Post by greenhert on Apr 6, 2020 12:51:00 GMT
Hereford & South Herefordshire is a renamed Hereford constituency, which has been represented since the Model Parliament of 1295.
Hereford & South Herefordshire consists of the ancient cathedral city of Hereford, the nearby town of Ross-on-Wye, and the Golden Valley near the Welsh border, where several villages have Welsh names instead of English ones. Hereford Cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world, and one of only four surviving copies of the original Magna Carta. Like the rest of Herefordshire it has a strong dependence on agriculture via Hereford cattle, apple orchards and potato growing. Hereford & South Herefordshire has average qualification levels but an older than average and mostly white population, meaning that politically and demographically it is more West Country than West Midlands.
Hereford & South Herefordshire's predecessor Hereford is a reliable Conservative seat although the Liberals and later Liberal Democrats have represented it in good years for them. From 1974 to 1992 the Liberals and Liberal Democrats were always a close second behind the Conservatives but it took until 1997 for the Liberal Democrats to win it via Paul Keetch, who became the first non-Conservative MP in Hereford since Liberal journalist and editor Frank Owen represented the seat from 1929-31 (he tried and failed to win it back in a 1956 by-election). He held it for 13 years until retiring in 2010; Hereford & South Herefordshire which succeeded Hereford in parliamentary terms was narrowly won by Jesse Norman, who following the collapse of the Liberal Democrats has built up a commanding lead since. As with North Herefordshire there is considerable Green Party potential here but unlike in North Herefordshire the Greens have only saved their deposit once, in 2015, and it took until 2019 before Green councillors were elected in the boundaries of Hereford & South Herefordshire. The localist It's Our County group has considerable support here as well and one of their councillors, Jim Kenyon, polled as many as 5,560 votes as an Independent in 2017.
Hereford & South Herefordshire consists of the ancient cathedral city of Hereford, the nearby town of Ross-on-Wye, and the Golden Valley near the Welsh border, where several villages have Welsh names instead of English ones. Hereford Cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world, and one of only four surviving copies of the original Magna Carta. Like the rest of Herefordshire it has a strong dependence on agriculture via Hereford cattle, apple orchards and potato growing. Hereford & South Herefordshire has average qualification levels but an older than average and mostly white population, meaning that politically and demographically it is more West Country than West Midlands.
Hereford & South Herefordshire's predecessor Hereford is a reliable Conservative seat although the Liberals and later Liberal Democrats have represented it in good years for them. From 1974 to 1992 the Liberals and Liberal Democrats were always a close second behind the Conservatives but it took until 1997 for the Liberal Democrats to win it via Paul Keetch, who became the first non-Conservative MP in Hereford since Liberal journalist and editor Frank Owen represented the seat from 1929-31 (he tried and failed to win it back in a 1956 by-election). He held it for 13 years until retiring in 2010; Hereford & South Herefordshire which succeeded Hereford in parliamentary terms was narrowly won by Jesse Norman, who following the collapse of the Liberal Democrats has built up a commanding lead since. As with North Herefordshire there is considerable Green Party potential here but unlike in North Herefordshire the Greens have only saved their deposit once, in 2015, and it took until 2019 before Green councillors were elected in the boundaries of Hereford & South Herefordshire. The localist It's Our County group has considerable support here as well and one of their councillors, Jim Kenyon, polled as many as 5,560 votes as an Independent in 2017.
