Post by BossMan on Apr 4, 2020 22:29:05 GMT
EAST YORKSHIRE
This constituency’s name may suggest it covers the entire county of East Yorkshire, but it does not. It covers seven wards of the East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority, in the northernmost part of the county.
It is a rural and coastal constituency. The largest settlement is the seaside resort and port of Bridlington, a town with a population of some 35,000 people. Just to its north are the great cliffs of Flamborough Head. Inland are the rolling Wolds and their fine, mixed agricultural land – and the market towns of Driffield, Market Weighton and Pocklington. There is also Stamford Bridge, the site of the lesser known battle of 1066. A large number of small villages are dotted around this very large rural area.
The Conservatives can usually rely on the loyal support of most of the wards in the local elections held every four years, especially in the rural parts of the seat.
The Bridlington wards are not quite as loyal. The North ward, usually strongly Tory, sprung a surprise in a 2019 by-election by a electing a Liberal Democrat. Bridlington was also quite unique for many years in that it was one of the very few places in the UK where SDP councillors continued to be elected - in Central and Old Town ward (formerly just Old Town) - long after David Owen wound up the party, namely Mr and Mrs Allerston. Ray Allerston’s last election was in 2011, and when he died in 2014, so did the SDP tradition. The by-election that followed was a unique result: UKIP gain from SDP. Bridlington South has also elected councillors for the Yorkshire Party, UKIP and Labour - as well as Conservative ones - within recent years.
East Yorkshire was created in 1997 as a successor seat to the old Bridlington constituency. The outspoken right wing Conservative MP John Townend survived the Labour landslide by 3,337 votes. He retired in 2001 and was replaced by the former Derby North MP Greg Knight, who continues to represent East Yorkshire today. The Conservative majority has continued to rise at every general election since and by 2019 it was a huge 22,787 – due to a combination of a national swing to the Conservatives and an embracement of Brexit, characteristic of many constituencies on the east coast of England.
This constituency’s name may suggest it covers the entire county of East Yorkshire, but it does not. It covers seven wards of the East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority, in the northernmost part of the county.
It is a rural and coastal constituency. The largest settlement is the seaside resort and port of Bridlington, a town with a population of some 35,000 people. Just to its north are the great cliffs of Flamborough Head. Inland are the rolling Wolds and their fine, mixed agricultural land – and the market towns of Driffield, Market Weighton and Pocklington. There is also Stamford Bridge, the site of the lesser known battle of 1066. A large number of small villages are dotted around this very large rural area.
The Conservatives can usually rely on the loyal support of most of the wards in the local elections held every four years, especially in the rural parts of the seat.
The Bridlington wards are not quite as loyal. The North ward, usually strongly Tory, sprung a surprise in a 2019 by-election by a electing a Liberal Democrat. Bridlington was also quite unique for many years in that it was one of the very few places in the UK where SDP councillors continued to be elected - in Central and Old Town ward (formerly just Old Town) - long after David Owen wound up the party, namely Mr and Mrs Allerston. Ray Allerston’s last election was in 2011, and when he died in 2014, so did the SDP tradition. The by-election that followed was a unique result: UKIP gain from SDP. Bridlington South has also elected councillors for the Yorkshire Party, UKIP and Labour - as well as Conservative ones - within recent years.
East Yorkshire was created in 1997 as a successor seat to the old Bridlington constituency. The outspoken right wing Conservative MP John Townend survived the Labour landslide by 3,337 votes. He retired in 2001 and was replaced by the former Derby North MP Greg Knight, who continues to represent East Yorkshire today. The Conservative majority has continued to rise at every general election since and by 2019 it was a huge 22,787 – due to a combination of a national swing to the Conservatives and an embracement of Brexit, characteristic of many constituencies on the east coast of England.