Bristol West (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol West
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bristol West in Avon.
Location of Avon within England.
County	City of Bristol
Electorate	91,236 (December 2015)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Thangam Debbonaire (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Bristol
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Bristol West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the central and western parts of Bristol.

Contents

• 
  1 Boundaries
  


• 
  2 History
  


• 
  3 Members of Parliament
  


• 
  4 Elections
  
  • 
    4.1 Elections in the 2010s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 Elections in the 2000s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.3 Elections in the 1990s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.4 Elections in the 1980s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.5 Elections in the 1970s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.6 Elections in the 1960s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.7 Elections in the 1950s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.8 Elections in the 1940s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.9 Elections in the 1930s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.10 Elections in the 1920s
    
  
  
  • 
    4.11 Elections in the 1910s
    
  
  


• 
  5 Election results 1885-1918
  
  • 
    5.1 Elections in the 1880s
    
  
  
  • 
    5.2 Elections in the 1890s
    
  
  
  • 
    5.3 Elections in the 1900s
    
  
  
  • 
    5.4 Elections in the 1910s
    
  
  


• 
  6 See also
  


• 
  7 Notes and references
  

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton, St Augustine's, St Michael's, and Westbury, and the local government district of Horfield.

1918-1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton North, Clifton South, Horfield, Redland, St Michael, and Westbury-on-Trym.

1950-1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Clifton, Redland, St Augustine, St James, and St Michael.

1955-1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Durdham, and Redland.

1974-1983: as above plus District

1983-1997: The City of Bristol wards of Ashley, Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Cotham, Henleaze, Redland, and Stoke Bishop.

1997-2010: as above plus Westbury-on-Trym.

2010–present: as above less Westbury-on-Trym, Stoke Bishop and Henleaze, plus Clifton East, Easton, and Lawrence Hill

The above shows that the changes implemented for the 2010 general election boundaries were relatively great, recommended by a periodic impartial Boundary Commission review.^[2] Easton and Lawrence Hill wards were transferred from Bristol East, while Henleaze, Stoke Bishop and Westbury-on-Trym wards were lost to Bristol North West. During the review, a proposal to rename the constituency as "Bristol Central" was rejected.^[2]

History

More compactly urban since 2010, the seat retains a high proportion of the city's most garden-rich, grandest houses and landscaped civic parks. It was held by Conservatives continuously for 112 years. It was represented by members including Conservative cabinet ministers Michael Hicks-Beach, Oliver Stanley, Walter Monckton and William Waldegrave. As part of a national Labour Party landslide, exceeding that of 1945, the 1997 gain by Valerie Davey was from a third-placed starting point for the party's candidate in 1992. Many of the townhouses in Bristol in the latter half of the 20th century were subdivided during which time the size of the University of Bristol increased (the city's largest single independent employer which is chiefly in the seat) and the University of the West of England overtook its scale, mainly in Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency.^[3]

At the 2005 election the seat was Liberal Democrat target number 18, and Conservative target number 50; it had been frequently described in the media as a "three-way marginal", and all parties fought hard for the constituency. The seat was taken by Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams with a large majority, thought to have been aided by the large student electorate, hostile to Labour's top-up fees policy. This Liberal Democrat success was similar to those in other seats with a large student population, such as Cambridge, Manchester Withington, Leeds North West and Cardiff Central. In the 2010 election, Stephen Williams held the seat with an increased majority.^[4] In the 2015 general election, the Lib Dem vote fell by 29.2%; Williams came a distant third behind the winning Labour candidate Thangam Debbonaire and more than 5,000 votes behind the Green Party candidate, who achieved the greatest increase in the Green vote (+23%) in any seat that election.^[5] In 2017 Bristol West had the biggest swing to Labour in the country. ^[6]. The 52.1% majority was also the largest in the seat since 1931.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[7][8]	Party
	1885	Michael Hicks-Beach	Conservative
	1906	George Abraham Gibbs	Conservative
	1928	Cyril Thomas Culverwell	Conservative
	1945	Oliver Stanley	Conservative
	1951	Sir Walter T. Monckton	Conservative
	1957	Robert Cooke	Conservative
	1979	William Waldegrave	Conservative
	1997	Valerie Davey	Labour
	2005	Stephen Williams	Liberal Democrats
	2015	Thangam Debbonaire	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Bristol West^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thangam Debbonaire	47,213	65.9	30.3
	Conservative	Annabel Tall	9,877	13.8	1.4
	Green	Molly Scott Cato	9,216	12.9	14.0
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Williams	5,201	7.3	11.6
	Money Free Party	Jodian Rodgers	101	0.1	N/A
Majority			37,336	52.1	43.3
Turnout			71,608	77.1	5.1
	Labour hold		Swing	15.8

General Election 2015: Bristol West^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thangam Debbonaire	22,900	35.7	8.1
	Green	Darren Hall	17,227	26.8	23.0
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Williams	12,103	18.8	29.2
	Conservative	Claire Hiscott	9,752	15.2	3.2
	UKIP	Paul Turner	1,940	3.0	1.8
	Independent	Dawn Parry	204	0.3	N/A
	Left Unity	Stewart Weston	92	0.1	N/A
Majority			5,673	8.8	N/A
Turnout			64,218	72.0	5.1
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	18.7

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Bristol West

(Note that the vote-share changes for 2010 are from the notional results on the new boundaries, not the actual 2005 results))

General Election 2010: Bristol West^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Williams	26,593	48.0	8.9
	Labour	Paul Smith	15,227	27.5	9.0
	Conservative	Nick Yarker	10,169	18.4	2.0
	Green	Ricky Knight	2,090	3.8	1.9
	UKIP	Christopher Lees	655	1.2	0.1
	Independent	Danny Kushlick	343	0.6	N/A
	English Democrat	Jon Baker	270	0.5	N/A
Majority			11,366	20.5	11.6
Turnout			55,347	66.9	3.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	9.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Williams	21,987	38.3	9.4
	Labour	Valerie Davey	16,859	29.4	7.4
	Conservative	David Martin	15,429	26.9	1.9
	Green	Justin Quinnell	2,163	3.8	0.3
	UKIP	Simon Muir	439	0.8	0.1
	Socialist Labour	Bernard Kennedy	329	0.6	0.5
	Save Bristol North Baths Party	Douglas Reid	190	0.3	0.3
Majority			5,128	8.9	N/A
Turnout			57,396	70.5	4.9
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing	8.4

General Election 2001: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Valerie Davey	20,505	36.8	1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Williams	16,079	28.9	0.9
	Conservative	Pamela Chesters	16,040	28.8	4.0
	Green	John Devaney	1,961	3.5	2.2
	Socialist Labour	Bernard J. Kennedy	590	1.1	0.7
	UKIP	Simon D. Muir	490	0.9	N/A
Majority			4,426	7.9	5.5
Turnout			55,665	65.6	7.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Bristol West^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Valerie Davey	22,068	35.2	10.5
	Conservative	William Waldegrave	20,575	32.8	9.4
	Liberal Democrat	Charles R. Boney	17,551	28.0	2.7
	Referendum	Margot Beauchamp	1,304	2.1	N/A
	Green	Justin Quinnell	852	1.4	0.4
	Socialist Labour	Roy Nurse	244	0.4	N/A
	Natural Law	Jai Brierley	47	0.1	0.1
Majority			1,493	2.4	N/A
Turnout			62,641	73.8	0.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	10.0

General Election 1992: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Waldegrave	22,169	42.2	3.3
	Liberal Democrat	Charles Boney	16,098	30.7	0.6
	Labour	Hedley Bashforth	12,992	24.7	3.8
	Green	George Sawday	906	1.7	0.3
	Natural Law	David James Cross	104	0.2	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	Ben Brent	92	0.2	N/A
	Struck Off and Die Doctors Alliance	Phil Hammond	87	0.2	N/A
	Anti-Federalist League	Timothy Hedges	42	0.1	N/A
Majority			6,071	11.5	2.7
Turnout			52,490	74.0	1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.4

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Waldegrave	24,695	45.5	3.6
	Liberal	George Ferguson	16,992	31.3	1.9
	Labour	Mary Georghiou	11,337	20.9	1.4
	Green	Gundula Dorey	1,096	2.0	N/A
	Communist	Veronica Ralph	134	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,703	14.2	5.5
Turnout			54,254	75.0	4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Waldegrave	25,400	49.1
	Liberal	George Ferguson	15,222	29.4
	Labour	Pamela Tatlow	10,094	19.5
	Ecology	James Scott	872	1.7
	Independent	Sebastian Boyle	142	0.3
Majority			10,178	19.7
Turnout			51,730	70.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Waldegrave	22,257	52.6
	Labour	Vivien Bath	9,691	22.9
	Liberal	Bernard Silver	8,881	21.0
	Ecology	John K. Ingham	1,154	2.7
	National Front	M. Jones	246	0.6
	United Democratic Party	Raymond R. Redmore	93	0.2
Majority			12,566	29.7
Turnout				71.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	18,555	46.9
	Liberal	Robert G.R. Stacey	11,598	29.3
	Labour	John Malos	9,372	23.7
Majority			6,957	17.6
Turnout				65.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	21,141	48.3
	Liberal	Robert G.R. Stacey	13,076	29.9
	Labour	John Malos	9,526	21.8
Majority			8,065	18.4
Turnout				72.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	20,110	60.2
	Labour	David J. Blackman	8,175	24.5
	Liberal	Robert G.R. Stacey	5,108	15.3
Majority			11,935	35.7
Turnout				66.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	19,783	56.7
	Labour	Leslie Walter Bosisto	8,265	23.7
	Liberal	Robert G.R. Stacey	6,850	19.6
Majority			11,518	33.0
Turnout				72.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	21,230	58.0
	Liberal	Keith Basil Wedmore	7,366	20.1
	Labour	Donald McLaren	7,306	20.0
	Taxpayers' Coalition Party	P. Michael Kingston	709	1.9
Majority			13,864	37.9
Turnout				73.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	27,768	67.3
	Labour	Michael Cocks	7,651	18.6
	Liberal	Colin Hart-Leverton	5,835	14.1
Majority			20,117	48.7
Turnout				73.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bristol West by-election 7 March 1957

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Cooke	24,585	70.2	5.1
	Labour	Bill Rodgers	10,423	29.8	5.1
Majority			14,162	40.4
Turnout				61.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Monckton	32,767	75.3
	Labour	Walter Johnson	10,766	24.7
Majority			22,001	50.6
Turnout				74.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Monckton	25,858	63.6
	Labour	Harold Lawrance	11,716	28.8
	Liberal	David Goldblatt	3,115	7.7
Majority			14,142	34.8
Turnout				80.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bristol West by-election 15 February 1951

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Monckton	22,216	81.4	22.5
	Labour	Harold Lawrance	5,072	18.6	11.4
Majority			17,144	62.8	33.9
Turnout				53.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Oliver Stanley	24,920	58.9
	Labour	Edward S.D. Bishop	12,677	30.0
	Liberal	Hilda Nuttall	4,688	11.1
Majority			12,243	28.9
Turnout				82.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Oliver Stanley	32,149	48.6
	Labour	William Edward Balmer	25,163	38.0
	Liberal	Desmond Allhusen	8,849	13.4
Majority			6,986	10.6
Turnout				74.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Cyril Culverwell	36,820	71.0
	Labour	Percy Williams	15,058	29.0
Majority			21,762	42.0
Turnout				70.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Cyril Culverwell	43,264	83.0
	Labour	F.E. White	8,875	17.0
Majority			34,389	66.0
Turnout				79.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Cyril Culverwell	25,416	53.7	−25.3
	Labour	Clare Annesley	11,961	25.3	+4.3
	Liberal	William Nichols Marcy	9,909	21.0	N/A
Majority			13,455	28.4	−29.6
Turnout			47,286	77.7	+2.6
Registered electors			60,844
	Unionist hold		Swing	−14.8

Bristol West by-election, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Cyril Culverwell	16,970	57.2	−21.8
	Labour	Clare Annesley	7,702	26.0	+5.0
	Liberal	William Nichols Marcy	4,996	16.8	N/A
Majority			9,268	31.2	−26.8
Turnout			29,688	67.6	−7.5
Registered electors			43,900
	Unionist hold		Swing	−13.4

General Election 1924: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Gibbs	23,574	79.0	N/A
	Labour	Matt Giles	6,276	21.0	N/A
Majority			17,298	58.0	N/A
Turnout			29,850	75.1	N/A
Registered electors			39,752
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1923: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Gibbs	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General Election 1922: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Gibbs	18,124	62.0	N/A
	Liberal	Frank Raffety	11,100	38.0	N/A
Majority			7,024	24.0	N/A
Turnout			29,224	76.9	N/A
Registered electors			38,013
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 1921: Bristol Wes^[12]t

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	George Gibbs	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	George Gibbs	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Election results 1885-1918

Elections in the 1880s

Hicks Beach

General Election 1885: Bristol West ^[13][14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	3,876	61.1	N/A
	Liberal	Brinsley de Courcy Nixon	2,463	38.9	N/A
Majority			1,413	22.2	N/A
Turnout			6,339	82.8	N/A
Registered electors			7,657
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Bristol West ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	3,819	68.0	6.9
	Liberal	James Judd	1,801	32.0	6.9
Majority			2,018	36.0	13.8
Turnout			5,620	73.4	9.4
Registered electors			7,657
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.9

Hicks Beach was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 Aug 1886: Bristol West ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Hicks Beach was appointed President of the Board of Trade, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 20 Feb 1888: Bristol West ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Bristol West ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

By-election, 1895: Bristol West ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General Election 1895: Bristol West ^[13][14][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	3,815	67.4	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Hamilton Lawless	1,842	32.6	N/A
Majority			1,973	34.8	N/A
Turnout			5,657	69.5	N/A
Registered electors			8,144
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Bristol West ^[13][14][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hicks Beach	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

George Gibbs

General Election 1906: Bristol West ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Gibbs	4,267	52.2	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Lennard	3,902	47.8	N/A
Majority			365	4.4	N/A
Turnout			8,169	86.7	N/A
Registered electors			9,423
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Bristol West ^[13][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Gibbs	5,159	57.1	4.9
	Liberal	Walter Saise	3,881	42.9	4.9
Majority			1,278	14.2	9.8
Turnout			9,040	89.3	2.6
Registered electors			10,127
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.9

General Election December 1910: Bristol West ^[13][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Gibbs	4,871	57.5	0.4
	Liberal	Joseph Weston Stevens	3,595	42.5	0.4
Majority			1,276	15.0	0.8
Turnout			8,466	83.6	5.7
Registered electors			10,127
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.4

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• 
  Unionist: George Gibbs
  


• 
  Liberal:

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Avon

Notes and 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. 
   ^ ^ab "Fifth Periodical Report" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. 26 February 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2010. 
   


3. 
   ^ "University of the West of England Facts & Figures". Retrieved 28 April 2016. 
   


4. 
   ^ ^ab "Election 2010: Bristol West". BBC News. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
   


5. 
   ^ "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk. 
   


6. 
   ^ "Bristol West". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
   


7. 
   ^ "Bristol West 1885-". Hansard. Retrieved 12 December 2015. 
   


8. 
   ^ "Members 1979-2010" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 12 December 2015. 
   


9. 
   ^ "BBC Election Results". 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
   


10. 
    ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. 
    


11. 
    ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
    


12. 
    ^ Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 109. ISBN 0-900178-01-9. 
    


13. 
    ^ ^abcdefghijk British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
    


14. 
    ^ ^abcdefgh The Liberal Year Book, 1907
    


15. 
    ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
    


16. 
    ^ ^ab Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
    


17. 
    ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
    


18. 
    ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
    

v t e Constituencies in South West England (55)
Conservative (47)	Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Bridgwater and West Somerset Camborne and Redruth Central Devon Cheltenham Chippenham Christchurch Devizes East Devon Filton and Bradley Stoke Forest of Dean Gloucester Kingswood Mid Dorset and North Poole Newton Abbot North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Somerset North Somerset North Swindon North Wiltshire Plymouth Moor View Poole Salisbury Somerton and Frome South Dorset South East Cornwall South Swindon South West Devon South West Wiltshire St Austell and Newquay St Ives Taunton Deane Tewkesbury The Cotswolds Thornbury and Yate Tiverton and Honiton Torbay Torridge and West Devon Totnes Truro and Falmouth Wells West Dorset Weston-super-Mare Yeovil
Labour (7)	Bristol East Bristol North West Bristol South Bristol West Exeter Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Stroud
Liberal Democrats (1)	Bath
South West England European constituency: Conservative (1) European People's Party (1) Green (1) Labour (1) UKIP (2)

Coordinates: 51°27′47″N 2°36′30″W / 51.46301°N 2.60827°W / 51.46301; -2.60827

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