Warwick and Leamington (UK Parliament constituency)

Warwick and Leamington
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Warwick and Leamington in Warwickshire.
Location of Warwickshire within England.
County	Warwickshire
Electorate	66,278 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Warwick and Leamington
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Chris White (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Warwick
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Warwick and Leamington is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Chris White, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Royal Leamington Spa, Stratford-on-Avon, and Warwick, the Urban District of Kenilworth, the Rural Districts of Alcester and Warwick, in the Rural District of Brailes the civil parishes of Ilmington and Stretton-on-Fosse, and part of the Rural District of Stratford-on-Avon.

1950–1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Leamington Spa and Warwick, the Urban District of Kenilworth, and the Rural District of Warwick (the civil parishes of Ashow, Baddesley Clinton, Baginton, Barford, Beausale, Bishop's Tachbrook, Blackdown, Bubbenhall, Budbrooke, Bushwood, Cubbington, Eathorpe, Guy's Cliffe, Haseley, Hatton, Honiley, Hunningham, Lapworth, Leek Wootton, Norton Lindsey, Offchurch, Old Milverton, Radford Semele, Rowington, Sherbourne, Shrewley, Stoneleigh, Wappenbury, Wasperton, Weston-under-Wetherley, Whitnash, and Wroxall).

1983–1997: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop's Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Cubbington, Lapworth, Leek Wootton, Manor, Milverton, Radford Semele, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes.

1997–2010: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop's Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Cubbington, Lapworth, Leek Wootton, Manor, Milverton, Radford Semele, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes, and the District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of Henley, Tanworth, and Tanworth Earlswood.

2010–present: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop’s Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Manor, Milverton, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes.

The 2010 boundary changes reduced the constituency's area by removing outlying villages, reflecting population and housing growth.

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, partially replacing the earlier and ancient Warwick constituency which unusually, until that year had sent two MPs to Westminster.^[2]

Political history

Represented by Conservatives from 1910–1997, the seat was for much of this time a safe seat, seeing frequent majorities of more than 10,000 votes. The seat had not been expected to change hands in the 1997 general election: as such James Plaskitt's defeat of Dudley Smith was a Portillo moment, without the decapitation of a government frontbencher. Plaskitt increased his majority in the 2001 election, but on a lower turnout. In the 2005 election, Warwick and Leamington was 85th on the Conservative list of target seats, meaning that to gain it they would have required a somewhat greater swing than was seen nationally. With a greater swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats, Plaskitt narrowly held the seat with a majority slashed from nearly 6,000 votes to only 266.

However, minor boundary changes in Labour's favour took effect at the 2010 general election and the winner was variously predicted. In the event the seat was gained by a Conservative, Chris White, with a majority of 7% of the vote. On this occasion the Conservative Party was the main beneficiary from swings away from the Labour Party and the Green Party.

Prominent frontbenchers

For 34 years the seat was represented by former prime minister Anthony Eden, until the end of his premiership caused by his resignation (after the Suez Crisis and falling ill).

In part of the early 1920s, the Solicitor General for England and Wales, then Attorney General for England and Wales represented the seat, Sir Ernest Pollock – Eden's successor was also in these senior positions, Sir John Hobson, in the part of early 1960s.

Constituency profile

The seat comprises the two eponymous towns, with modest hills surrounding them, in the upper valley of the River Avon (Warwickshire).

The towns of Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa are still distinct however form, in the modern seat, a contiguous urban area. Both towns are relatively affluent, although there are pockets of deprivation in Leamington. Warwick, with its historic castle, is an internationally advertised tourist destination, while Leamington's economy is more dependent on storage, distribution, manufacturing, processing, engineering and industry. Leamington is also more ethnically diverse (e.g. five per cent of the constituency's population is of Asian ethnicity) and is home to some students of the University of Warwick that lies close to Coventry.

Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party	Notes
	1885	Sir Arthur Wellesley Peel	Liberal	Speaker of the House of Commons 1884–95
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1895 by-election	Alfred Lyttelton	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Thomas Berridge	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Sir Ernest Pollock	Conservative	Solicitor General then Attorney General (1919–1922)
	1923	Sir Anthony Eden	Conservative	Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister (1955–1957), resigned 1957
	1957 by-election	Sir John Hobson	Conservative	Solicitor General then Attorney General (1962–1964), died 1967
	1968 by-election	Sir Dudley Smith	Conservative
	1997	James Plaskitt	Labour
	2010	Chris White	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Warwick and Leamington[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Mark Francis White	24,249	47.9	+5.4
	Labour	Lynnette Kelly	17,643	34.9	-0.5
	UKIP	Alastair MacBrayne[6]	4,183	8.3	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Haseeb Arif	2,512	5.0	-13.3
	Green	Azzees Minott	1,994	3.9	+2.1
Majority			6,606	13.1	+5.9
Turnout			50,581	70.7	-0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

General Election 2010: Warwick and Leamington[7][8][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Mark Francis White	20,876	42.6	+8.2
	Labour	James Plaskitt	17,363	35.4	-9.3
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Beddow	8,977	18.3	+2.4
	UKIP	Christopher Lenton	926	1.9	+0.2
	Green	Ian Davison	693	1.4	-1.9
	Independent	Jim Cullinane	197	0.4	+0.4
Majority			3,513	7.2
Turnout			49,032	71.0	+5.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.75

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Warwick and Leamington[10][11][12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Andrew Plaskitt	22,238	40.6	−8.2
	Conservative	Christopher Mark Francis White	21,972	40.1	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Linda Forbes	8,119	14.8	+3.7
	Green	Ian Davison	1,534	2.8	N/A
	UKIP	Greville Warwick	921	1.7	+0.5
Majority			266	0.5	−10.7
Turnout			54,744	67.4	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.4

General Election 2001: Warwick and Leamington[13][14][15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Andrew Plaskitt	26,108	48.8	+4.3
	Conservative	David Campbell-Bannerman	20,155	37.6	−1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Linda Forbes	5,964	11.1	−0.7
	Socialist Alliance	Claire Kime	664	1.2	N/A
	UKIP	Greville Warwick	648	1.2	N/A
Majority			5,953	11.2	+5.5
Turnout			53,539	65.8	−9.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Warwick and Leamington[16][17][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Andrew Plaskitt	26,747	44.5	+11.5
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	23,349	38.9	−9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Hicks	7,133	11.9	−4.7
	Referendum	Val Davis	1,484	2.5	N/A
	Green	Paul Baptie	764	1.3	−0.1
	Independent	Greville Warwick	306	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Michael Gibbs	183	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Roddy McCarthy	125	0.2	−0.1
Majority			3,398	5.7
Turnout			60,091	75.1	−6.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	10.5

General Election 1992: Warwick and Leamington[19][20][21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	28,093	48.4	−1.4
	Labour	Matthew Taylor	19,158	33.0	+9.5
	Liberal Democrat	S. E. Boad	9,645	16.6	−7.9
	Green	J. A. Alty	803	1.4	−0.6
	Independent	R. Newby	251	0.4	N/A
	Natural Law	J. Brewster	156	0.3	N/A
Majority			8,935	15.4	−9.9
Turnout			58,108	81.6	−5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election, 1987: Warwick and Leamington[22][23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	27,530	49.8	−1.1
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	K. P. O'Sullivan	13,548	24.5	−1.4
	Labour	A. Christina	13,019	23.5	+1.5
	Green	J. A. Alty	1,214	2.2	+0.9
Majority			13,982	25.3	+0.3
Turnout			55,311	76.0	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

General election, 1983: Warwick and Leamington[24][25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	26,512	50.9	−3.5
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	R. Behrens	13,480	25.9	+10.9
	Labour	Richard Chessum	11,463	22.0	−7.3
	Ecology	N. Charlton	685	1.3	−0.1
Majority			13,032	25.0	0.0
Turnout			52,140	73.6	−4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.2

Elections in the 1970s

General election, 1979: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	35,925	54.4	+7.3
	Labour	C. J. Gray	19,367	29.3	−3.8
	Liberal	D. Woodcock	9,905	15.0	−4.8
	Ecology	P. Sizer	905	1.4	N/A
Majority			16,558	25.0	+11.0
Turnout			66,102	77.7	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6

General election, October 1974: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	27,721	47.1	−0.4
	Labour	J. W. England	19,476	33.1	+3.4
	Liberal	T. A. Jones	11,625	19.8	−3.0
Majority			8,245	14.0	−3.8
Turnout			58,822	74.8	−6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.9

General election, February 1974: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	30,167	47.5	−15.9
	Labour	J. W. England	18,874	29.7	−6.9
	Liberal	T. A. Jones	14,500	22.8	N/A
Majority			11,293	17.8	−9.0
Turnout			63,541	81.6	+9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−19.4 (to the Liberal Party)

General election, 1970: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	36,994	63.4	−4.9
	Labour	John Taylor Watkinson	21,355	36.6	+20.1
Majority			15,639	26.8	−25.0
Turnout			58,349	72.6	−6.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.5

Elections in the 1960s

Warwick and Leamington by-election, 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dudley Gordon Smith	28,914	68.3	+16.7
	Labour	Raymond John Carter	6,992	16.5	−19.6
	Liberal	Antony Butcher	6,415	15.2	+2.9
Majority			21,922	51.8	+36.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+18.2

General election, 1966: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gardiner Sumner Hobson	28,918	51.6	−2.2
	Labour	Leslie John Huckfield	20,221	36.1	+2.0
	Liberal	Antony Butcher	6,912	12.3	+0.2
Majority			8,697	15.5	−4.2
Turnout			56,051	78.9	−1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

General election, 1964: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gardiner Sumner Hobson	29,749	53.8	−8.8
	Labour	Nigel John Spearing	18,865	34.1	−3.3
	Liberal	Peter Gibson	6,676	12.1	N/A
Majority			10,884	19.7	−5.5
Turnout			55,290	80.4	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.5

Elections in the 1950s

General election, 1959: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gardiner Sumner Hobson	32,513	62.6	10.3
	Labour	William Wilson	19,434	37.4	−10.3
Majority			13,079	25.2
Turnout			51,947	82.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.3

Warwick and Leamington by-election, 1957
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gardiner Sumner Hobson	24,948	52.3	−12.2
	Labour	William Wilson	22,791	47.7	12.2
Majority			2,157	4.5
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.2

General election, 1955: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden	29,979	64.48	4.0
	Labour	William Wilson	16,513	35.52	-−4.0
Majority			13,466	28.96
Turnout				78.77
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.0

General election, 1951: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden	28,282	60.48	0.7
	Labour	William Wilson	18,479	39.52	−0.7
Majority			9,803	20.96
Turnout				82.38
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

General election, 1950: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden	27,353	59.78	−1.6
	Labour	H. Bithell	18,400	40.22	+8.0
Majority			8,953	19.57
Turnout				82.86
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.8

Election in the 1940s

General election, 1945: Warwick and Leamington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden	37,110	61.34	-15.3
	Labour	D. Chesworth	19,476	32.19	+8.8
	Liberal	Walter Leslie Dingley	3,908	6.46	+6.46
Majority			17,634	29.15
Turnout				69.18
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.1

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: Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden
• Liberal: Walter Leslie Dingley
• Labour: Theodore Besterman

Elections in the 1930s

General election, 1935: Warwick and Leamington [26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Robert Anthony Eden	35,746	76.58	−4.0
	Labour	J. Perry	10,930	23.42	+4.0
Majority			24,816	53.17
Turnout				65.66
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.0

General election, 1931: Warwick and Leamington [27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Anthony Eden	38,584	80.64
	Ind. Labour Party	Charles George Garton	9,261	19.36
Majority			29,323	61.29
Turnout				72.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Warwick and Leamington [28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Anthony Eden	23,045	47.6	-12.6
	Liberal	Walter Leslie Dingley	17,585	36.4	-3.4
	Labour	Charles George Garton	7,741	16.0	n/a
Majority			5,460	11.2	-9.2
Turnout				77.5	+3.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-4.6

General Election 1924: Warwick and Leamington [29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Anthony Eden	19,575	60.2	+8.4
	Liberal	George Nicholls	12,966	39.8	+4.4
Majority			6,609	20.4	+4.0
Turnout				73.6	+0.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.0

General Election 1923: Warwick and Leamington [30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Anthony Eden	16,337	51.8	n/a
	Liberal	George Nicholls	11,134	35.4	n/a
	Labour	Countess of Warwick	4,015	12.8	n/a
Majority			5,203	16.4	n/a
Turnout				72.9	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922 : Warwick and Leamington [31]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Sir Ernest Murray Pollock	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918 Warwick and Leamington[32]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Ernest Murray Pollock	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

• denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough 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. 2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
3. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
5. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. http://ukipwarwickleamington.org/news/our-new-candidate-for-the-2015-general-election.html
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. Warwick District Council, Official list of candidates
9. "UK > England > West Midlands > Warwick & Leamington". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
10. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. BBC Vote 2005
12. The Guardian
13. BBC Vote 2001
14. The Guardian
15. Election Demon
16. BBC Vote 2001
17. The Guardian
18. Election Demon
19. The Guardian
20. Election Demon
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 Demon
24. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. Election Demon
26. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
27. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
28. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
29. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
30. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
31. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
32. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Sources

• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources: UK General Elections since 1832
• 1968 By Election Results
• 1957 By Election Results

Coordinates: 52°18′N 1°36′W / 52.30°N 1.60°W