Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1955 onwards

Ashfield
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Ashfield in Nottinghamshire
Location of Nottinghamshire within England
County	Nottinghamshire
Population	101,914 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	77,049 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Sutton in Ashfield, Kirkby in Ashfield and Eastwood
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of Parliament	Lee Anderson (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Broxtowe

Ashfield is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Lee Anderson of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]} The constituency is in the English county of Nottinghamshire, East Midlands; located to the north west of the city of Nottingham in the Erewash Valley along the border with neighbouring county Derbyshire. The seat contains the market towns of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Huthwaite and Eastwood. Ashfield was part of the Red Wall which by and large, voted Conservative in the 2019 general election. In the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union, Ashfield voted 70% in favour of Brexit.^[3]

Constituency profile

Until the Conservatives gained the seat at the 2019 general election, it almost always a Labour Party seat since its creation for the 1955 general election, the Ashfield constituency has been served by a former Secretary of State, Geoff Hoon, and since its creation until now, for only two years has been served by one member of another party, Tim Smith of the Conservative Party, from 1977 to 1979. Ashfield's 2019 result indicates quite a large Conservative majority. In 2010, the seat had a marginal majority of only 192 votes over the Liberal Democrats, but this was increased to 8,820 in 2015 after a collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote, with the Conservatives finishing in second place. In 2017, there was another narrow margin of victory for Labour after an 8.9% swing to the Conservatives, who squeezed most of the fairly substantial UKIP vote from two years earlier, and also a large vote for the Ashfield Independents candidate of nearly 10%, but Labour on that occasion did just enough to hang on by just over 400 votes. In 2019, the Independent candidate Jason Zadrozny, who had come close to winning the seat for the Liberal Democrats nine years earlier, came second with a substantial vote, and the Conservatives took the seat despite achieving fewer votes and a smaller percentage of the total vote than in 2017.

Boundaries

Boundary map

1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Eastwood, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and Sutton-in-Ashfield, and in the Rural District of Basford the parishes of Annesley, Bestwood Park, Brinsley, Felley, Linby, Newstead, Papplewick, and Selston.

1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and Sutton-in-Ashfield, and in the Rural District of Basford the parishes of Annesley, Felley, and Selston.

1983–2010: The District of Ashfield wards of Jacksdale, Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central, Kirkby-in-Ashfield East, Kirkby-in-Ashfield West, Selston, Sutton-in-Ashfield Central, Sutton-in-Ashfield East, Sutton-in-Ashfield North, Sutton-in-Ashfield West, Underwood, and Woodhouse, and the Borough of Broxtowe wards of Brinsley, Eastwood East, Eastwood North, and Eastwood South.

2010–present: The District of Ashfield wards of Jacksdale, Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central, Kirkby-in-Ashfield East, Kirkby-in-Ashfield West, Selston, Sutton-in-Ashfield Central, Sutton-in-Ashfield East, Sutton-in-Ashfield North, Sutton-in-Ashfield West, Underwood, and Woodhouse, and the Borough of Broxtowe wards of Brinsley, Eastwood North and Greasley Beauvale, and Eastwood South.

History

The former Cabinet minister Geoff Hoon represented the seat for the Labour Party from 1992, when he succeeded the three-term Labour member Frank Haynes, to 2010 when he retired.^[4] Ashfield is now represented by Conservative MP Lee Anderson. Formerly, Gloria De Piero came close to losing the seat after a 17.2% swing to the Liberal Democrats in 2010 but increased her majority again in 2015, only for it to be reduced to 441 in 2017.

The incumbent member of Youth Parliament for Ashfield is Ashlie Elliott of Quarrydale Academy (Elected 2019).

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1955	Will Warbey	Labour
	1966	David Marquand	Labour
	1977 by-election	Tim Smith	Conservative
	1979	Frank Haynes	Labour
	1992	Geoff Hoon	Labour
	2010	Gloria De Piero	Labour
	2019	Lee Anderson	Conservative

Elections

Ashfield election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Ashfield^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lee Anderson	19,231	39.3	2.4
	Ashfield Independents	Jason Zadrozny	13,498	27.6	18.4
	Labour	Natalie Fleet	11,971	24.4	18.2
	Brexit Party	Martin Daubney	2,501	5.1	New
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Wain	1,105	2.3	0.4
	Green	Rose Woods	674	1.4	0.6
Majority			5,733	11.7	N/A
Turnout			48,980	62.6	1.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	7.9

General election 2017: Ashfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gloria De Piero	21,285	42.6	1.6
	Conservative	Tony Harper	20,844	41.7	19.3
	Ashfield Independents	Gail Turner	4,612	9.2	New
	UKIP	Ray Young	1,885	3.8	17.6
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Charlesworth	969	1.9	12.9
	Green	Arran Rangi	398	0.8	New
Majority			441	0.9	17.7
Turnout			49,993	64.0	5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	8.9

General election 2015: Ashfield^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gloria De Piero	19,448	41.0	+7.3
	Conservative	Helen Harrison[8]	10,628	22.4	+0.2
	UKIP	Simon Ashcroft	10,150	21.4	+19.5
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Smith[9]	7,030	14.8	−18.5
	Justice for Men and Boys	Mike Buchanan	153	0.3	New
Majority			8,820	18.6	+18.2
Turnout			47,409	61.5	−0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.55

The Liberal Democrats had again selected Jason Zadrozny, but he was suspended by the Liberal Democrat party after being arrested and questioned for historic child sex abuse allegations just weeks before the election, of which he was later cleared.^[10] He was replaced by Philip Smith.^[11][12]

General election 2010: Ashfield^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gloria De Piero	16,239	33.7	−15.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jason Zadrozny	16,047	33.3	+19.5
	Conservative	Garry Hickton	10,698	22.2	−2.2
	BNP	Edward Holmes	2,781	5.8	New
	English Democrat	Tony Ellis	1,102	2.3	New
	UKIP	Terry Coleman	933	1.9	New
	Independent	Eddie Smith	396	0.8	New
Majority			192	0.4	−23.9
Turnout			48,196	62.3	+5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−17.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Ashfield^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoff Hoon	20,433	48.6	−9.5
	Conservative	Giles Inglis-Jones	10,220	24.3	−0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Johnson	5,829	13.9	+2.6
	Ashfield Independents	Roy Adkins	2,292	5.5	New
	Independent	Kate Allsop	1,900	4.5	New
	Veritas	Sarah Hemstock	1,108	2.6	New
	Independent	Eddie Grenfell	269	0.6	New
Majority			10,213	24.3	-9.4
Turnout			42,051	57.3	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.7

General election 2001: Ashfield^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoff Hoon	22,875	58.1	−7.0
	Conservative	Julian Leigh	9,607	24.4	+4.1
	Liberal Democrats	William Smith	4,428	11.3	+1.6
	Independent	Charlie Harby	1,471	3.7	New
	Socialist Alliance	George Watson	589	1.5	New
	Socialist Labour	Katrina R. Howse	380	1.0	New
Majority			13,268	33.7	-11.2
Turnout			39,350	53.6	−16.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Ashfield^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoff Hoon	32,979	65.1	+10.2
	Conservative	Mark Simmonds	10,251	20.3	−12.3
	Liberal Democrats	William E. Smith	4,882	9.7	−2.8
	Referendum	Martin I. Betts	1,896	3.8	New
	BNP	Steven E. Belshaw	595	1.2	New
Majority			22,728	44.9	+21.6
Turnout			50,603	70.0	-10.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.3

General election 1992: Ashfield^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoff Hoon	32,018	54.9	+13.2
	Conservative	Laurence Robertson	19,031	32.6	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	James S. Turton	7,291	12.5	−12.2
Majority			12,987	22.3	+14.2
Turnout			58,340	80.4	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Ashfield^[18][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Haynes	22,812	41.7	±0.0
	Conservative	Barry Coleman	18,412	33.6	+2.9
	Liberal	Frances Stein	13,542	24.7	−2.1
Majority			4,400	8.1	−3.7
Turnout			70,937	77.2	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.45

General election 1983: Ashfield^[18][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Haynes	21,859	41.7
	Conservative	Roderick Seligman	15,772	30.7
	Liberal	Frances Stein	13,812	26.8
Majority			6,087	11.8
Turnout			68,791	74.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Ashfield^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Haynes	33,116	52.8	−10.6
	Conservative	Tim Smith	25,319	40.4	+18.1
	Liberal	Hampton Flint	3,914	6.2	−8.1
	National Front	W. Annable	397	0.6	N/A
Majority			7,797	12.4	-28.7
Turnout			77,878	80.6	+5.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−14.4

By-election 1977: Ashfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Smith	19,616	43.1	+20.8
	Labour	Michael Cowan	19,352	42.5	−20.9
	Liberal	Hampton Flint	4,380	9.6	−4.7
	National Front	George Herrod	1,734	3.8	New
	Socialist Workers	June Hall	453	1.0	New
Majority			264	0.6	N/A
Turnout			45,535
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	20.8

General election October 1974: Ashfield^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Marquand	35,367	63.4	+4.1
	Conservative	Richard Kemm	12,452	22.3	−1.1
	Liberal	Hampton Flint	7,959	14.3	−3.0
Majority			22,915	41.1	+5.2
Turnout			74,683	74.7	-12.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Ashfield^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Marquand	35,994	59.3	−11.0
	Conservative	Richard Kemm	14,206	23.4	−6.3
	Liberal	Hampton Flint	10,534	17.3	New
Majority			21,788	35.9	-0.5
Turnout			74,095	82.0	+11.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1970: Ashfield^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Marquand	32,372	68.2	−5.4
	Conservative	Richard Kemm	15,089	31.8	+5.4
Majority			17,283	36.4	-11.4
Turnout			67,623	70.2	-3.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.4

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Ashfield^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Marquand	33,477	73.6	+0.8
	Conservative	E.T. Gibbons	11,991	26.4	-0.8
Majority			21,486	47.8	+2.1
Turnout			62,030	73.30	-3.89
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Ashfield^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Warbey	34,841	72.84
	Conservative	TL Wright	12,989	27.16
Majority			21,852	45.68
Turnout			61,960	77.19
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Ashfield^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Warbey	35,432	70.69
	Conservative	Julian GW Sandys	14,690	29.31
Majority			20,742	41.38
Turnout			61,139	81.98
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Ashfield^[27][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Warbey	32,905	71.94
	Conservative	Alan S Plane	12,836	28.06
Majority			20,069	43.88
Turnout			59,820	76.46
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• 1977 Ashfield by-election
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire

Notes and references

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.

References

1. "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
2. "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.
3. "EU Referendum: Ashfield votes to LEAVE the EU". ITV News. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
4. "BBC News - Ex-cabinet minister Geoff Hoon to stand down as an MP". news.bbc.co.uk.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
6. "Ashfield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. "Conservatives choose Ashfield candidate for General Election". www.chad.co.uk.
9. "Ashfield Liberal Democrats name new candidate". Nottingham Post. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
10. https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/cleared-councillor-jason-zadrozny-vows-703217.
11. Mason, Rowena (26 March 2015). "Lib Dem election candidate arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse" – via The Guardian.
12. "Nottinghamshire councillor Jason Zadrozny's child sex case thrown out". BBC News. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Ashfield". news.bbc.co.uk.
15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Ashfield [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "UK General Election results: March 1966 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
24. "UK General Election results: October 1964 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
25. "UK General Election results: October 1959 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
26. http://tools.assembla.com/svn/grodt/uk/thc/files/marked_up/1959_marked_up.txt
27. "UK General Election results: May 1955 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
28. http://tools.assembla.com/svn/grodt/uk/thc/files/marked_up/1955_marked_up.txt

Sources

• Youngs, Frederic A., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II, Northern England, London, 1991

Coordinates: 53°07′N 1°16′W / 53.12°N 1.27°W / 53.12; -1.27