North Somerset
County
Parliamentuk
Year2010
TownsClevedon, Nailsea and Portishead
PreviousWoodspring
Year 21950
Abolished 21983
Previous 2Frome and Weston-super-Mare
Next 2Woodspring, Wansdyke and Wells[1]
Year 31885
Abolished 31918
Previous 3East Somerset
Next 3Frome and Weston-super-Mare
Electorate73,963 (2023)[2]
MpSadik Al-Hassan
PartyLabour
RegionEngland
CountySomerset
EuropeanSouth West England
Elects howmanyOne
Caption 2Boundary of North Somerset in South West England

North Somerset is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sadik Al-Hassan of the Labour Party.[n 2]

History

Earlier versions of the seat existed in 1885–1918 and 1950–1983.

First creation

Parliament passed the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 creating the larger constituency of North Somerset from the 1885 general election, which was later abolished for the 1918 general election.

Second creation

North Somerset was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election.

Third creation

Following the review of parliamentary representation in the North Somerset district by the Boundary Commission for England, the former Woodspring constituency was renamed as North Somerset without substantial boundary changes.[3]

The Woodspring seat returned Conservative MPs, and had been held by Liam Fox from 1992 until its abolition. Fox won the new constituency by nearly 14 percentage points over the Liberal Democrats in 2010, while Labour took second place in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2024, with the Conservatives doing poorly around Bristol and surrounding constituencies in losing all their seats, Sadik Al-Hassan was elected as MP - the first to have been returned to Parliament for the Labour Party.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Keynsham, Long Ashton, and Temple Cloud, and the civil parishes of Binegar, Chilcompton, and Midsomer Norton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Keynsham, Norton Radstock, and Portishead, the Rural Districts of Bathavon and Clutton, and part of the Rural District of Long Ashton.

2010–2024: The District of North Somerset wards of Backwell, Clevedon Central, Clevedon East, Clevedon North, Clevedon South, Clevedon Walton, Clevedon West, Clevedon Yeo, Easton-in-Gordano, Gordano, Nailsea East, Nailsea North and West, Pill, Portishead Central, Portishead Coast, Portishead East, Portishead Redcliffe Bay, Portishead South and North Weston, Portishead West, Winford, Wraxall and Long Ashton, Wrington, and Yatton.

2024–present: The District of North Somerset wards of: Backwell; Clevedon East; Clevedon South; Clevedon Walton; Clevedon West; Clevedon Yeo; Gordano Valley; Long Ashton; Nailsea Golden Valley; Nailsea West End; Nailsea Yeo; Nailsea Youngwood; Pill; Portishead East; Portishead North; Portishead South; Portishead West; Winford; Wrington.[4]

Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to moderate boundary changes involving the loss of the Yatton area which was transferred to the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills, first contested at the 2024 general election.[5]

Constituency profile

This is essentially the former Woodspring seat with a new name. A coastal strip between the Severn Estuary and the M5 motorway includes the towns of Clevedon and Portishead, while inland from the motorway is the town of Nailsea and a predominantly rural area dotted with villages. This is a fairly affluent constituency with average incomes and low proportion of unemployment claimants[6] – about a third of the population commute to work, mostly in Bristol and Bath.[7]

Members of Parliament

YearMemberParty
1885Evan Henry Llewellyn
1892Courtenay Warner
1895Evan Henry Llewellyn
1906William Henry Bateman Hope
1910Joseph King
1918constituency abolished
1950Sir Ted Leather
1964Paul Dean
1983constituency abolished: see Woodspring
2010Liam Fox
2024Sadik Al-Hassan

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[8]
PartyVote%
Conservative30,41153.5
Labour14,22725.0
Liberal Democrats9,42516.6
Green2,8014.9
Turnout56,86476.9
Electorate73,963

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

See also

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. ^ "'Somerset North', Feb 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  3. ^ "FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES IN THE UNITARY AUTHORITY OF NORTH SOMERSET". Boundary Commission for England. 8 November 2000. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  4. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.
  5. ^ "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  6. ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  7. ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk
  8. ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  9. ^ Standard 21 June 1913