Post by greenhert on Apr 26, 2020 15:34:21 GMT
The Ashfield constituency was created in 1955, mainly from the old Broxtowe constituency (this bears no relation to the current Broxtowe constituency which is based around Beeston). Its boundaries have changed twice since its creation; Hucknall was added in 1974 but in 1983 Hucknall moved to the new Sherwood constituency with Eastwood coming in from the Beeston constituency, which was subsequently renamed Broxtowe.
Ashfield comprises the towns of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Eastwood, and several ex-mining villages to the north of the city of Nottingham; it covers most of the Ashfield District (but not Hucknall). Notable landmarks in the constituency include Newstead Abbey, an Augustinian Priory later associated with poet Lord Byron; the Abbey houses Lord Byron-related memorabilia to this day. Another literary great, D.H. Lawrence, was born in the town of Eastwood and his birthplace is now a local museum. All three of these towns were known for their collieries, which closed in the 1980s. Retail and public services are now the dominant sectors in the constituency, with King's Mill Hospital on the outskirts of Sutton-in-Ashfield being a major employer, and E.ON has some offices in Annesley. Demographically this seat is very similar to neighbouring Mansfield: 98% white, the proportion of people with no qualifications is high at 32.3%, and the proportion of people with degree level qualifications is very low at 14.6% (2011 census statistics).
Ashfield, like many former mining seats, used to be a rock-solid Labour seat. The two Ashfields were represented by Labour MPs continuously from 1918 (they were in the old version of Broxtowe until its abolition in 1955) until a by-election in 1977 where Tim Smith, who later served as MP for Beaconsfield, won on a sensational 20.8% swing. Frank Haynes recaptured the seat in 1979 and held the redrawn seat until he retired in 1992. His successor, Geoff Hoon, later became Defence Secretary under Tony Blair and Transport Secretary under Gordon Brown, where he oversaw the controversial expansion of Heathrow Airport and the vehicle scrappage scheme. Facing potential deselection due to his actions in Cabinet, he stood down in 2010 and former GMTV political editor Gloria de Piero narrowly held the seat by 192 votes against the Liberal Democrats' Jason Zadrozny, who achieved a 17.2% swing against Labour. Mr Zadrozny was initially going to contest Ashfield in 2015 but was subsequently suspended from the Liberal Democrats after being charged with child sex offences that were later dropped. The Liberal Democrat challenge subsequently unwound and UKIP became the main protest vote beneficiary, although UKIP only managed third place. Ms de Piero had another narrow escape in 2017 when the Conservatives managed an 8.9% swing to reduce her majority to just 441, with the majority of new Conservative votes coming from ex-UKIP voters. Arguably the Ashfield Independents, who polled 9.2%, thwarted a Conservative gain here and in fact Labour's hold in Ashfield confirmed that the Conservatives had lost their overall majority in 2017. A moderate critic of Jeremy Corbyn and a supporter of a soft Brexit, Ms de Piero stood down in 2019 and Lee Anderson, her former office manager, won the seat for the Conservatives in 2019 on a further 7.9% swing despite Mr Zadrozny's determined efforts to win the seat for the Ashfield Independents, which were nevertheless enough to keep the seat marginal and push Labour into third place. Furthermore this was one of only three Conservative gains in 2019 where the Conservative vote actually fell, by 2.4% (the other two constituencies in question were Peterborough and Kensington). At a local level the Ashfield Independents now hold every council seat within this constituency's boundaries following their virtual wipeout of Labour in 2019 in Ashfield, with the 3 Conservative and 2 Labour councillors holding seats in Hucknall which is in the Sherwood constituency.
Ashfield comprises the towns of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Eastwood, and several ex-mining villages to the north of the city of Nottingham; it covers most of the Ashfield District (but not Hucknall). Notable landmarks in the constituency include Newstead Abbey, an Augustinian Priory later associated with poet Lord Byron; the Abbey houses Lord Byron-related memorabilia to this day. Another literary great, D.H. Lawrence, was born in the town of Eastwood and his birthplace is now a local museum. All three of these towns were known for their collieries, which closed in the 1980s. Retail and public services are now the dominant sectors in the constituency, with King's Mill Hospital on the outskirts of Sutton-in-Ashfield being a major employer, and E.ON has some offices in Annesley. Demographically this seat is very similar to neighbouring Mansfield: 98% white, the proportion of people with no qualifications is high at 32.3%, and the proportion of people with degree level qualifications is very low at 14.6% (2011 census statistics).
Ashfield, like many former mining seats, used to be a rock-solid Labour seat. The two Ashfields were represented by Labour MPs continuously from 1918 (they were in the old version of Broxtowe until its abolition in 1955) until a by-election in 1977 where Tim Smith, who later served as MP for Beaconsfield, won on a sensational 20.8% swing. Frank Haynes recaptured the seat in 1979 and held the redrawn seat until he retired in 1992. His successor, Geoff Hoon, later became Defence Secretary under Tony Blair and Transport Secretary under Gordon Brown, where he oversaw the controversial expansion of Heathrow Airport and the vehicle scrappage scheme. Facing potential deselection due to his actions in Cabinet, he stood down in 2010 and former GMTV political editor Gloria de Piero narrowly held the seat by 192 votes against the Liberal Democrats' Jason Zadrozny, who achieved a 17.2% swing against Labour. Mr Zadrozny was initially going to contest Ashfield in 2015 but was subsequently suspended from the Liberal Democrats after being charged with child sex offences that were later dropped. The Liberal Democrat challenge subsequently unwound and UKIP became the main protest vote beneficiary, although UKIP only managed third place. Ms de Piero had another narrow escape in 2017 when the Conservatives managed an 8.9% swing to reduce her majority to just 441, with the majority of new Conservative votes coming from ex-UKIP voters. Arguably the Ashfield Independents, who polled 9.2%, thwarted a Conservative gain here and in fact Labour's hold in Ashfield confirmed that the Conservatives had lost their overall majority in 2017. A moderate critic of Jeremy Corbyn and a supporter of a soft Brexit, Ms de Piero stood down in 2019 and Lee Anderson, her former office manager, won the seat for the Conservatives in 2019 on a further 7.9% swing despite Mr Zadrozny's determined efforts to win the seat for the Ashfield Independents, which were nevertheless enough to keep the seat marginal and push Labour into third place. Furthermore this was one of only three Conservative gains in 2019 where the Conservative vote actually fell, by 2.4% (the other two constituencies in question were Peterborough and Kensington). At a local level the Ashfield Independents now hold every council seat within this constituency's boundaries following their virtual wipeout of Labour in 2019 in Ashfield, with the 3 Conservative and 2 Labour councillors holding seats in Hucknall which is in the Sherwood constituency.
