Gedling (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox
Name = Gedling
Map1 = Gedling
Map2 = Nottinghamshire
Type = County
Year = 1983
Entity = Nottinghamshire
County = Nottinghamshire
EP = East Midlands
MP = Vernon Coaker
Party = Labour

Gedling is a county 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.

Boundaries

Part of the Greater Nottingham area, the constituency covers the most populated parts of the borough of Gedling, covering the mainly affluent north eastern suburbs of the Nottingham area including Arnold, Burton Joyce, Carlton, Colwick and Gedling village Woodthorpe and Mapperley Plains.

It is a mostly middle-class residential area, with similar characteristics to the nearby Broxtowe constituency, on the opposite side of Nottingham.

The constituency is one of contrasts, Arnold itself along with its smaller neighbour of Daybrook are Labour the surrounding suburbs of Woodthorpe, Kingswell and Mapperley are staunchly Conservative.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in Nottinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing constituencies to allow for population changes. The boundaries of the modified constituency to be fought at the next general election are:
*From the Borough of Gedling - Bonington, Burton Joyce and Stoke Bardolph, Carlton, Carlton Hill, Daybrook, Gedling, Killisick, Kingswell, Mapperley Plains, Netherfield and Colwick, Phoenix, Porchester, St James, St Marys, Valley, and Woodthorpe.

History

The constituency of Gedling was created in 1983, replacing the earlier Carlton constituency. Until 1997, it was thought of as a safe seat for the Conservative Party, being represented by the former Carlton MP Sir Philip Holland until 1987, then by Andrew Mitchell, the son of former Conservative MP David Mitchell. The seat was gained by the Labour Party in their landslide victory at the 1997 general election. In that election, Mitchell (by then a junior minister) lost to Labour's Vernon Coaker, who has held the seat since then.

It is now considered to be a marginal constituency, fought between Labour and the Conservatives. In the 2005 general election, the Conservative candidate Anna Soubry caused controversy by revealing that she "was not proud" of the area she was intending to represent, referring to crime levels in the Nottingham area [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/4012263.stm] . This statement is alleged to have contributed to her losing the election, with the swing to the Conservatives from Labour being less than in other areas. However, Labour and the Conservatives both gained a lower percentage of the vote in Gedling than in 2001, so the swing could even be considered to be from both of these parties to the Liberal Democrats and the two eurosceptic parties, UKIP and Veritas. Feeling within the local Labour Party was that Vernon Coaker was personally well-liked and not tied to 'New Labour' because he had fought the seat in 1987 and 1992 under the Neil Kinnock leadership, and that stopped him from losing large amounts of votes.Or|date=March 2008

Members of Parliament

Election results

Election box begin
title=General Election 2005: GedlingElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Vernon Coaker
votes = 20,329
percentage = 46.1
change = −5.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Anna Soubry
votes = 16,518
percentage = 37.5
change = −0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Raymond Poynter
votes = 6,070
percentage = 13.8
change = +3.2Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Alan Margerison
votes = 741
percentage = 1.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Veritas (political party)
candidate = Deborah Johnson
votes = 411
percentage = 0.9
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 3,811
percentage = 8.6
change = Election box turnout
votes = 44,069
percentage = 63.9
change = 0.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: GedlingElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Vernon Coaker
votes = 22,383
percentage = 51.1
change = +4.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Jonathan Bullock
votes = 16,785
percentage = 38.3
change = -1.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Tony Gillam
votes = 4,648
percentage = 10.6
change = +0.7Election box majority
votes = 5,598
percentage = 12.8
change = Election box turnout
votes = 43,816
percentage = 63.9
change = -11.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1997: GedlingElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Vernon Coaker
votes = 24,390
percentage = 46.8
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Andrew Mitchell
votes = 20,588
percentage = 39.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Raymond Poynter
votes = 5,180
percentage = 9.9
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Referendum Party
candidate = J Connor
votes = 2,006
percentage = 3.9
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 3,802
percentage = 7.3
change = Election box turnout
votes = 52,164
percentage = 75.7
change = 0.0Election box gain with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
loser = Conservative Party (UK)
swing = Con to Lab 13%Election box begin
title=General Election 1992: GedlingElection box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Andrew Mitchell
votes = 30,191
percentage = 53.2
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Vernon Coaker
votes = 19,554
percentage = 34.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = DG George
votes = 6,863
percentage = 12.1
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = A Miszeweka
votes = 168
percentage = 0.3
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 10,637
percentage = 18.7
change = Election box turnout
votes = 56,776
percentage = 82.3
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

ee also

Gedling Constituency Labour Party Website: [http://www.gedlinglabour.co.uk]

Vernon Coaker MP [http://www.vernon-coaker-mp.co.uk]

*List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire