Bedfordshire Mid
2010 Results:
Conservative: 28815 (52.49%)
Labour: 8108 (14.77%)
Liberal Democrat: 13663 (24.89%)
UKIP: 2826 (5.15%)
Green: 773 (1.41%)
English Democrat: 712 (1.3%)
Majority: 15152 (27.6%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 23383 (46.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 11839 (23.6%)
Labour: 11291 (22.5%)
Other: 3667 (7.3%)
Majority: 11544 (23%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 23345 (46.3%)
Labour: 11351 (22.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 11990 (23.8%)
Green: 1292 (2.6%)
UKIP: 1372 (2.7%)
Other: 1070 (2.1%)
Majority: 11355 (22.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 22109 (47.4%)
Labour: 14043 (30.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 9205 (19.7%)
UKIP: 1281 (2.7%)
Majority: 8066 (17.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 24176 (46%)
Labour: 17086 (32.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 8823 (16.8%)
Referendum: 2257 (4.3%)
Other: 174 (0.3%)
Majority: 7090 (13.5%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Nadine Dorries(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)
Nadine Dorries(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)
David Reeves (Labour) born 1981, Kent. Educated at Knatchbull Grammar School and Warwick University. Accountant. Sergeant in the Territorial army who served in Iraq 
Linda Jack (Liberal Democrat) Born Luton. Policy advisor at the FSA and former teacher. Former councillor. Contested Luton North 2005, East of England 2009 European elections.
Malcolm Bailey (Green) Born Loughborough. Educated at Loughborough Grammar School and University of Liverpool. Retired senior medical physicist and university lecturer. Bedfordshire County Councillor 1981 – 1993.
Bill Hall (UKIP) 
John Cooper (English Democrat) 2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 92476
Male: 49.9%
Female: 50.1%
Under 18: 23.7%
Over 60: 18%
Born outside UK: 5.7%
White: 97.1%
Black: 0.5%
Asian: 1%
Mixed: 0.9%
Other: 0.5%
Christian: 76.2%
Full time students: 3.1%
Graduates 16-74: 22.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 21.7%
Owner-Occupied: 78.2%
Social Housing: 11.2% (Council: 1.8%, Housing Ass.: 9.4%)
Privately Rented: 6.1%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 3.7%
“But the happy thing for us Tories is that it is an easy negative to put right if cameron and his team really really wanted to. So the question is do they want to? or are they content to be portrayed as out of touch? Its up to him really”
Agreed. I also think there does need to a slight reshuffle at the top. If more MP’s like Dorries were made a part of the decision making teams then they would be less likely to hit out in such a manner and would bring a sense of reality to discussions
Do you know, I think we’ve made some progress.
I agree with all the above that both Tim and Kieran have said.
I have called for cameron to be removed as leader in the past, but as Kieran says, my gripe there is not just about ‘the PR’ concerns which could be fixed, but rather about the policies. Thats not what I’m discussing here, and I hope Kieran you will note that I have never on this thread nor anywhere else argued that Cameron should go because of his background or because he is seen as being out of touch on class issues. I’d like to seperate these two things if I may.
And yes, I fully agree with you that Nadine Dorries statements and the language that she has used probably has not helped her or the party overall. I said that the language was unwise and I would not disagree with you on that fact.
I have to also agree with Tim’s central point and draw your attention to that as the main issue here: whenever Cameron is asked about his class background he has replied that it shouldn’t be an issue. And nobody disagrees with him, it shouldn’t be. And if he made more of an effort to break out from what I’ve called his ‘class background pigeon hole’ then it WOULDN’T be.
But it has BECOME an issue and it has done so because Cameron himself has not made any real effort to go beyond saying ‘it’s not an issue’. He-and we-have let Labour and the left and the BBC and all the rest build this narrative that hes from this particular background, that hes out of touch, that he doesn’t care. And because he hasn’t actively tried to counter that by being SEEN to break out of the narrative, it has become an issue.
And then he’s surrounded himself with lots of people of a similar background and seemingly excluded other except for token exceptions such as the great Eric Pickles, and this feed into the narrative.
And then he cuts taxes for millionaire earners (yes to boost growth and create jobs, but thats a complicated argument to sell) and this feeds into the narrative.
And then on the other side he counters the narrative by …doing what? saying it isn’t an issue.
So yes we are all in agreement. It shouldn’t be an issue. It IS an issue. It has become an issue because we as a party have LET it become an issue. And we have all failed-Cameron down-to make enough of an effort to counter it.
So what do we do about it? As I have said, its a relatively easy problem to fix. But first Cameron has to recognise that there is a problem to begin with and he has to have the will to tackle it seriously. And thats where the ball is entirely in his court…
It’s a bit weird discussing how unattractive Mid Bedfordshire is since it entirely depends on where you’re comparing it with. Okay, compared to the Cotswolds or the South Hams it might not be very nice but it’s probably a lot more attractive than most inner city areas where millions live.
I think it compares unfavourably with a lot of, for example, Cambridgeshire or parts of North Hertfordshire, to name 2 nearby areas.
It’s a fair point Andy but I’d agree with Barnaby – the villages should be attractive but many of them have a lot of new-ish or unattractive housing.
There are really only a handful of remotely pictureesque villages – Eversholt, Old Warden, Woburn, Harlington and Ridgmont (sort of). Many of the other large villages, or small towns are really quite nondescript (Westoning, Flitwick, Maulden, Shefford). Of course there are pockets of affluence and some affluent hamlets, but there isn’t anything picturesque. It doesn’t surprise me that it’s a Tory constituency, but it equally doesn’t surprise me that it isn’t overwhelmingly so.