St Austell and Newquay (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°22′30″N 4°55′34″W / 50.375°N 4.926°W

St Austell and Newquay
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of St Austell and Newquay in Cornwall for the 2010 general election.
Location of Cornwall within England.
County	Cornwall
Electorate	75,974 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	St Austell, Newquay
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Steve Double (Conservative Party)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Cornwall South East Cornwall Truro & St Austell
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Sketchmap of 2010 parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall - click to enlarge

St Austell and Newquay is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Steve Double, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

2010 election

The seat on creation in 2010 had, based on complex forecasts involving its three constitutive seats, factoring in to different degrees the recent local election results, a widely varying notional Liberal Democrat majority (see results below). In analysis, one forecast suggested that the seat would prove to be a safe seat whereas another suggested an extremely marginal seat. The majority achieved was lower than an average of the two forecasts but by no means the most slender of majorities achieved in that election.

Other parties

In 2010, the Labour Party candidate polled in line with results of the recent decades in the forerunner seats, with 7.2% of the vote. Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish independence party, achieved its highest share of the vote in any constituency but narrowly lost its deposit by not reaching the 5% threshold.

Boundaries

The Borough of Restormel wards of Bethel, Crinnis, Edgcumbe North, Edgcumbe South, Fowey and Tywardreath, Gannel, Gover, Mevagissey, Mount Charles, Poltair, Rialton, Rock, St Blaise, St Columb, St Enoder, St Ewe, St Stephen, and Treverbyn.

The constituency was created for the 2010 general election, following a review of parliamentary representation by the Boundary Commission, which increased the number of seats in the county from five to six.^[2] It has the same boundaries as the former Borough of Restormel, with the exception of the ward of Lostwithiel, which remains in the South East Cornwall constituency. Previously, the historic area was divided between the North Cornwall, South East Cornwall and Truro and St Austell seats.^[3]

Constituency profile

Workless claimants (registered jobseekers) were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	2010	Steve Gilbert	Liberal Democrats
	2015	Steve Double	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: St Austell and Newquay[6][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Double	20,250	40.2	+0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Gilbert	12,077	24.0	-18.8
	UKIP	David Mathews[8]	8,503	16.9	+13.2
	Labour	Deborah Hopkins	5,150	10.2	+3.1
	Green	Steve Slade	2,318	4.6	N/A
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole	2,063	4.1	-0.2
Majority			8,173	16.2
Turnout				65.7	+3.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

General Election 2010: St Austell and Newquay[9][10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Gilbert	20,189	42.7	-4.5
	Conservative	Caroline Righton	18,877	40.0	+5.1
	Labour	Lee Jameson	3,386	7.2	-6.6
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole	2,007	4.2	+4.2
	UKIP	Clive Medway	1,757	3.7	-0.4
	BNP	James Fitton	1,022	2.2	+2.2
Majority			1,312	2.8
Turnout			47,238	61.9	-3.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	-4.8

Notional election result

The official Rallings & Thrasher notional results for the 2005 election gave the Liberal Democrats a notional majority of 5,723 votes (12.44%).

The alternative UKPollingReport estimates gave a much smaller notional Liberal Democrat majority of 630 in 2005.^[11]

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall

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. "Final recommendations for Parliamentary constituencies in the county of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly". Boundary Commission for England. 2005-01-09. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
3. Fifth periodical report - Volume 4 Mapping for the Non-Metropolitan Counties and the Unitary Authorities, The Stationery Office, 26 February 2007, ISBN 0-10-170322-8
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 1)
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. "St Austell & Newquay Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 (BBC News). Retrieved 16 May 2015.
8. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/staustellandnewquay/
9. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. "2010 Election". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
11. UK Polling Report. "St Austell and Newquay". Retrieved 11 August 2009.