Bridgwater and West Somerset
Apr 3, 2020 18:13:53 GMT
Pete Whitehead, Andrew_S, and 2 more like this
Post by andrewp on Apr 3, 2020 18:13:53 GMT
Bridgwater and West Somerset
Bridgwater is a very unusual town to find in Somerset. A generally working class down at heel place, with an out of place political tradition too- a loyalty to the Labour Party. Bridgwater Borough Council was always Labour controlled before being swallowed up into Sedgemoor District council and outvoted by the villages. Since the re introduction of a Town Council in 2007, that body has consistently had a Labour majority.
Bridgwater has traditionally been typified by inter war council estates like Hamp and Sydenham, with their big social problems. As has been said before on this forum, Sydenham has the rather interesting feature of electricity pylons running straight down the middle of its mile long trunk road. Traditionally the West end of the town - in Durleigh and Wembdon- has been very different from the rest of the town- both socially and politically- trees grow and the houses are detached. Bridgwater was traditionally a very insular place, with half the town seemingly working at the Cellophane factory in Bath Road. Things have changed over the last 15 years, with Bridgwater seeing a lot of new houses, attracting the Cattle Market from Taunton, and swathes of office parks. The town centre however has deteriorated even more over the time.
The District Council ward boundaries in Bridgwater are very favourable to the Labour Party, and indeed they elected 12 councillors last year to the Conservatives 3. The County Council division boundaries, are very favourable to the Conservatives so they currently have 2 county councillors in the town and Labour have 2. I think everyone in the town could vote the same way and get a 13-2 District split and a 2-2 county split.
So far, so good for Labour. The rest of the constituency however includes affluent commuter villages to Bridgwater and Taunton like Wembdon, Cannington and Puriton which are good for the Conservatives and then the constituency stretches some 30 miles to the West to take in the whole of the old West Somerset District. West Somerset is a mix of wealthy retired people, and very real social problems for some younger people due to lack of employment and industry. A big chunk of Exmoor is in this seat, including 4000 very Conservative voters transferred from Taunton in 2010.
This seat has been in Conservative hands since 1950 and has only had 3 MPs since then. The closest shaves were in 1966 when Labour got within 3000 and in 1997 when Tom King’s majority was cut to 1800 by the Liberal Democrat’s. In 1997, King had intended to retire, but was persuaded by the local Conservatives to stand again as they were not confident they could hold the seat without his then 27 year incumbency vote. He was undoubtedly saved by the Lib Dem’s not being able to crack the sturdy Labour vote in Bridgwater town. In fact it’s feasible that King came second in both parts of the constituency- to Labour in the town and to the Lib Dem’s outside of the town. Since the close shave in 1997, the Conservative majority has increased steadily to 24,500. Ian Liddell Grainger, who succeeded King in 2001, increased his share by 7% to 62% in December with, uniquely for Somerset, Labour in second. There are rumours that ILG is facing a selection battle before every election, with many senior local Conservatives having fallen out with him, but he survives.
Bridgwater is a very unusual town to find in Somerset. A generally working class down at heel place, with an out of place political tradition too- a loyalty to the Labour Party. Bridgwater Borough Council was always Labour controlled before being swallowed up into Sedgemoor District council and outvoted by the villages. Since the re introduction of a Town Council in 2007, that body has consistently had a Labour majority.
Bridgwater has traditionally been typified by inter war council estates like Hamp and Sydenham, with their big social problems. As has been said before on this forum, Sydenham has the rather interesting feature of electricity pylons running straight down the middle of its mile long trunk road. Traditionally the West end of the town - in Durleigh and Wembdon- has been very different from the rest of the town- both socially and politically- trees grow and the houses are detached. Bridgwater was traditionally a very insular place, with half the town seemingly working at the Cellophane factory in Bath Road. Things have changed over the last 15 years, with Bridgwater seeing a lot of new houses, attracting the Cattle Market from Taunton, and swathes of office parks. The town centre however has deteriorated even more over the time.
The District Council ward boundaries in Bridgwater are very favourable to the Labour Party, and indeed they elected 12 councillors last year to the Conservatives 3. The County Council division boundaries, are very favourable to the Conservatives so they currently have 2 county councillors in the town and Labour have 2. I think everyone in the town could vote the same way and get a 13-2 District split and a 2-2 county split.
So far, so good for Labour. The rest of the constituency however includes affluent commuter villages to Bridgwater and Taunton like Wembdon, Cannington and Puriton which are good for the Conservatives and then the constituency stretches some 30 miles to the West to take in the whole of the old West Somerset District. West Somerset is a mix of wealthy retired people, and very real social problems for some younger people due to lack of employment and industry. A big chunk of Exmoor is in this seat, including 4000 very Conservative voters transferred from Taunton in 2010.
This seat has been in Conservative hands since 1950 and has only had 3 MPs since then. The closest shaves were in 1966 when Labour got within 3000 and in 1997 when Tom King’s majority was cut to 1800 by the Liberal Democrat’s. In 1997, King had intended to retire, but was persuaded by the local Conservatives to stand again as they were not confident they could hold the seat without his then 27 year incumbency vote. He was undoubtedly saved by the Lib Dem’s not being able to crack the sturdy Labour vote in Bridgwater town. In fact it’s feasible that King came second in both parts of the constituency- to Labour in the town and to the Lib Dem’s outside of the town. Since the close shave in 1997, the Conservative majority has increased steadily to 24,500. Ian Liddell Grainger, who succeeded King in 2001, increased his share by 7% to 62% in December with, uniquely for Somerset, Labour in second. There are rumours that ILG is facing a selection battle before every election, with many senior local Conservatives having fallen out with him, but he survives.
