North West Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

North West Leicestershire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire
Location of Leicestershire within England
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	72,022 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Andrew Bridgen (Independent)
Seats	One
Created from	Bosworth and Loughborough

North West Leicestershire is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Bridgen. Bridgen originally served as a Conservative and now serves as an Independent following his suspension in January 2023 and subsequent expulsion. He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023, ^[2] then left Reclaim and became an Independent again the following December. ^{[3] [n 2]}

History

The constituency was contested for the first time in 1983, and Conservative candidate David Ashby became its first MP that year. He stood down in 1997 and Labour's David Taylor won the seat, holding it until he died of a heart attack in December 2009. Taylor had already announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election. With the next election being due on 6 May 2010, it was considered uneconomic and (based on precedent) unnecessary to arrange a by-election. In the 2010 election, Andrew Bridgen took the seat for the Conservatives, with a swing of 12% from Labour to the Conservatives and with a smaller Labour–Liberal Democrats swing. Bridgen's majority was 7,511 or 14.5% of the total votes cast.

Constituency profile

North West Leicestershire's main settlements are the small towns of Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The population is divided between Labour-inclined former mining areas with high rates of employment ^[4] and low social housing dependency, ^{[5] [n 3]} and Conservative-inclined rural villages, with most people focused close to the two towns named. ^[6] The seat has been a bellwether since 1983, as the winning party has formed the government.

In 2011 Coalfield Resources plc were given permission to develop an opencast coal mining pit on the site of the former Minorca colliery on the outskirts of Measham, in the seat, which will be 1 mi (1.6 km) across and extract 1,250,000 tonnes (1,230,000 tons) of coal over five years, and 250,000 tonnes (about 245,000 tons) of clay. This will be one of three large mines all operated by the main UK coal-extracting company. ^[7]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1983–1997: The District of North West Leicestershire, and the Borough of Charnwood wards of Shepshed East and Shepshed West.

1997–present: The District of North West Leicestershire.

North West Leicestershire constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Bosworth to the south and Loughborough to the east.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be reduced to bring the electorate within the permitted range by the transfer of the two small wards of Appleby, and Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe to the newly created constituency of Hinckley and Bosworth. ^[8]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [9]	Party
	1983	David Ashby	Conservative
	1997	David Taylor	Labour
	2010	Andrew Bridgen	Conservative
	2023		Independent
			Reclaim
			Independent

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North West Leicestershire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Carl Benfield [10]
	Independent	Andrew Bridgen [11]
	Labour	Amanda Hack [12]
	Workers Party	Jevan Heatherley [13]
	Reform UK	Noel Matthews [14]
	Conservative	Craig Smith [15]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North West Leicestershire ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bridgen	33,811	62.8	+4.6
	Labour	Terri Eynon	13,411	24.9	-8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Grahame Hudson	3,614	6.7	+0.3
	Green	Carl Benfield	2,478	4.6	+2.5
	Independent	Edward Nudd	367	0.7	New
	Libertarian	Dan Liddicott	140	0.3	New
Majority			20,400	37.9	+13.1
Turnout			53,821	68.2	-2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.6

General election 2017: North West Leicestershire ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bridgen [18]	31,153	58.2	+8.7
	Labour	Sean Sheahan [19]	17,867	33.4	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Wyatt[ citation needed ]	3,420	6.4	+2.5
	Green	Mia Woolley [20]	1,101	2.1	−0.2
Majority			13,286	24.8	+2.7
Turnout			53,541	71.0	−0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 2015: North West Leicestershire ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bridgen	25,505	49.5	+4.9
	Labour	Jamie McMahon	14,132	27.4	−2.7
	UKIP	Andy McWilliam [22]	8,704	16.9	+14.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Argent [23]	2,033	3.9	−12.7
	Green	Benjamin Gravestock [24]	1,174	2.3	New
Majority			11,373	22.1	+7.6
Turnout			51,548	71.4	-1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

General election 2010: North West Leicestershire ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bridgen	23,147	44.6	+8.6
	Labour	Ross Willmott	15,636	30.1	−15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Reynolds	8,639	16.6	+4.5
	BNP	Ian Meller	3,396	6.5	+3.4
	UKIP	Martin Green	1,134	2.2	−1.1
Majority			7,511	14.5	N/A
Turnout			51,952	72.9	+6.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+12.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North West Leicestershire ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Taylor	21,449	45.5	−6.6
	Conservative	Nicola Le Page	16,972	36.0	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Roderick Keys	5,682	12.1	+1.8
	UKIP	John Blunt	1,563	3.3	+1.0
	BNP	Clive Potter	1,474	3.1	New
Majority			4,477	9.5	-8.7
Turnout			47,140	66.8	+1.0
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−4.4

General election 2001: North West Leicestershire ^{[26] [28]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Taylor	23,431	52.1	−4.3
	Conservative	Nick Weston	15,274	33.9	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Charlie Fraser-Fleming	4,651	10.3	+1.7
	UKIP	William Nattrass	1,021	2.3	New
	Independent	Robert Nettleton	632	1.4	New
Majority			8,157	18.2	-7.2
Turnout			43,219	65.8	−14.2
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-3.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North West Leicestershire ^{[29] [28]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Taylor	29,332	56.4	+12.5
	Conservative	Robert Goodwill	16,113	31.0	−14.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stan Heptinstall	4,492	8.6	−1.6
	Referendum	Maurice Abney-Hastings	2,008	4.0	New
Majority			13,219	25.4	N/A
Turnout			51,945	80.0	-6.1
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Leicestershire North West ^{[30] [31]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ashby	28,379	45.5	−2.1
	Labour	David Taylor	27,400	43.9	+9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy Beckett	6,353	10.2	−6.9
	Natural Law	David Fawcett	229	0.4	New
Majority			979	1.6	−11.7
Turnout			62,361	86.1	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Leicestershire North West ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ashby	27,872	47.6	+3.0
	Labour	Susan Waddington	20,044	34.3	+1.7
	Liberal	David Emmerson	10,034	17.1	−4.6
	Green	Helen Michetschlager	570	1.0	−0.1
Majority			7,828	13.3	+1.4
Turnout			58,520	82.85	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Leicestershire North West ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ashby	24,760	44.6
	Labour	Mel Read	18,098	32.6
	Liberal	Geoffrey Cort	12,043	21.7
	Ecology	Dinah Freer	637	1.15
Majority			6,662	12.0
Turnout			55,538	81.07
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. This should be contrasted with most constituencies in County Durham, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire which historically had a similar but more densely populated mining population and which have higher Indicators of Multiple Deprivation and are Labour safe seats based on length of service by one political party

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Quinn, Ben (10 May 2023). "Andrew Bridgen becomes first Reclaim MP after expulsion from Tories". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 May 2023.
3. @abridgen (20 December 2023). "A statement by Andrew Bridgen MP: "This morning, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to resign from the Reclaim Party. I would first of all like to thank Laurence and all of the team at Reclaim who have been excellent and supported me wholeheartedly for the last 9 months. I have come to this decision purely because of a difference in the direction of the Party, I will still wholeheartedly support the policies and values of the Reclaim Party and wish them all of the best in their future endeavours However, I need to make a very important decision with a general election pending in the first half of next year. I need to put North West Leicestershire first, above any Party allegiance. I will continue standing up and fighting for the people of North West Leicestershire and delivering what is best for them. I have consistently campaigned against HS2 since my first election in 2010, I have been at the forefront of exposing scandals such as the modern day slavery cover up in Leicester and the Post Office Horizon scandal which was debated in the House of Commons yesterday. I have been standing up for those who have been injured by vaccines and exposing the worrying cover up of Trends in Excess Deaths on a national and indeed global scale" ENDS" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
4. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
5. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
6. "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
7. "Leicestershire opencast coal mine gains approval". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part I.
9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
10. "Prospective Parliamentary Candidates 2024". Loughborough and North West Leicestershire Green Party. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
11. "Former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen quits Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party". Independent. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
12. "Labour candidate selected to challenge for Tory seat held for more than a decade". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
13. "Elections 2024". Workers Party of Britain. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
14. "North West Leicestershire Constituency". Reform UK . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
15. "Coalville-based councillor Smith will stand for Conservatives in North West Leicestershire at next General Election". Coalville Nub News. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
16. "Leicestershire North West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
17. "General Election 2017: North West Leicestershire". The Daily Express. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
18. Andrew Bridgen [@ABridgen] (25 April 2017). "Delighted and honoured to have been unanimously readopted as the NW Leics Conservative candidate for the forthcoming General Election" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
19. "East Midlands Labour candidates announced - East Midlands Labour". Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
20. "Elections - North West Leicestershire District Council". www.nwleics.gov.uk.
21. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. "UK Polling Report".
23. http://www.markargent4nwleics.org.uk ^{[ dead link ]}
24. "Prospective General Election Candidates | Green Party". Green Party Members' Website.
25. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. North West Leicestershire general election, 2005 results, North West Leicestershire District Council
28. Henig, Simon; Lewis Baston (2002). The Political Map of Britain. London: Politico's. p. 477. ISBN   1-84275-015-1.
29. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
31. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
32. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
33. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

52°45′N1°24′W / 52.75°N 1.4°W / 52.75; -1.4