorate	73,269 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Kings Lynn and Hunstanton
Current constituency
Created	1974
Member of parliament	Henry Bellingham (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	King's Lynn
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	King's Lynn
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

North West Norfolk is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Henry Bellingham, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election. It was re-established for the February 1974 general election, replacing the former King's Lynn constituency.

The first MP had gained almost exactly the same wards (in the old seat) in 1970, before which Lynn was held by one of Harold Wilson's government colleagues in the Labour Party, largely as a bellwether. Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler therefore effectively held the seat in the two 1974 elections and in 1979 however by March 1981 he became distanced from the Conservatives and defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party shortly before the 1983 Conservative Landslide where Brocklebank-Fowler lost his seat to the replacement Conservative candidate Henry Bellingham.

Bellingham increased his precarious lead over Brocklebank-Fowler at the 1987 general election who therefore in the following election chose to contest another area^{[n 3]} and at which Labour's candidate regained second place, almost doubling their share of the vote. Labour gained the seat at the 1997 general election but Bellingham regained the seat at the 2001 general election and increased his majority subsequently in both 2005 and 2010 but fell slightly in 2015.

The 2010 election saw political party infighting when the Labour candidate for North West Norfolk, Manish Sood^{[n 4][2]} stated in an interview with the local newspaper Lynn News that Gordon Brown was

"the worst prime minister we have had in this country."

This gained national attention and resulted in Labour disowning their candidate. Sood did not attend the count and stated he would watch it from his home in Leicester,^[3] only to finish third, behind Bellingham and the Liberal Democrat candidate William Summers, whose party received their best ever result in the constituency,^[4] with an 18.3% swing from Labour to the others.^[5][6][7]

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of King's Lynn, and the Sessional Divisions of Brothercross, Freebridge Lynn, Freebridge Marshall, and Gallow and Smithdon.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of King's Lynn, the Urban Districts of Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea, and the Rural Districts of Docking, Freebridge Lynn, Marshland, and Walsingham (the civil parishes of Barsham, Binham, Blakeney, Briningham, Brinton, Briston, Dunton, Fakenham, Field Dalling, Fulmodestone, Great Ryburgh, Great Snoring, Gunthorpe, Helhoughton, Hempton, Hindolveston, Hindringham, Holkham, Kettlestone, Langham, Little Ryburgh, Little Snoring, Melton Constable, Morston, Pudding Norton, Raynham, Sculthorpe, Stibbard, Stiffkey, Swanton Novers, Tattersett, Thurning, Thursford, Walsingham, Warham, Wighton, Wiveton, and Wood Norton).

1983-2010: The Borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk wards of Burnham, Chase, Clenchwarton, Creake, Dersingham, Docking, Gayton, Gaywood Central, Gaywood North, Gaywood South, Grimston, Heacham, Hunstanton, Lynn Central, Lynn North, Lynn South West, Mershe Lande, Middleton, North Coast, Priory, Rudham, St Lawrence, St Margaret's, Snettisham, Spellowfields, The Walpoles, The Woottons, Valley Hill, West Walton, West Winch, and Wiggenhall.

2010-present: The Borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk wards of Brancaster, Burnham, Clenchwarton, Dersingham, Docking, Fairstead, Gayton, Gaywood Chase, Gaywood North Bank, Grimston, Heacham, Hunstanton, North Lynn, North Wootton, Old Gaywood, Priory, Rudham, St Margaret's with St Nicholas, Snettisham, South and West Lynn, South Wootton, Spellowfields, Springwood, Valley Hill, Walpole, and West Winch.

The present constituency includes two former borough constituencies, those of Castle Rising, which was abolished as a 'rotten borough' in 1832, and King's Lynn, abolished in 1918.

Constituency profile

Norfolk North West constituency covers an extensive hinterland in the far corner of East Anglia - remote from London, but close to Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, with which the area shares more economic links.

A minority of King's Lynn contain severe poverty marked by unemployment,^[8] social housing dependency and social problems - within relatively affluent East Anglia, only Jaywick and Great Yarmouth from 2001-2004 scored higher in deprivation indices. Contrasted with this is the bulk of the area: the tourist resort Hunstanton, retail, military, public sector and commercial activity of Kings Lynn and the royal estate at Sandringham, along with many small villages and more than 50% undulating cultivated farmland — incomes and types of dwelling are close to the national average. The most frequent result has been of a fairly marginal but not negligible majority for a Conservative.

Labour's share of the vote has fallen from a winning 43.8% in the 1997 election to just 13.3% in 2010, marking the steepest decline from the start to end of the Blair-Brown government.^[9]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885-1918

Election		Member[10]	Party
	1885	Joseph Arch	Liberal
	1886	Lord Henry Cavendish-Bentinck	Conservative
	1892	Joseph Arch	Liberal
	1900	Sir George White	Liberal
	1912 by-election	Edward George Hemmerde	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished: see King's Lynn

MPs since 1974

Election		Member[10]	Party
	Feb. 1974	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	Conservative
	1981		SDP
	1983	Henry Bellingham	Conservative
	1997	George Turner	Labour
	2001	Sir Henry Bellingham	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: North West Norfolk[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham[12]	24,727	52.2	-2.0
	Labour	Joanne Rust	10,779	22.8	+9.5
	UKIP	Richard Toby Coke[13]	8,412	17.8	+13.9
	Green	Michael de Whalley[14]	1,780	3.8	+2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Hugh Lanham[15]	1,673	3.5	-19.7
Majority			13,984	29.4	-1.6
Turnout			47,597	65.4	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.75

General Election 2010: North West Norfolk[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	25,916	54.2	+4.3
	Liberal Democrat	William Summers	11,106	23.2	+8.5
	Labour	Manish Sood	6,353	13.3	-18.3
	UKIP	John William Gray	1,841	3.9	+0.2
	BNP	David Fleming	1,839	3.8	+3.8
	Green	Mike de Whalley	745	1.6	+1.6
Majority			14,810	31.0	+12.9
Turnout			47,800	65.3	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North West Norfolk[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	25,471	50.3	+1.8
	Labour	Damien Welfare	16,291	32.2	-9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Higginson	7,026	13.9	+5.5
	UKIP	Michael Stone	1,861	3.7	+2.3
Majority			9,180	18.1	+11.3
Turnout			50,649	61.6	-3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.7

General Election 2001: North West Norfolk[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	24,846	48.5	+7.0
	Labour	George Turner	21,361	41.7	-2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Mack	4,292	8.4	-1.2
	UKIP	Ian Durrant	704	1.4	N/A
Majority			3,485	6.8
Turnout			51,203	65.1	-9.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North West Norfolk[19][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Turner	25,250	43.8	+10.2
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	23,911	41.5	-10.6
	Liberal Democrat	Evelyn Knowles	5,513	9.6	-4.2
	Referendum	Roger Percival	2,923	5.1	N/A
Majority			1,339	2.3
Turnout				74.7	-6.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	10.4

General Election 1992: North West Norfolk[20][21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	32,554	52.1	+1.6
	Labour	George Turner	20,990	33.6	+16.1
	Liberal Democrat	AM Waterman	8,599	13.8	−18.2
	Natural Law	SRA Pink	330	0.5	N/A
Majority			11,564	18.5	−0.1
Turnout			62,473	80.7	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.3

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North West Norfolk[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	29,393	50.55
	Social Democratic	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	18,568	31.93
	Labour	Frank Dignan	10,184	17.51
Majority			10,825	18.62
Turnout			78.85
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: North West Norfolk[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Bellingham	23,358	43.49
	Social Democratic	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	20,211	37.63
	Labour	M. Tilbury	10,139	18.88
Majority			3,147	5.86
Turnout				77.63
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: North West Norfolk
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	33,796	51.01
	Labour	RL Williams	25,868	39.04
	Liberal	M Mynott	6,588	9.94
Majority			7,928	11.97
Turnout				79.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: North West Norfolk
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	27,513	43.99
	Labour	RL Williams	26,170	41.84
	Liberal	RA Walker	8,862	14.17
Majority			1,343	2.15
Turnout				78.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: North West Norfolk
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler	27,823	42.35
	Labour	JD Page	27,020	41.13
	Liberal	RA Walker	10,852	16.52
Majority			803	1.22
Turnout				83.07
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1910s

Edward Hemmerde

North West Norfolk by-election, 1912[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward George Hemmerde	5,613	53.1	-2.8
	Conservative	Neville Paul Jodrell	4,965	46.9	+2.8
Majority			648	6.2	5.6
Turnout			10,578	87.7	+4.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.8

General Election December 1910: North West Norfolk[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir George White	5,407	55.9	-0.1
	Conservative	Neville Paul Jodrell	4,264	44.1	+0.1
Majority			1,143	11.8	-0.2
Turnout				83.3	-2.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.1

General Election January 1910 North West Norfolk[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir George White	5,596	56.0
	Conservative	Neville Paul Jodrell	4,388	44.0
Majority			1,208	12.0
Turnout			9,984	86.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906 North West Norfolk[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George White	5,772	66.0
	Conservative	William John Lancaster	2,972	34.0
Majority			2,800	32.0
Turnout			8,744	78.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

George White

General Election 1900 North West Norfolk[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George White	4,287	52.9
	Liberal Unionist	Sir William Howell Browne Ffolkes	3,811	47.1
Majority			476	5.8
Turnout			8,098	74.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk

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. South Norfolk constituency
4. At the time a Leicester councillor

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "Thousands celebrate Diwali event". BBC News. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
3. PM attack Labour candidate stayed at home Diss Express 6 May 2010
4. Chris Bishop (8 May 2010). "Henry Bellingham increases his NW Norfolk majority". Norwich Evening News.
5. "Election 2010: Brown worst PM says Labour candidate". BBC News. 2010-04-16. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
6. "Brown is 'worst PM ever'". BBC News. 2010-04-16. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
7. Mason, Trevor (4 May 2010). "Disowned candidate Manish Sood unrepentant over PM blast". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
8. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
9. Election results 1992-2005, Guardian
10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)
11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/norfolk-north-west-2015.html
13. http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/norfolk-north-west-2015.html
14. http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/local/latest-local-news/west-norfolk-greens-hold-agm-1-6551267
15. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#East of England
16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
22. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)