Weston-super-Mare (UK Parliament constituency)

Weston-super-Mare is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by John Penrose, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Weston-super-Mare
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset
Location of Somerset within England
County	Somerset
Electorate	79,819 (2018)^[1]
Major settlements	Weston-super-Mare
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	John Penrose (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	part North Somerset, part Wells

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to moderate boundary changes which will involve the loss of rural areas in the east which will move into the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills to be first contested at the next general election.^[2]

History

The seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918. Its forerunner was the North Somerset division created in 1885.

The by-election of 1934 was triggered by the acceptance of the appointment of Lord Erskine to the position of Governor of Madras Presidency, that of 1958 by the death of Ian Orr-Ewing and that of 1969 by the death of David Webster.

Political history

The seat has alternated in representation between 1992 and 2005: in the election of 1997 the fresh Conservative candidate, Margaret Daly failed to hold the seat which led to Weston Super Mare's first marginal majority since 1923, obtained by Brian Cotter, a Liberal Democrat. Between 1997 and 2010, all the majorities in the constituency were lower than 3,000 votes, remaining strongly marginal and seeing in 2005 Cotter lose the seat to John Penrose. Following the 2015 election however, the seat moved strongly towards the Conservatives, who have increased their share of the vote in every subsequent election. At the 2019 election, Penrose gained a 17,121 over the now second place Labour candidate.

Frontbenchers

• Jerry Wiggin was a Minister for the Armed Services from 1981 to 1983.
• Brian Cotter was the Liberal Democrat Small Business Spokesman (1997–2005),
• John Penrose was appointed the Minister for Tourism and Heritage (2010–2012).

Boundaries

 

Map of current boundaries

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Clevedon, Portishead, and Weston-super-Mare, and the Rural Districts of Axbridge and Long Ashton.

1950–1983: The Borough of Weston-super-Mare, the Urban District of Clevedon, the Rural District of Axbridge, and in the Rural District of Long Ashton the parishes of Kenn, Kingston Seymour, and Yatton.

1983–1997: The District of Woodspring wards of Banwell, Blagdon, Churchill, Congresbury, Hutton, Locking, Weston-super-Mare Ashcombe, Weston-super-Mare East, Weston-super-Mare Ellenborough, Weston-super-Mare North, Weston-super-Mare South, Weston-super-Mare Uphill, Weston-super-Mare West, Winscombe, Wrington, and Yatton.

1997–2010: The District of North Somerset wards of Banwell, Blagdon, Churchill, Congresbury, Hutton, Locking, Weston-super-Mare Ashcombe, Weston-super-Mare East, Weston-super-Mare Ellenborough, Weston-super-Mare North, Weston-super-Mare South, Weston-super-Mare Uphill, Weston-super-Mare West, and Winscombe.

2010–present: The District of North Somerset wards of Banwell and Winscombe, Blagdon and Churchill, Congresbury, Hutton and Locking, Kewstoke, Weston-super-Mare Central, Weston-super-Mare Clarence and Uphill, Weston-super-Mare East, Weston-super-Mare Milton and Old Worle, Weston-super-Mare North Worle, Weston-super-Mare South, Weston-super-Mare South Worle, and Weston-super-Mare West.

The constituency covers the southern half of North Somerset Unitary Authority, including its only town, Weston-super-Mare on the Bristol Channel.

Proposed

 

Weston-Super-Mare is 11 in Avon County

The composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be reduced in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Banwell & Winscombe, Blagdon & Churchill, and Congresbury & Puxton wards to the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills.^[3]

History of boundaries

Changes for 1950

Under the first periodic review the Weston constituency lost the Urban District of Portishead, and most of the Rural District of Long Ashton (excepting the parishes of Kenn, Kingston Seymour, and Yatton) to North Somerset constituency.

Changes for 1983

Under the third periodic review the Weston constituency lost Clevedon to Woodspring constituency, and the parishes now within the Sedgemoor district (under the Local Government Act 1972) to Wells constituency.

Changes for 1997

Under the fourth periodic review the Weston constituency lost Yatton and Wrington to Woodspring constituency.

Changes for 2010

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies by making slight changes to this constituency for the 2010 general election, namely the loss of only 181 electors in Butcombe (in the ward of Wrington, no longer in the seat at all) to North Somerset.

Constituency profile

The town grew as a relatively late-Victorian affluent resort with many green spaces and gardens south of the headland, Sand Point which denotes the sandier beach of the town and of Burnham on Sea relative to northerly shores such as at Clevedon.

Work in tourism and visitor attractions is seasonal but other areas of the economy locally, such as customer services operations, freight, haulage and distribution, social, care, elderly and health services as well as retail, manufacturing and materials/foods processing provide employment. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[5]	Party
	1918	Sir Gilbert Wills	Conservative
	1922	Lord Erskine^[n 3]	Conservative
	1923	Frank Murrell	Liberal
	1924	Lord Erskine	Conservative
	1934 by-election	Ian Orr-Ewing	Conservative
	1958 by-election	David Webster	Conservative
	1969 by-election	Jerry Wiggin	Conservative
	1997	Brian Cotter	Liberal Democrat
	2005	John Penrose	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniel Aldridge ^[6]
	Green	Thomas Daw^[7]
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Keating^[8]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Weston-super-Mare^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	31,983	57.5	+4.4
	Labour	Tim Taylor	14,862	26.7	–6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Keating	6,935	12.5	+3.3
	Green	Suneil Basu	1,834	3.3	+1.7
Majority			17,121	30.8	+10.4
Turnout			55,614	67.4	–1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.2

General election 2017: Weston-super-Mare^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	29,982	53.1	+5.1
	Labour	Tim Taylor	18,438	32.7	+14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Bell	5,175	9.2	–1.2
	UKIP	Helen Hims	1,932	3.4	–14.4
	Green	Suneil Basu	888	1.6	–3.3
Majority			11,544	20.4	–9.3
Turnout			56,415	68.7	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–4.6

General election 2015: Weston-super-Mare^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	25,203	48.0	+3.7
	Labour	Tim Taylor	9,594	18.3	+7.4
	UKIP	Ernie Warrender	9,366	17.8	+15.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Munro	5,486	10.4	–28.8
	Green	Richard Lawson	2,592	4.9	New
	English Democrat	Ronald Lavelle	311	0.6	+0.1
Majority			15,609	29.7	+24.6
Turnout			52,552	66.0	–1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: Weston-super-Mare^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	23,356	44.3	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Bell	20,665	39.2	+3.1
	Labour	David Bradley	5,772	10.9	–7.8
	UKIP	Paul Spencer	1,406	2.7	+0.2
	BNP	Peryn Parsons	1,098	2.1	+0.5
	English Democrat	John Peverelle	275	0.5	New
	Independent	Steve Satch	144	0.3	New
Majority			2,691	5.1	+0.9
Turnout			52,716	67.2	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Weston-super-Mare^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	19,804	40.3	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cotter	17,725	36.1	−3.4
	Labour	Damien Egan	9,169	18.7	−1.1
	UKIP	Paul Spencer	1,207	2.5	+1.1
	BNP	Clive Courtney	778	1.6	New
	Independent	William Human	225	0.5	New
	Demanding Honesty in Politics and Whitehall	Paul Hemingway-Arnold	187	0.4	New
Majority			2,079	4.2	N/A
Turnout			49,095	65.5	+2.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+2.5

General election 2001: Weston-super-Mare^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cotter	18,424	39.5	–0.6
	Conservative	John Penrose	18,086	38.7	+1.0
	Labour	Derek Kraft	9,235	19.8	+1.9
	UKIP	Bill Lukins	650	1.4	New
	Independent	John Peverelle	206	0.4	New
	Independent	Richard Sibley	79	0.2	New
Majority			338	0.8	–1.6
Turnout			46,680	62.8	–10.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	–0.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Weston-super-Mare^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cotter	21,407	40.1	+0.8
	Conservative	Margaret Daly	20,133	37.7	-10.0
	Labour	Derek Kraft	9,557	17.9	+6.9
	Referendum	Tom Sewell	2,280	4.3	New
Majority			1,274	2.4	N/A
Turnout			53,377	73.7	-6.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Weston-super-Mare^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	30,022	47.7	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cotter	24,680	39.3	+3.7
	Labour	David E. Murray	6,913	11.0	−0.4
	Green	Richard Lawson	1,262	2.0	−1.6
Majority			5,342	8.4	−5.4
Turnout			62,877	79.7	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	28,547	49.4	-4.2
	SDP	John Crockford-Hawley	20,549	35.6	+0.2
	Labour Co-op	Paul Loach	6,584	11.4	+0.3
	Green	Richard Lawson	2,067	3.6	New
Majority			7,998	13.8	-4.4
Turnout			57,747	75.7	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	27,948	53.6
	SDP	Jonathan Marks	18,457	35.4
	Labour	Roger Berry	5,781	11.1
Majority			9,491	18.2
Turnout			52,186	73.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	40,618	56.9	+8.1
	Liberal	Rowland Morgan	16,305	22.9	-5.7
	Labour Co-op	Alan Taylor	14,420	20.2	-1.9
Majority			24,313	34.0	+13.8
Turnout			71,343	77.5	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	31,028	48.8	-1.2
	Liberal	Roger Miller	18,169	28.6	-1.3
	Labour Co-op	Peter Owen	14,057	22.1	+2.1
	United Democratic	Eric Iszatt	296	0.5	New
Majority			12,859	20.2	+0.1
Turnout			63,550	74.8	-5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	33,838	50.0	-7.9
	Liberal	Philip Golding	20,237	29.9	+12.6
	Labour Co-op	Roy Morris	13,542	20.0	-4.8
Majority			13,601	20.1	-13.0
Turnout			67,617	80.1	+6.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	33,816	57.9	+5.8
	Labour	Sarah Palmer	14,473	24.8	-4.0
	Liberal	Edward Deal	10,120	17.3	-1.8
Majority			19,343	33.1	+9.8
Turnout			58,409	73.7	-4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1969 Weston-super-Mare by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	29,211	65.7	+13.6
	Liberal	Edward Deal	8,739	19.7	+0.6
	Labour	Nicholas Bosanquet	6,504	14.6	-14.2
Majority			20,472	46.0	+22.7
Turnout			44,454	60.8	-17.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,733	52.1	-1.0
	Labour Co-op	Melvyn Butcher	15,340	28.8	+4.9
	Liberal	Ian McDonald	10,173	19.1	-3.9
Majority			12,393	23.3	-5.9
Turnout			53,246	78.5	-0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Weston-super-Mare^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,143	53.1	-4.4
	Labour Co-op	Jessie Stephen	12,248	23.9	+1.2
	Liberal	Ian McDonald	11,771	23.0	+3.2
Majority			14,895	29.2	-5.6
Turnout			51,162	79.0	-0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,881	57.5	-5.2
	Labour	Edward Hampton	10,977	22.7	-14.6
	Liberal	Edward Taylor	9,609	19.8	N/A
Majority			16,904	34.8	+9.4
Turnout			48,467	79.7	+5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

1958 Weston-super-Mare by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	21,271	49.3	-13.4
	Labour	Edward Hampton	11,295	26.2	-11.1
	Liberal	Edward Taylor	10,588	24.5	New
Majority			9,976	23.1	-2.3
Turnout			43,154	72.2	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	27,357	62.7	-3.0
	Labour	Robert Andrews	16,275	37.3	+3.0
Majority			11,082	25.4	-6.0
Turnout			43,632	73.8	-5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	30,485	65.7	+9.3
	Labour	Robert Andrews	15,942	34.3	+6.3
Majority			14,543	31.4	-22.2
Turnout			46,427	79.7	-3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	26,767	56.4
	Labour	Michael Hill	13,294	28.0
	Liberal	Frederick Archie Kew	7,394	15.6
Majority			13,473	53.6
Turnout			47,455	83.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	30,730	49.5	-16.2
	Labour	Hugh Cardew	20,542	33.1	+15.4
	Liberal	Stanley Sanger	10,804	17.4	-1.3
Majority			10,188	16.4	-30.6
Turnout			62,076	73.7	+7.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	27,735	65.7	-20.0
	Liberal	Henry Scott-Stokes	7,883	18.7	N/A
	Labour	George Elvin	6,625	15.7	+1.4
Majority			19,852	47.0	-24.4
Turnout			42,243	66.4	-5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

1934 Weston-super-Mare by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	21,203	61.5	-24.2
	Liberal	Henry Scott-Stokes	7,551	21.9	New
	Labour	Albert Edward Millett	5,715	16.6	+2.3
Majority			13,652	39.6	-31.8
Turnout			34,469
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Erskine	35,255	85.7	+33.5
	Labour	Bernard Craig	5,905	14.3	+3.4
Majority			29,350	71.4	+55.2
Turnout			41,160	71.8	-8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Erskine	21,898	51.1	-4.7
	Liberal	William Morse	16,219	37.8	-2.2
	Labour	Constance Elizabeth Borrett	4,766	11.1	+6.9
Majority			5,679	13.3	-2.5
Turnout			42,883	77.8	-2.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	-0.3

General election 1924: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Erskine	17,987	55.8	+7.3
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	12,895	40.0	-11.5
	Labour	Raphael Neft	1,343	4.2	New
Majority			5,092	15.8	N/A
Turnout			32,225	81.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1923: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	15,223	51.5	+6.6
	Unionist	John Erskine	14,318	48.5	-6.6
Majority			905	3.0	N/A
Turnout			29,541
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.6

General election 1922: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Erskine	15,552	55.1	-10.4
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	12,674	44.9	+10.4
Majority			2,878	10.2	-20.8
Turnout			28,226
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Weston-super-Mare

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Gilbert Wills	13,494	65.5
	Liberal	Edmund Thruston	7,104	34.5
Majority			6,390	31.0
Turnout			20,598
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon

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. Heir to the Earl of Mar, however predeceased his father. This title has a subsidiary title gained by one of the clan's forebears, remaining as a courtesy title, Lord Erskine, which attaches to its current holder's eldest son.

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
5. "Weston-super-Mare 1918–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2012.
6. https://twitter.com/DanAldridgeWSM/status/1768024578436084012
7. "tweet announcing selection". Twitter. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
8. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
9. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
10. Robinson, Sarah. "General Election 2017: Who is standing in the Weston-super-Mare constituency?". Weston Mercury.
11. "Weston-Super-Mare". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
12. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Weston-Super-Mare". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
15. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
16. "Stephen, Miss Jessie 8SUF/B/157". The National Archives. 1 July 1977. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

Sources

• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Michael Kinnear, The British Voter (London: BH Batsford, Ltd, 1968)
• Henry Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections 1885–1910 (London: Macmillan, 1967)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)