Norwich North
2010 Results:
Conservative: 17280 (40.59%)
Labour: 13379 (31.43%)
Liberal Democrat: 7783 (18.28%)
BNP: 747 (1.75%)
UKIP: 1878 (4.41%)
Green: 1245 (2.92%)
Christian: 118 (0.28%)
Independent: 143 (0.34%)
Majority: 3901 (9.16%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19133 (47.5%)
Conservative: 12437 (30.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 6361 (15.8%)
Other: 2339 (5.8%)
Majority: 6696 (16.6%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 15638 (33.2%)
Labour: 21097 (44.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 7616 (16.2%)
Green: 1252 (2.7%)
UKIP: 1122 (2.4%)
Other: 308 (0.7%)
Majority: 5459 (11.6%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 15761 (34.6%)
Labour: 21624 (47.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 6750 (14.8%)
UKIP: 471 (1%)
Green: 797 (1.7%)
Other: 211 (0.5%)
Majority: 5863 (12.9%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 17876 (32.5%)
Labour: 27346 (49.7%)
Liberal Democrat: 6951 (12.6%)
Referendum: 1777 (3.2%)
Other: 1107 (2%)
Majority: 9470 (17.2%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Chloe Smith (Conservative) Born 1982, Ashford. Educated at the University of York. Former aide to Gillian Shephard and Bernard Jenkin, proir to her election worked in professional services. First elected as MP for Norwich North 2009 by-election.
Chloe Smith (Conservative) Born 1982, Ashford. Educated at the University of York. Former aide to Gillian Shephard and Bernard Jenkin, proir to her election worked in professional services. First elected as MP for Norwich North 2009 by-election.
John Cook (Labour) Former bank clerk. Ipswich councillor. Former Broadland councillor, former Norfolk county councillor.
David Stephen (Liberal Democrat)
Jess Goldfinch (Green) Teaching assistant. Norwich councillor 2003-2006..
Glenn Tingle (UKIP) Contested Norwich North by-election 2009.Thomas Richardson (BNP) Andrew Holland (Christian Party) 
Bill Holden (Independent) Contested Norwich North 2005, 2009 by-election.2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 83507
Male: 48.8%
Female: 51.2%
Under 18: 20.4%
Over 60: 24%
Born outside UK: 3.5%
White: 98.3%
Black: 0.2%
Asian: 0.5%
Mixed: 0.7%
Other: 0.4%
Christian: 69.2%
Full time students: 2.2%
Graduates 16-74: 12.4%
No Qualifications 16-74: 33.1%
Owner-Occupied: 69.2%
Social Housing: 21.4% (Council: 16.5%, Housing Ass.: 4.9%)
Privately Rented: 6.9%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 7.1%
2009 By-election
The by-election was held on the 23rd July 2009, following the resignation of the former MP Ian Gibson. Gibson announced his immediate resignation from Parliament on the 5th June 2009, having been banned from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election after being criticised in the expenses row. The by-election was won by the Conservatives with a 16.5% swing from Labour, the second Conservative by-election gain of the Parliament. The Labour candidate, Chris Ostrowski, was hospitalised with Swine Flu during the campaign, and was represented by his wife at the election count.
By-election result
Chloe Smith (Conservative): 13591 (39.5%)
Chris Ostrowski (Labour): 6243 (18.2%)
April Pond (Liberal Democrat): 4803 (14.0%)
Glenn Tingle (UKIP): 4068 (11.8%)
Rupert Read (Green): 3350 (9.7%)
Craig Murray (Honest Man): 953 (2.8%)
Robert West (BNP): 941 (2.7%)
Bill Holden (Independent): 166 (0.5%)
Howling Laud (Loony): 144 (0.4%)
Anne Fryatt (NOTA): 59 (0.2%)
Thomas Burridge (Libertarian): 36 (0.1%)
Peter Baggs (Independent): 23 (0.1%)
Majority: 7348 (21.4%)
By election Candidates
Peter Baggs (Independent) Plastering contractor
Thomas Burridge (Libertarian) born 1991, Kings Lynn. Educated at Litcham High School.Bill Holden (Independent) Contested Norwich North 2005 as an independent.
Alan Hope (Offical Monster Raving Loony) born Mytchett. Publican. Leader of the Monster Raving Loony Party since 1999. Contested Teignbridge 1983, 1987, 1992, Aldershot 1997, Eddisbury by-election 1999, Kensington and Chelsea by-election 1999, Brent East by-election 2003, Hartlepool by-election 2004, Aldershot 2005, Blaenau Gwent by-election 2006, Sedgefield by-election 2007.
Craig Murray (Put an Honest Man Into Parliament) born 1958, West Runton. Educated at Paston School and Dundee University. Former civil servant, he served as British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004. He was recalled in 2003 over disciplinary charges including exchanging visas for sex, but was later cleared of all charges. He was later quoted by the press as saying that MI6 utilised Uzbek intelligence data that had been gained by torture. It was claimed that Murray had lost the confidence of his colleages, and he resigned from the civil service. He has subsequently campaigned against torture and written several books. Contested Blackburn as an independent 2005.
Chris Ostrowski. (Labour) Educated at University of East Anglia in Norwich. Works in retail and e-commerce. Contested East of England in 2009 European elections.
April Pond (Liberal Democrat) born 1962, Mulbarton. Educated at Norwich High School. Self employed retailer. Former Norwich councillor. Had previously been selected as PPC for the neighbouring Broadland seat.
Rupert Read (Green) Reader in Philosophy at East Anglia University. Norwich councillor. Contested Eastern region in 2009 European elections.Chloe Smith (Conservative) Educated at the University of York. Former aide to Gillian Shephard and Bernard Jenkin, now working in professional services.Glenn Tingle (UKIP)
Robert West (BNP) Former lecturer who has set up his own church in Holbeach. Former South Holland District councillor, elected as a Conservative but defected to the BNP in 2006. Contested East Midlands region 2009 European elections.
Anne Fryatt (NOTA)
I understand that the Conservatives’ main strength was in the Drayon and Taverham areas of the old constituency, and to a slightly lesser extent in Catton Grove and Sprowston.
Which wards did they improve in to hold the seat? Was it just getting out more of their vote in Sprowston and Catton Grove?
The strongest Conservative parts of the seat are probably in Thorpe St Andrew and Old Catton.
It’s a bit surprising the UKIP and Green votes didn’t hold a bit better.
This could be a close battle again.
Was the by-election fought on the new boundaries?
I think it was.
The by-election was fought on the old boundaries, which included the areas around Drayon and Taverham. These have since been ceded to the newly created Broadland seat.
Joe, the by-election was on the old boundaries. The new ones didn’t take effect until this General Election (otherwise you’d have the possibility of wards with 2 MPs and other wards with none)
Paul – very good point, and it makes her achievement in winning by nearly 4000 all the more impressive. Under these boundaries, Labour would have certainly won in 1992 and 1979.
The swing from 2005 here was 13%.
In Crewe the swing from 2005 was 14%.
I’m not sure what the swing was in seats with similar majorities and demographics was but would guess at about 6-7%.
So the Conservatives did very much better in their two byelection gains than they did on average.
Of course much of this improvement was down to the change in incumbancy.
But perhaps it does suggest that in the seats that the Conservatives did gain at the general election there is scope for an incumbancy bonus much larger than is generally assumed.
Joe James B makes a good point about the Greens and UKIP.
I presume that the Greens put all their effort into Norwich South. And from her profile, their General Election candidate was reasonably experienced, but did not have the intellectual or political background of Rupert Read.
All the same, it is psephologically surprising that the Green votes should have gone in such opposite directions in the two Norwich seats,.
JJB, Frederic,
Another, smaller, part of the explanation of the drop in the Green share between the byelection an the GE in this constituency (as well as what Frederic rightly says), is the boundary change, which moved what was by far the best part of the constituency for the Green Party at the byelection into Norwich South, while moving territory in Hellesdon North West into the the constituency which is much less good for the Green Party.
Meanwhile, it is probably worth noting here that there is an election for all the City wards in September (postponed from May – see South constituency for more info).
Yes, Ben. I’ve just posted on the Norwich South thread about the local elections here.
Perhaps the main interest, looking from outside, is going to be in the Norwich South area. Specifically, it will be of interest to see how far the LibDems can hold their vote following their entry into the ConDem coalition in the area of a seat they gained in the General Election.
Are the Greens still concentrating on the Norwich South area? Personally, I think this would be a mistake: if they are to get control of the council they must hae at least candidates across the city/
The psephol;gical interest specific to Norwich North will relate to the Conservatives. Will they be able to consolidate their gain and retention of the Westminster seat into an increased vote at local level? Conversely, will Labour be damaged at local level by their loss of this seat (and also of Norwich South)?
Incidentally, people might care to read former Green candidate Rupert Read’s article “On Philosophy’s (lack of) Progress: From Plato to Wittgenstein (and Rawls)”, “Philosopjhy”, volume 85, July 2010, pp341 – 367. This is an academic philosophy article, but it differentiates the author’s position fron liberal political philosophers such as Mill and Rawls. In so far as this is a Green perspective, it should perhaps remind us that green philosophy is not a cuddly form of liberalism or socialism, and some of its philosophical antecedents are, in the loose everyday sense of the term rather than with direct reference to Hegel’s legacy, quite right-wing.
“Are the Greens still concentrating on the Norwich South area? Personally, I think this would be a mistake: if they are to get control of the council they must hae at least candidates across the city/”
The last time there were local elections in Norwich (namely the 2009 CC elections) the Greens won in two of the four wards which are in this constituency, so I doubt they will be ignoring this area. that said I wouldn’t fancy their chances overmuch of repeating that trick – certainly not in Mile Cross which they won by a whisker and traditionally was the safest Labour ward here. Labour will be defending all four seats being contested here. In 2009 they only won one of the four with the Conservatives also winning in Catton Grove. It would seem reasonable to expect a superior Labour performance here now than in 2009 though.
“while moving territory in Hellesdon North West into the the constituency which is much less good for the Green Party. ”
What a load of rubbish.
Hellesdon North West has always been in Norwich North.
The truth is while the Greens did well in the by election, it disapeared in Sewell and Mile Cross despite county wins there and was virtually non exsistent everywhere else.