West Worcestershire

[greenhert]

West Worcestershire is one of the most beautiful constituencies geographically, covering the Malvern Hills in its entirety.

West Worcestershire was created in 1997 from South Worcestershire which existed from 1950 to 1997 and also included Evesham, now in the current Mid Worcestershire constituency. It is very similar to the old Bewdley constituency (minus the village of Bewdley itself which is covered by Wyre Forest) that Stanley Baldwin (later Earl of Baldwin), PM from 1924 to 1929 and again from 1931 to 1937, represented. It comprises the genteel spa towns of Malvern (home to Sir Edward Elgar of Pomp & Circumstance Marches fame) and Tenbury Wells plus the village of Malvern Link, home to hand-made and in some ways antediluvian Morgan sports cars which still have a year-long waiting list. It has one of the highest proportions of graduates in the West Midlands not only due to its genteel nature and its many private schools but also because of the fact defence company Qinetiq is headquartered there.

West Worcestershire has been consistently Conservative since its creation, despite the Liberal Democrats making strong challenges in the Blair years. Its current MP, Harriet Baldwin, is not related to Stanley Baldwin either by descent or marriage, although like all but one MP (Gerald Nabarro, who in keeping with the themes for South Worcestershire pretended to be a toff) for West/South Worcestershire she was educated privately. There is a relatively strong Green tinge in Malvern itself at a local level and there has been an Ecology/Green Party candidate in the area (both under the remit of South Worcestershire and West Worcestershire) since 1979, although the Greens have only saved their deposit once so far in this constituency.

[Chris from Brum]

Apr 2, 2020 19:29:20 GMT greenhert said:

West Worcestershire is one of the most beautiful constituencies geographically, covering the Malvern Hills in its entirety.

West Worcestershire was created in 1997 from South Worcestershire which existed from 1950 to 1997 and also included Evesham, now in the current Mid Worcestershire constituency. It is very similar to the old Bewdley constituency (minus the village of Bewdley itself which is covered by Wyre Forest) that Stanley Baldwin (later Earl of Baldwin), PM from 1924 to 1929 and again from 1931 to 1937, represented. It comprises the genteel spa towns of Malvern (birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar of Pomp & Circumstance Marches fame) and Tenbury Wells plus the village of Malvern Link, home to hand-made and in some ways antediluvian Morgan sports cars which still have a year-long waiting list. It has one of the highest proportions of graduates in the West Midlands not only due to its genteel nature and its many private schools but also because of the fact defence company Qinetiq is headquartered there.

West Worcestershire has been consistently Conservative since its creation, despite the Liberal Democrats making strong challenges in the Blair years. There is a relatively strong Green tinge in Malvern itself at a local level and there has been an Ecology/Green Party candidate in the area (both under the remit of South Worcestershire and West Worcestershire) since 1979, although the Greens have only saved their deposit once so far in this constituency.

Nope.  Elgar was born in Lower Broadheath, a little way north of Malvern, and his birthplace is now a National Trust property.  He *did* live and work in Malvern for quite a while, and was clearly very fond of the place, I'll give you that.

[Chris from Brum]

Apr 3, 2020 8:50:33 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Indeed, I've been to that, as well as his grave. Although he had no children with his wife Alice he still appears to have relatives in the area, as I noticed an Elgar grave very close to his of a woman who died only a few years ago.

No, they had a daughter, Carice Irene.  There are, or were, descendants from that line - she married a Mr Blake.

[John Chanin]

I have not done a complete alternative profile here, but since the original was clearly inadequate I have added a description of the constituency, its local election behaviour, and my usual statistics. 

This constituency is based on Malvern Hills District, but this is not large enough for a seat of its own, and therefore has to be topped up by the South-west corner of Wychavon District. This amounts to about 20% of the seat and can be divided into 2 roughly equal parts. One is the town of Pershore. This is not a large town, but it is the headquarters of Wychavon District, and consequently has quite a few public sector workers. It is strongly contested between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The other half is rural. Most of it consists of Bredon Hill - an outlier of the Jurassic Cotswolds with its hillfort and its folly on the summit, surrounded by plush villages like Elmley Castle (no there isn’t one extant), Overbury, and Ashton-under-hill. These look to Evesham, and are a bit out of place in this constituency although they have been in it continuously. Like most such areas they are solidly Conservative.

Almost half of the Malvern Hills section consists of the sprawling urban area of Malvern, tucked in to the east of the Precambrian ridge of the Malvern Hills themselves, which form the boundary with Herefordshire. This can be divided into three distinct parts - to the north Malvern Link, in the centre Great Malvern, and to the south the satellites of Malvern Common, Wyche, and Malvern Wells, with the large Three Counties Showground nearby. This urban area has tended to the Liberal Democrats locally, with some recent activity from the Greens. To the east of the town is the extensive flood plain of the river Severn flowing through the Triassic Vale of Worcester. This contains the small market town of Upton, with its history of flooding, and a string of villages in agricultural countryside. To the south is a remote and sparsely populated area bisected by the M50, which borders the Forest of Dean. To the north is a rural section containing many Worcester commuters, and in the far north-west, and a very long way from Bredon Hill is another small market town in the form of Tenbury Wells. As usual all these rural areas vote Conservative nationally and locally, although there are, again not uncommonly, independents at a local level.

As the census figures show this is a well-educated middle-class constituency, wholly white, with a surprisingly high proportion of over 65s, and with little internal variation. It is a very safe Conservative seat, where the Liberal Democrats normally form the main opposition, although falling behind Labour in the post-coalition disaster. The current MP is banker Harriet Baldwin, first elected in 2010.

Worcestershire provided an unusually easy task for the Boundary Commission as the only change required was to move one ward from Mid Worcestershire to Redditch. This seat is entirely unchanged.

Census data: Owner-occupied 73% (149/573 in England & Wales), private rented 12% (446th), social rented 14% (333rd).
                      : White 98%, Black 0%, South Asian 0%, Mixed 1%, Other 1%
                      : Managerial & professional 42% (136th), Routine & Semi-routine 24% (440th)
                      : Degree level 34%(97th), Minimal qualifications 32%(424th)
                      : Students 2.6% (415th), Over 65: 24% (16th)

	2010	%	2015	%	2017	%	2019	%
Conservative	27,213	50.4%	30,342	56.1%	34,703	61.5%	34,909	60.7%
Labour	3,661	6.8%	7,244	13.4%	13,375	23.7%	9,496	16.5%
Liberal Democrat	20,409	37.8%	5,245	9.7%	5,307	9.4%	10,410	18.1%
UKIP	2,119	3.9%	7,764	14.4%	1,481	2.6%
Green	641	1.2%	3,505	6.5%	1,605	2.8%	2,715	4.7%
Majority	6,804	12.6%	22,578	41.7%	21,328	37.8%	24,499	42.6%

Unusually there have been no "other" candidates at any of the past 4 elections. 

[Adam in Stroud]

May 26, 2020 10:34:06 GMT John Chanin said:

I have not done a complete alternative profile here, but since the original was clearly inadequate I have added a description of the constituency, its local election behaviour, and my usual statistics. 

This constituency is based on Malvern Hills District Council, but this is not large enough for a seat of its own, and therefore has to be topped up by the South-west corner of Wychavon District. This amounts to about 20% of the seat and can be divided into 2 roughly equal parts. One is the town of Pershore. This is not a large town, but it is the headquarters of Wychavon District, and consequently has quite a few public sector workers. It is strongly contested between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The other half is rural. Most of it consists of Bredon Hill - an outlier of the Jurassic Cotswolds with its hillfort and its folly on the summit, surrounded by plush villages like Elmley Castle (no there isn’t one extant), Overbury, and Ashton-under-hill. These look to Evesham, and are a bit out of place in this constituency although they have been in it continuously. Like most such areas they are solidly Conservative.

Almost half of the Malvern Hills section consists of the sprawling urban area of Malvern, tucked in to the east of the Precambrian ridge of the Malvern Hills themselves, which form the boundary with Herefordshire. This can be divided into three distinct parts - to the north Malvern Link, in the centre Great Malvern, and to the south the satellites of Malvern Common, Wyche, and Malvern Wells, with the large Three Counties Showground nearby. This urban area has tended to the Liberal Democrats locally, with some recent activity from the Greens. To the east of the town is the extensive flood plain of the river Severn flowing through the Triassic Vale of Worcester. This contains the small market town of Upton, with its history of flooding, and a string of villages in agricultural countryside. To the south is a remote and sparsely populated area bisected by the M50, which borders the Forest of Dean. To the north is a rural section containing many Worcester commuters, and in the far north-west, and a very long way from Bredon Hill is another small market town in the form of Tenbury Wells. As usual all these rural areas vote Conservative nationally and locally, although there are, again not uncommonly, independents at a local level.

As the census figures show this is a well-educated middle-class constituency, wholly white, and with little internal variation. It is a very safe Conservative seat, where the Liberal Democrats normally form the main opposition, although falling behind Labour in the post-coalition disaster. The current MP is banker Harriet Baldwin, first elected in 2010.

Census data: owner-occupied 73% (149/573 in England & Wales), private rented 12% (446th), social rented 14% (333rd).
                      :White 98%, Black 0%, South Asian 0%, Mixed 1%, Other 1%
                      : Managerial & professional 42% (136th), Routine & Semi-routine 24% (440th)
                      : Degree level 34%(97th), No qualifications 32%(424th)

	2010	%	2015	%	2017	%	2019	%
Conservative	27,213	50.4%	30,342	56.1%	34,703	61.5%	34,909	60.7%
Labour	3,661	6.8%	7,244	13.4%	13,375	23.7%	9,496	16.5%
Liberal Democrat	20,409	37.8%	5,245	9.7%	5,307	9.4%	10,410	18.1%
UKIP	2,119	3.9%	7,764	14.4%	1,481	2.6%
Green	641	1.2%	3,505	6.5%	1,605	2.8%	2,715	4.7%
Majority	6,804	12.6%	22,578	41.7%	21,328	37.8%	24,499	42.6%

Unusually there have been no "other" candidates at any of the past 4 elections. 

I don't know if it is significant, but Pershore also houses Pershore College* which has an expanding residential student population, largely in horticulture, animal and veterinary courses.

* Technically part of the God-awful Warwickshire College Group

[Robert Waller]

2021 Census

Owner occupied 72.4% 107/573
Private rented 13.2% 516/573
Social rented 14.4% 320/573
White 96.8%
Black 0.3%
Asian 1.2%
(South Asian 0.5%)
Mixed 1.3%
Other 0.3%
Managerial & professional 39.3% 116/573
Routine & Semi-routine 19.6% 432/573
Degree level 38.4% 126/573
No qualifications 14.7% 436/573


2011 on same criteria

Degree level 33.7% 97/573
No qualifications 20.4% 380/573