Mansfield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

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 2010 general election will be co-terminous with the District of Mansfield.

History

A constituency with a coal mining

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 tradition, Mansfield has been held by the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 for generations. It has usually been regarded as a safe seat

Safe seat

A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

 for them, however in the general elections of the 1980s they came close to losing to the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. At the 1983 election

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

, they held the seat by just over 2,000 votes. However, at the 1987 election

United Kingdom general election, 1987

The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...

 their majority was just 56. That election was set against the background of the Miners Strike

UK miners' strike (1984–1985)

The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...

 of 1984, which was not supported by the majority of miners in Nottinghamshire.

In the elections after 1987, the Labour MP Alan Meale

Alan Meale

Sir Joseph Alan Meale is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Mansfield since 1987.-Early life:...

 has held the seat with comfortable majorities. At the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, Mansfield was notable for the Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidate Stewart Rickersey, an Independent member of Mansfield District Council, receiving 17% of the vote and finishing in third place.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	Cecil George Savile Foljambe Cecil Foljambe, 1st Earl of Liverpool Cecil George Saville Foljambe, 1st Earl of Liverpool PC , known as The Lord Hawkesbury between 1893 and 1905, was a British Liberal politician...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1892 United Kingdom general election, 1892 The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...	John Carvell Williams John Carvell Williams John Carvell Williams was an English non-conformist campaigner and a Liberal politician.Williams was the son of John Allen Williams of Stepney and his wife Mary Carvell, and was educated privately. He was a nonconformist and campaigned against the privileged status of the Church of England...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	Arthur Basil Markham	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1916 by-election	Sir Charles Seely Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet Sir Charles Hilton Seely, 2nd Baronet KGStJ was a British industrialist, landowner and Liberal Unionist politician who served as Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1895 to 1906 and for Mansfield from 1916 to 1918. He was a Justice of the Peace for Hampshire and Nottinghamshire and the Deputy... , Bt.	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	William Carter William Carter (Mansfield politician) William Carter was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.He was elected at the 1918 general election as Member of Parliament for Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, but was defeated at the 1922 general election by the Liberal Party candidate, Albert Bennett. He did not stand for Parliament...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...	Albert James Bennett	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...	Frank Bradley Varley	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...	Charles Brown Charles Brown (Labour politician) Charles Brown was a British Labour Party politician.He was elected at the 1929 general election as Member of Parliament for Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, and held the seat until his death in 1940, at the age of 56....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1941 by-election Mansfield by-election, 1941 The Mansfield by-election, 1941 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Mansfield on 9th April 1941. The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament Charles Brown had died on 22 December 1940...	Bernard Taylor Bernard Taylor, Baron Taylor of Mansfield Bernard Taylor, Baron Taylor of Mansfield, CBE, JP was a British coalminer and politician who was a Labour Party Member of Parliament for 25 years.-Mining:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...	Don Concannon Don Concannon John Dennis Concannon, known as Don Concannon, , was a British Labour Party politician.Born in Doncaster, Concannon was educated at Rossington secondary school and through the extramural department of the University of Nottingham...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...	Alan Meale Alan Meale Sir Joseph Alan Meale is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Mansfield since 1987.-Early life:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire