Eastleigh
2015 Result:
Conservative: 23464 (42.3%)
Labour: 7181 (12.9%)
Lib Dem: 14317 (25.8%)
Green: 1513 (2.7%)
UKIP: 8783 (15.8%)
TUSC: 114 (0.2%)
Others: 133 (0.2%)
MAJORITY: 9147 (16.5%)
Category: Semi-marginal Conservative seat
Geography: South East, Hampshire. Most of the Eastleigh council area.
Main population centres: Eastleigh, Hedge End, West End, Netley, Hamble-le-Rice, Bursledon.
Profile: Eastleigh curves around the north and east of Southampton and is essentially the affluent, owner-occupied suburbs of the city. Eastleigh itself is a railway town, while West End and Hedge End are villages that have grown into Southampton suburbs. Netley is a quaint coastal village and Hamble a yachting centre. The constituency includes Southampton International Airport and Hampshire County Cricket team`s home at the Rose Bowl.
Politics: Eastleigh was once a safe Conservative seat, held by the the party from the seat`s creation until the death of MP Stephen Milligan in 1994. The bizarre circumstances of Milligan`s death - accidental death due to autoerotic asphyxiation - were widely publicised and came at the height of the Back to Basics series of sleaze scandals, the Liberal Democrats won the seat on a huge swing at the subsequent by-election. The by-election victor David Chigley stepped down in 2005 to be replaced by Chris Huhne, who had a a meteoric rise and fall in the party, contesting the leadership less than a year after his election, narrowing missing out on the leadership in the 2007 contest, being appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Energy, and then resigning from Parliament after he pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by falsely claiming his wife was driving his car to avoid a speeding fine. The 2013 by-election coincided with the rise of UKIP and saw the Liberal Democrats hold the seat with UKIP in second place, but at the subsequent general election the seat fell to the Tories.
By-Election: There was a by-election in this seat in CON GAIN FROM LD. For full details see here.
| Con: | 21102 (39%) |
| Lab: | 5153 (10%) |
| LDem: | 24966 (47%) |
| UKIP: | 1933 (4%) |
| Oth: | 496 (1%) |
| MAJ: | 3864 (7%) |
| Con: | 18648 (37%) |
| Lab: | 10238 (21%) |
| LDem: | 19216 (39%) |
| UKIP: | 1669 (3%) |
| MAJ: | 568 (1%) |
| Con: | 16302 (34%) |
| Lab: | 10426 (22%) |
| LDem: | 19360 (41%) |
| UKIP: | 849 (2%) |
| Oth: | 636 (1%) |
| MAJ: | 3058 (6%) |
| Con: | 18699 (34%) |
| Lab: | 14883 (27%) |
| LDem: | 19453 (35%) |
| Oth: | 446 (1%) |
| MAJ: | 754 (1%) |
*There were boundary changes after 2005
‘I recall Milligan was a very loyal backbencher often paraded on the TV to defend the government over Europe’
Extremely loyal -he used to speak of John Major as if he was some kind of diety ‘Our wonderful Prime Minister’ etc
The other thing I remember about him is that he seemed to be a thoroughly decent bloke.
Obviously the 1990s were very different to today’s in-your-face Brexit Britain – where its almost fashionable to be an as*hole – but I remember him being very likeable – something which was erased from my memory given the presumed circumstances of his death
Mims Davies appointed as the new sport Minster.