Westmorland and Lonsdale (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Westmorland and Lonsdale is a parliamentary constituency
represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. It elects one Member of Parliament
(MP) by the first past the post system of election.
district of Cumbria
. Important towns in the constituency include Kendal
, Windermere and Kirkby Lonsdale
.
It does not include the entire historic county of Westmorland
, particularly lacking the county town Appleby-in-Westmorland
.
The electoral wards used to create the modified seat, contested for the first time at the 2010 general election, are entirely within the South Lakeland
district.
This removed Broughton-in-Furness
from the constituency.
saw the Tory majority cut to less than 5,000 votes. This was further reduced at the 2001 election
. In 2005, the constituency featured among a list of seats held by high-profile Tories (in this case, the Education spokesperson Tim Collins
) targeted by the LibDems in what was often referred to in the media as a "decapitation strategy". In the event, this was the only one of the "decapitation" seats to change hands in 2005, with Tim Farron
gaining the seat by a very narrow majority.
In the 2010 general election, this constituency recorded the largest swing from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats (11.1%) in a seat where those two parties were in the top two positions. The constituency also produced the lowest share of the vote for Labour (2.2%, one of five lost deposits for Labour in Great Britain). With 96.2% of votes cast for either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates, Westmorland and Lonsdale also had the highest combined share of the vote cast for the Coalition allies.
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
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.
Boundaries
The constituency is based around the South LakelandSouth Lakeland
South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes much of the Lake District.The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972...
district of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
. Important towns in the constituency include Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
, Windermere and Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale is a small town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically within Westmorland, it is situated south east of Kendal along the A65. The parish had a population of 1,771 recorded in the 2001 census.Notable buildings include St...
.
It does not include the entire historic county of Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
, particularly lacking the county town Appleby-in-Westmorland
Appleby-in-Westmorland
Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, in North West England. It is situated within a loop of the River Eden and has a population of approximately 2,500. It is in the historic county of Westmorland, of which it was the county town. The town's name was simply Appleby, until...
.
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cumbria, the Boundary Commission for England created a modified Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, to deal with population changes.The electoral wards used to create the modified seat, contested for the first time at the 2010 general election, are entirely within the South Lakeland
South Lakeland
South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes much of the Lake District.The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972...
district.
- ArnsideArnsideArnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It faces the estuary of the River Kent on the north eastern corner of Morecambe Bay, within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
and BeethamBeethamBeetham is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, situated on the border with Lancashire. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.-Demography:The parish had a population of 1,724 recorded in the 2001 census,...
, Burneside, Burton and Holme, CartmelCartmelCartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, situated north-west of Grange-over-Sands and close to the River Eea. Historically it was in Lancashire; boundary changes brought it into the newly created county of Cumbria in 1974, yet keeping it within the boundaries of the traditional County Palatine...
, ConistonConiston, CumbriaConiston is a village and civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man; about north east of Barrow-in-Furness.-Geography and...
, Crooklands, GrangeGrange-over-SandsGrange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish by the sea – with a wide tidal range, hence the "sands" name – in Cumbria, England. Historically, Grange-over-Sands was part of the County of Lancashire until 1974, when Cumbria was created under Local Government re-organisation which absorbed the area...
, HawksheadHawksheadHawkshead is a village and civil parish in the Cumbria, England. It is one of the main tourist honeypots in the South Lakeland area, and is dependent on the local tourist trade...
, Holker, KendalKendalKendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
Castle, Kendal Far Cross, Kendal Fell, Kendal Glebelands, Kendal Heron Hill, Kendal Highgate, Kendal Kirkland, Kendal Mintsfeet, Kendal Nether, Kendal OxenholmeOxenholmeOxenholme is a village in England just south of the town of Kendal, with which it has begun to merge. It is best known for Oxenholme Lake District railway station on the West Coast Main Line. Because Oxenholme does not have its own church it is technically a hamlet.-History:Oxenholme station opened...
, Kendal Parks, Kendal Stonecross, Kendal Strickland, Kendal Underley, Kirkby LonsdaleKirkby LonsdaleKirkby Lonsdale is a small town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically within Westmorland, it is situated south east of Kendal along the A65. The parish had a population of 1,771 recorded in the 2001 census.Notable buildings include St...
, Lakes AmblesideAmblesideAmbleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...
, Lakes GrasmereGrasmereGrasmere is a village, and popular tourist destination, in the centre of the English Lake District. It takes its name from the adjacent lake, and is associated with the Lake Poets...
, Levens, Lyth Valley, MilnthorpeMilnthorpeMilnthorpe is a large village within the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Straddling the A6 road, the town contains several old hostelries and hosts a market in The Square every Friday...
, Natland, SedberghSedberghSedbergh is a small town in Cumbria, England. It lies about east of Kendal and about north of Kirkby Lonsdale. The town sits just within the Yorkshire Dales National Park...
, Staveley-in-Cartmel, Staveley-in-WestmorlandStaveley, CumbriaStaveley is a village in the District of South Lakeland in Cumbria, England. It is situated northwest of Kendal where the River Kent is joined by its tributary the Gowan.-Geography:...
, Whinfell, Windermere Applethwaite, Windermere Bowness North, Windermere Bowness South and Windermere Town
This removed Broughton-in-Furness
Broughton-in-Furness
Broughton in Furness is a small town on the southern boundary of England's Lake District National Park. It is located in the Furness region of Cumbria, which was part of Lancashire before 1974...
from the constituency.
History
Having been a fairly safe Conservative seat since its creation in 1983, the 1997 electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
saw the Tory majority cut to less than 5,000 votes. This was further reduced at the 2001 election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
. In 2005, the constituency featured among a list of seats held by high-profile Tories (in this case, the Education spokesperson Tim Collins
Tim Collins (politician)
Timothy William George Collins, CBE, is a British politician, once a prominent member of the Conservative Party. Collins was active in the 1990s and was later the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale in north-west England from 1997 until defeat at the 2005 general...
) targeted by the LibDems in what was often referred to in the media as a "decapitation strategy". In the event, this was the only one of the "decapitation" seats to change hands in 2005, with Tim Farron
Tim Farron
Timothy James Farron is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is currently Member of Parliament for the constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale...
gaining the seat by a very narrow majority.
In the 2010 general election, this constituency recorded the largest swing from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats (11.1%) in a seat where those two parties were in the top two positions. The constituency also produced the lowest share of the vote for Labour (2.2%, one of five lost deposits for Labour in Great Britain). With 96.2% of votes cast for either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates, Westmorland and Lonsdale also had the highest combined share of the vote cast for the Coalition allies.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 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... |
Michael Jopling Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling Thomas Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, PC is a politician in the United Kingdom, and sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party.... |
Conservative 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... |
|
| 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general... |
Tim Collins Tim Collins (politician) Timothy William George Collins, CBE, is a British politician, once a prominent member of the Conservative Party. Collins was active in the 1990s and was later the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale in north-west England from 1997 until defeat at the 2005 general... |
Conservative 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... |
|
| 2005 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.... |
Tim Farron Tim Farron Timothy James Farron is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is currently Member of Parliament for the constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale... |
Liberal Democrat |