Norfolk South West
2010 Results:
Conservative: 23753 (48.33%)
Labour: 9119 (18.55%)
Liberal Democrat: 10613 (21.59%)
BNP: 1774 (3.61%)
UKIP: 3061 (6.23%)
Green: 830 (1.69%)
Majority: 13140 (26.74%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 21942 (45.8%)
Labour: 15086 (31.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 8319 (17.4%)
Other: 2575 (5.4%)
Majority: 6856 (14.3%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 25881 (46.9%)
Labour: 15795 (28.7%)
Liberal Democrat: 10207 (18.5%)
UKIP: 2738 (5%)
Other: 506 (0.9%)
Majority: 10086 (18.3%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 27633 (52.2%)
Labour: 18267 (34.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 5681 (10.7%)
UKIP: 1368 (2.6%)
Majority: 9366 (17.7%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 24694 (42%)
Labour: 22230 (37.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 8178 (13.9%)
Referendum: 3694 (6.3%)
Majority: 2464 (4.2%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Elizabeth Truss (Conservative)
Elizabeth Truss (Conservative)Peter Smith (Labour) Stephen Gordon (Liberal Democrat)Lori Allen (Green) Kay Hipsey (UKIP) Dennis Pearce (BNP)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 93707
Male: 49.4%
Female: 50.6%
Under 18: 21.8%
Over 60: 24.7%
Born outside UK: 6.5%
White: 98.3%
Black: 0.4%
Asian: 0.3%
Mixed: 0.8%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 76.3%
Full time students: 1.6%
Graduates 16-74: 12%
No Qualifications 16-74: 35.9%
Owner-Occupied: 71.2%
Social Housing: 14.9% (Council: 5.9%, Housing Ass.: 9%)
Privately Rented: 8.2%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 6.1%
Many A-listers were selected for very safe seats though, John, so just saying 38 got in doesn’t say much. In this seat, for example, I’ve strongly argued A-lister, Liz Truss was a strong candidate (and I stand by that). But even if she’d been a bloody awful candidate, she would have won by miles in a reliably deep blue seat like this.
Just going back to Tim’s point, I really think you’re totally wrong in your approach to infidelity and it’s impact on the suitability of a candidate for election. Being unfaithful to your partner (or having an affair with somebody behind their partner’s back) is clearly not a pleasant thing. But it is essentially a private matter, and it is for the partner to forgive or not as the case may be. It isn’t unique to one party and many of those involved (Ashdown, Cook, Major etc) probably would have been a loss to politics. And it isn’t unique to politics either.
There should be a word (perhaps there is?) for the vicarious thrill people get from being deeply affronted on behalf of other people whether those people like it or not; it isn’t a nice trait itself and seems to be on the rise.
John D
In the context of a pretty good night for the Tories, especially in the south although admittedly not London, I disagree.
Overall Labour fell from 36% in 2005 to 29% in 2010 and their share of the vote dipped into single fingers in many southern constituencies.
To actually increase their vote – as they did in Westminster North – is pretty unprecedented and I think you can count on one hand Labour candidates who increased their vote in England & Wales (East Ham’s Stephen Timms being the only one I can think of from the top of my head)
With all due respect, Karen Buck seems competent and given her opponent probably deserved to be re-elected – but she’s not an especially inspiring politician and I think her success can in large part be put down to the many failings of her opponent
I wouldn’t say the A-listers failed completely but too many of the most prominent failed to secure the swings achieved by their lesser known colleagues for it to be sheer coincidence
Candidates such as Shaun Bailey for example, who seemed a dead cert to win Hammersmith before the campaign began, showed themselves to be poor campaigners, and in the case of Joana Cash, not very likeable
Given these pretty obvious deficiencies I think local Tories have every right to question how some of these individuals ever got onto the A-list in the first place
Sir Norfolk
There are a string of similarly strong seats – Maidstone & The Weald and Spelthorne being two that come off the top of the head – where Tory A-listers held on but suffered a big swing against them. In those two cases Anne Widdecombe is irreplaceable but I imagine quite a few of David Wilshire’s constituents were glad to see the back of him in light of what he’d being doing with his expenses claims.
I think your being a little unfair in your last paragraph. I recognise it’s unfashionable to criticise people who cheat on people they profess to love, or in this case, cheat with someone they know has a wife and children (neither of whom have ever done anything to harm them) and I’m not saying these things should be resigning matters, but I think it speaks volumes about that person’s character – or lack of it – thus can completely understand why local Tories would be angered that they were likely to be represented by one.
I’m absolutely certain that John Major’s adminitration would have been finished had the distatesful facts about what he and Edwina Curry got up to together came out at any time between April 92 – May 97
I’m always disappointed when I see these boards used to slander MPs and candidates of all parties.
It’s even worse when the posts such as Tim’s above, are just a summary of comments from disgruntled party activists who probably failed to get selected.
There will ALWAYS be someone who hates the selected candidate and will share stories about how “terrible” their party representative is and how people will never vote them.
They are the same ones who cannot see any good in an MP who is not a member of their political party.
it is all rather pathetic.
That Tim a “lib-dem” sympathiser, would castigate 35 year old Liz Truss for taking a graduate job with Shell while ignoring a leading light in his chosen party who became their Chief Economist quite frankly, beggars belief. It just goes to show that there’s more emotion than logic to his argument.
There was never any attempt to deselect Joanne Cash in Westminster North either. A made up story to buttress a nonsensical argument.
His comment about Shaun Bailey also shows that too many people don’t understand that a good legislator may not necessarily be a good campaigner.
The country wants MPs who are capable of writing and scrutinizing proper legislation, and can run the country as part of a government.
People are indifferent about skills in type-setting and producing raggedy focus leaflets and suchlike.
‘That Tim a “lib-dem” sympathiser, would castigate 35 year old Liz Truss for taking a graduate job with Shell while ignoring a leading light in his chosen party who became their Chief Economist quite frankly, beggars belief. It just goes to show that there’s more emotion than logic to his argument.’
You seem to the one making stuff up now
I never castigated Liz Truss for taking a graduate job with Shell – I merely pointed out that her politics changed during that time
I castigated Shell because they had a human rights activist hanged for daring to tell people what they were doing to their land in Nigeria
And for the record I also said Cable’s involvement in Shell was a black mark against him
As for the Bailey comment, good campaigners don’t necessarily make great legislators (or vice versa) but if you’re not good at campaigning you’re not going to be in a position to legislate in the first place
Sir Norfolk…
Fair point re: the safeness of a good number of the ‘A-list seats’, but around 20 of those 38 A-listers who were elected fought seats which had marginal majorities. Admittedly some of these were Tory-held and likely to return a Tory MP in 2010, but some where Labour / Lib Dem-held, and had to be gained.
Tim…
“I think you can count on one hand Labour candidates who increased their vote in England & Wales”
There were a few.
Seeing as turnout overall increased, I shall only count those seats where Labour’s numerical vote AND vote share both increased (in numerous other seats the numerical vote increased but the actual vote share fell).
London:
Barking
Bethnal Green and Bow
Croydon North
Dulwich and West Norwood
East Ham
Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Holborn and St Pancras
Ilford South
Islington North
Islington South and Finsbury
Poplar and Limehouse
Tooting
Tottenham
Walthamstow
West Ham
Westminster North
Merseyside:
Garston and Halewood
Liverpool, Riverside
Liverpool, Wavertree
Liverpool, West Derby
Midlands:
Birmingham, Hodge Hill
Birmingham, Ladywood
Birmingham, Perry Barr
Leicester South
And then of course goodness knows how many in Scotland.
None in Wales I don’t think.
“And then of course goodness knows how many in Scotland.”
That was certainly the case in Central Scotland and specific rural seats like Dumfries & Galloway and Ochil & South Perthshire.
I’m sure it was not the case in Moray shire or Argyllshire & Buteshire.
I’m surprised there were so many seats where Labour did increase their vote and with a few exceptions – places like Tooting & Westminster North – they were mostly safe Labour seats
It was similar in 1987 and 92 where Labour were in no position to challenge the Tories nationally but racked up huge majorities in places like Merseyside and East London
In Scotland of course there was an overall swing to Labour – but Scotland is so different vfrom the UK nationally now that it’s hard to read much into that
Elizabeth Truss is in the news regularly like the LibDem councillor she is at heart. She’s very keen to preveny RAF Marham closing which is not going down too well with some of her constituents as the RAF don’t tend to vote Conservative and people who retire from London ( a big slice of her vote) prefer to hear their planes on the Yesterday TV channel or at the Lowestoft Air Show..
The little noticed next Solihull of 2010.
I’m just wondering what the result would be here if there was no official Lib Dem candidate.
(Whether or not we have an unofficial real one).