- Norwich South (UK Parliament constituency)
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Norwich South Borough constituency for the House of Commons 
Boundary of Norwich South in Norfolk.
Location of Norfolk within England.County Norfolk Electorate 73,569 (December 2010)[1] Current constituency Created 1950 Member of Parliament Simon Wright (Liberal Democrat) Number of members One Created from Norwich Overlaps European Parliament constituency East of England Norwich South is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the 2-seat Norwich constituency was divided into Norwich North and Norwich South.
Contents
Boundaries
The constituency is one of two covering the city of Norwich. Prior to the 2010 election, it included the Norwich City wards of Bowthorpe, Crome (part) Eaton, Lakenham, Nelson, Mancroft, Thorpe Hamlet (part), Town Close, University and Wensum. In addition the South Norfolk district wards of New Costessey and Cringleford (part) are within the constituency. Boundaries changed at the 2010 General Election (see below).
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk that concluded in 2004, the Boundary Commission for England created a slightly modified Norwich South constituency. The changes took effect at the 2010 General Election.
Changes were necessary in order to re-align the constituency boundaries with the new local government ward boundaries introduced in South Norfolk and Norwich in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Norfolk was also granted an additional, ninth seat, by the Boundary Commission. The part of the Crome ward around Morse Road will move to Norwich North, while the area around Mousehold Street in Thorpe Hamlet will move in to Norwich South. Additionally, the villages of Cringleford and Colney will move to the South Norfolk constituency.
The composition of the new Norwich South will be:
The following wards from the city of Norwich: Bowthorpe, Eaton, Lakenham, Nelson, Mancroft, Thorpe Hamlet, Town Close, University and Wensum.
And the New Costessey ward from the district of South Norfolk.
History
The Labour MP for this seat from 1997 to 2010 was Charles Clarke who served in cabinet for five years from 2001 to 2006, first as Minister without Portfolio, then as Secretary of State for Education and Skills and latterly as Home Secretary.
Norwich South was by far Labour's safest seat in Norfolk throughout the Thatcher years and up until 2005. Although it was lost to the Conservatives in 1983, it was regained by Labour in 1987 and was the only Labour seat in Norfolk until 1997. In 2005 the Labour majority was cut by over 5000 leaving Norwich North as the safest Labour seat in the county.
The seat was considered a true three way marginal in the 2010 election between the incumbent Labour party the Liberal Democrts and the Conservatives. The seat was also targeted by the Green Party. The seat was won with the lowest percentage share of the vote in a constituency in the 2010 election. The loss was considered to be an embarrassment for the Labour Party as it was the seat of a former Home Secretary.
Members of Parliament
Election Member [2] Party 1950 Henry Strauss Conservative 1955 Geoffrey Rippon Conservative 1964 Christopher Norwood Labour 1970 Thomas Stuttaford Conservative Feb 1974 John Garrett Labour 1983 John Powley Conservative 1987 John Garrett Labour 1997 Charles Clarke Labour 2010 Simon Wright Liberal Democrats Elections
Elections in the 2010s
General Election 2010: Norwich South[3] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Democrat Simon Wright 13,960 29.4 -0.6 Labour Charles Clarke 13,650 28.7 -8.7 Conservative Antony Little 10,902 22.9 +1.1 Green Adrian Ramsay 7,095 14.9 +7.5 UKIP Stephen Emmens 1,145 2.4 +0.9 BNP Len Heather 697 1.5 N/A Workers Revolutionary Gabriel Polley 102 0.2 0.0 Majority 310 0.7 Turnout 47,551 64.6 +5.6 Liberal Democrat gain from Labour Swing 4.0 Elections in the 2000s
General Election 2005: Norwich South Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Charles Clarke 15,904 37.7 −7.8 Liberal Democrat Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne 12,251 29.0 +6.4 Conservative Antony Little 9,567 22.7 −2.1 Green Adrian Ramsay 3,101 7.4 +4.0 UKIP Vandra Ahlstrom 597 1.4 +0.3 English Democrats Christine Constable 466 1.1 N/A Legalise Cannabis Don Barnard 219 0.5 −1.0 Workers Revolutionary Roger Blackwell 85 0.2 N/A Majority 3,653 8.7 Turnout 42,190 65.0 +5.2 Labour hold Swing −7.1 General Election 2001: Norwich South Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Charles Clarke 19,367 45.5 -6.2 Conservative Andrew French 10,551 24.8 +1.1 Liberal Democrat Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne 9,640 22.6 +4.0 Green Adrian Holmes 1,434 3.4 +1.9 Legalise Cannabis Alun Buffrey 620 1.5 0.0 Socialist Alliance Dave Manningham 507 1.2 N/A UKIP Tarquin Mills 473 1.1 N/A Majority 8,816 20.7 Turnout 42,592 59.8 -12.8 Labour hold Swing Elections in the 1990s
General Election 1997: Norwich South[4] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Charles Clarke 26,267 51.7 +3.0 Conservative Bashir Khanbhai 12,028 23.7 -12.9 Liberal Democrat Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne 9,457 18.6 +5.7 Referendum Party D. Holdsworth 1,464 2.9 N/A Legalise Cannabis Howard Marks 765 1.5 N/A Green Adrian Holmes 736 1.4 -0.2 Natural Law B. Parsons 84 0.2 0.0 Majority 14,239 Turnout 50,801 72.6 -8.0 Labour hold Swing General Election 1992: Norwich South[5] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour John Garrett 24,965 48.7 +10.8 Conservative David Baxter 18,784 36.6 −0.6 Liberal Democrat Christopher Thomas 6,609 12.9 −12.0 Green Adrian St. J. Holmes 803 1.6 N/A Natural Law Bryan A. Parsons 104 0.2 N/A Majority 6,181 12.1 +11.4 Turnout 51,265 80.6 +0.0 Labour hold Swing +5.7 See also
Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)
- ^ Norwich South, UKPollingReport
- ^ Norwich South: Constituency, guardian.co.uk
- ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i15.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
Categories:- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1950
- Parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk
- Politics of Norwich
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