Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashfield is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament most recently by Lee Anderson of the Conservative Party.[n 2] The constituency is the English county of Nottinghamshire, East Midlands; located to the north west of the city of Nottingham in the Erewash Valley along the border with neighbouring county Derbyshire. The seat contains the market towns of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Huthwaite and Eastwood. The seat is a working class constituency in the heartlands of the Labour Party. Ashfield was part of the Red Wall which collapsed in Boris Johnson's landslide victory at the 2019 general election. In the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union, Ashfield voted 70% in favour of Brexit.[3]
Ashfield | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Ashfield in Nottinghamshire | |
Location of Nottinghamshire within England | |
County | Nottinghamshire |
Population | 101,914 (2011 census)[1] |
Electorate | 77,049 (December 2010)[2] |
Major settlements | Sutton in Ashfield, Kirkby in Ashfield and Eastwood |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1955 |
Member of Parliament | Lee Anderson (Conservative) |
Number of members | One |
Created from | Broxtowe |
Constituency profile
Until the Conservatives gained the seat at the 2019 general election, almost always a Labour Party seat since its creation for the 1955 general election, the Ashfield constituency has been served by a former Secretary of State, Geoff Hoon, and since its creation until now, for only two years has been served by one member of another party, Tim Smith of the Conservative Party, from 1977 to 1979. Ashfield's 2019 result indicates quite a large Conservative majority. In 2010, the seat had a marginal majority of only 192 votes over the Liberal Democrats, but this was increased to 8,820 in 2015 after a collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote, with the Conservatives finishing in second place. In 2017, there was another narrow margin of victory for Labour after an 8.9% swing to the Conservatives, who squeezed most of the fairly substantial UKIP vote from two years earlier, and also a large vote for the Ashfield Independents candidate of nearly 10%, but Labour on that occasion did just enough to hang on by just over 400 votes. In 2019, the Independent candidate Jason Zadrozny, who had come close to winning the seat for the Liberal Democrats nine years earlier, came second with a substantial vote, and the Conservatives took the seat despite achieving fewer votes and a smaller percentage of the total vote than in 2017.
Boundaries
1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Eastwood, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and Sutton-in-Ashfield, and in the Rural District of Basford the parishes of Annesley, Bestwood Park, Brinsley, Felley, Linby, Newstead, Papplewick, and Selston.
1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and Sutton-in-Ashfield, and in the Rural District of Basford the parishes of Annesley, Felley, and Selston.
1983–2010: The District of Ashfield wards of Jacksdale, Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central, Kirkby-in-Ashfield East, Kirkby-in-Ashfield West, Selston, Sutton-in-Ashfield Central, Sutton-in-Ashfield East, Sutton-in-Ashfield North, Sutton-in-Ashfield West, Underwood, and Woodhouse, and the Borough of Broxtowe wards of Brinsley, Eastwood East, Eastwood North, and Eastwood South.
2010–present: The District of Ashfield wards of Jacksdale, Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central, Kirkby-in-Ashfield East, Kirkby-in-Ashfield West, Selston, Sutton-in-Ashfield Central, Sutton-in-Ashfield East, Sutton-in-Ashfield North, Sutton-in-Ashfield West, Underwood, and Woodhouse, and the Borough of Broxtowe wards of Brinsley, Eastwood North and Greasley Beauvale, and Eastwood South.
Members of Parliament
The former Cabinet minister Geoff Hoon represented the seat for the Labour Party from 1992, when he succeeded the three-term Labour member Frank Haynes, to 2010 when he retired.[4] Ashfield is now represented by Conservative MP Lee Anderson. Formerly, Gloria De Piero came close to losing the seat after a 17.2% swing to the Liberal Democrats in 2010 but increased her majority again in 2015, only for it to be reduced to 441 in 2017.
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Lee Anderson | 19,231 | 39.3 | ||
Ashfield Independents | Jason Zadrozny | 13,498 | 27.6 | ||
Labour | Natalie Fleet | 11,971 | 24.4 | ||
Brexit Party | Martin Daubney | 2,501 | 5.1 | New | |
Liberal Democrats | Rebecca Wain | 1,105 | 2.3 | ||
Green | Rose Woods | 674 | 1.4 | ||
Majority | 5,733 | 11.7 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 48,980 | 62.6 | |||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Gloria De Piero | 21,285 | 42.6 | ||
Conservative | Tony Harper | 20,844 | 41.7 | ||
Ashfield Independents | Gail Turner | 4,612 | 9.2 | New | |
UKIP | Ray Young | 1,885 | 3.8 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Bob Charlesworth | 969 | 1.9 | ||
Green | Arran Rangi | 398 | 0.8 | New | |
Majority | 441 | 0.9 | |||
Turnout | 49,993 | 64.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Gloria De Piero | 19,448 | 41.0 | +7.3 | |
Conservative | Helen Harrison[8] | 10,628 | 22.4 | +0.2 | |
UKIP | Simon Ashcroft | 10,150 | 21.4 | +19.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Philip Smith[9] | 7,030 | 14.8 | −18.5 | |
Justice for Men and Boys | Mike Buchanan | 153 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 8,820 | 18.6 | +18.2 | ||
Turnout | 47,409 | 61.5 | −0.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.55 |
The Liberal Democrats had again selected Jason Zadrozny, but he was suspended by the Liberal Democrat party after being arrested and questioned for historic child sex abuse allegations just weeks before the election, of which he was later cleared [10]. He was later removed and was replaced by Philip Smith.[11][12]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Gloria De Piero | 16,239 | 33.7 | −15.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jason Zadrozny | 16,047 | 33.3 | +19.5 | |
Conservative | Garry Hickton | 10,698 | 22.2 | −2.2 | |
BNP | Edward Holmes | 2,781 | 5.8 | N/A | |
English Democrat | Tony Ellis | 1,102 | 2.3 | N/A | |
UKIP | Terry Coleman | 933 | 1.9 | N/A | |
Independent | Eddie Smith | 396 | 0.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 192 | 0.4 | −23.9 | ||
Turnout | 48,196 | 62.3 | +5.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −17.2 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Geoff Hoon | 20,433 | 48.6 | −9.5 | |
Conservative | Giles Inglis-Jones | 10,220 | 24.3 | −0.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Wendy Johnson | 5,829 | 13.9 | +2.6 | |
Ashfield Independents | Roy Adkins | 2,292 | 5.5 | N/A | |
Independent | Kate Allsop | 1,900 | 4.5 | N/A | |
Veritas | Sarah Hemstock | 1,108 | 2.6 | N/A | |
Independent | Eddie Grenfell | 269 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,213 | 24.3 | |||
Turnout | 42,051 | 57.3 | +3.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −4.7 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Geoff Hoon | 22,875 | 58.1 | −7.0 | |
Conservative | Julian Leigh | 9,607 | 24.4 | +4.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | William Smith | 4,428 | 11.3 | +1.6 | |
Independent | Charlie Harby | 1,471 | 3.7 | N/A | |
Socialist Alliance | George Watson | 589 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | Katrina R. Howse | 380 | 1.0 | N/A | |
Majority | 13,268 | 33.7 | |||
Turnout | 39,350 | 53.6 | −16.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −5.6 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Geoff Hoon | 32,979 | 65.1 | +10.2 | |
Conservative | Mark Simmonds | 10,251 | 20.3 | −12.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | William E. Smith | 4,882 | 9.7 | −2.8 | |
Referendum | Martin I. Betts | 1,896 | 3.8 | N/A | |
BNP | Steven E. Belshaw | 595 | 1.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 22,728 | 44.9 | |||
Turnout | 50,603 | 70.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | +11.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Geoff Hoon | 32,018 | 54.9 | +13.2 | |
Conservative | Laurence Robertson | 19,031 | 32.6 | −1.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | James S. Turton | 7,291 | 12.5 | −12.2 | |
Majority | 12,987 | 22.3 | +14.2 | ||
Turnout | 58,340 | 80.4 | +3.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +7.1 |
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Haynes | 22,812 | 41.7 | ±0.0 | |
Conservative | Barry Coleman | 18,412 | 33.6 | +2.9 | |
Liberal | Frances Stein | 13,542 | 24.7 | −2.1 | |
Majority | 4,400 | 8.1 | −3.7 | ||
Turnout | 70,937 | 77.2 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | −1.45 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Haynes | 21,859 | 41.7 | ||
Conservative | Roderick Seligman | 15,772 | 30.7 | ||
Liberal | Frances Stein | 13,812 | 26.8 | ||
Majority | 6,087 | 11.8 | |||
Turnout | 68,791 | 74.8 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1970s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Haynes | 33,116 | 52.8 | −10.6 | |
Conservative | Tim Smith | 25,319 | 40.4 | +18.1 | |
Liberal | Hampton Flint | 3,914 | 6.2 | −8.4 | |
National Front | W. Annable | 397 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 7,797 | 12.4 | |||
Turnout | 77,878 | 80.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | −14.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Tim Smith | 19,616 | 43.1 | +20.8 | |
Labour | Michael Cowan | 19,352 | 42.5 | −20.9 | |
Liberal | Hampton Flint | 4,380 | 9.6 | −4.7 | |
National Front | George Herrod | 1,734 | 3.8 | N/A | |
Socialist Workers | June Hall | 453 | 1.0 | N/A | |
Majority | 264 | 0.6 | |||
Turnout | |||||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | 20.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Marquand | 35,367 | 63.4 | +4.1 | |
Conservative | Richard Kemm | 12,452 | 22.3 | −1.1 | |
Liberal | Hampton Flint | 7,959 | 14.3 | −3.0 | |
Majority | 22,915 | 41.1 | |||
Turnout | 74,683 | 74.7 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Marquand | 35,994 | 59.3 | −11.0 | |
Conservative | Richard Kemm | 14,206 | 23.4 | −6.3 | |
Liberal | Hampton Flint | 10,534 | 17.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 21,788 | 35.9 | |||
Turnout | 74,095 | 82.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Marquand | 32,372 | 68.2 | −5.4 | |
Conservative | Richard Kemm | 15,089 | 31.8 | +5.4 | |
Majority | 17,283 | 36.4 | |||
Turnout | 67,623 | 70.2 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | −5.4 |
Elections in the 1960s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Marquand | 33,477 | 73.6 | ||
Conservative | E.T. Gibbons | 11,991 | 26.4 | ||
Majority | 21,486 | 47.26 | |||
Turnout | 62,030 | 73.30 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | William Warbey | 34,841 | 72.84 | ||
Conservative | TL Wright | 12,989 | 27.16 | ||
Majority | 21,852 | 45.69 | |||
Turnout | 61,960 | 77.19 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1950s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | William Warbey | 35,432 | 70.69 | ||
Conservative | Julian GW Sandys | 14,690 | 29.31 | ||
Majority | 20,742 | 41.38 | |||
Turnout | 61,139 | 81.98 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | William Warbey | 32,905 | 71.94 | ||
Conservative | Alan S Plane | 12,836 | 28.06 | ||
Majority | 20,069 | 43.88 | |||
Turnout | 59,820 | 76.46 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
Notes and references
- Notes
- A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- 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
- "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- "EU Referendum: Ashfield votes to LEAVE the EU". ITV News. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- "BBC News - Ex-cabinet minister Geoff Hoon to stand down as an MP". news.bbc.co.uk.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
- "Ashfield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Conservatives choose Ashfield candidate for General Election". www.chad.co.uk.
- "Ashfield Liberal Democrats name new candidate". Nottingham Post. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
- https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/cleared-councillor-jason-zadrozny-vows-703217. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - Mason, Rowena (26 March 2015). "Lib Dem election candidate arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse" – via The Guardian.
- "Nottinghamshire councillor Jason Zadrozny's child sex case thrown out". BBC News. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Ashfield". news.bbc.co.uk.
- "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Ashfield [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "UK General Election results: March 1966 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- "UK General Election results: October 1964 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- "UK General Election results: October 1959 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- http://tools.assembla.com/svn/grodt/uk/thc/files/marked_up/1959_marked_up.txt
- "UK General Election results: May 1955 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- http://tools.assembla.com/svn/grodt/uk/thc/files/marked_up/1955_marked_up.txt
Sources
- Youngs, Frederic A., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II, Northern England, London, 1991