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Post by yellowperil on May 7, 2020 13:17:07 GMT
I am coming towards the end of the first attempts at Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and given that meant I had already done some work on the Arun wards over the border in West Worthing constituency, some of which , like the two Rustington wards, I know very well, I might as well go next to West Worthing next.
I know some bits of Worthing pretty well, mostly with reference to the hospital (have had family there both as patients and staff),which I think is actually over the next border into Worthing East and Shoreham, but never mind. Also heading towards the area round the cemetery and the Findon valley. Findon itself is in the Arundel and South Downs constituency. There may be a case for doing those two constituencies next, given that we no longer seem to have a Worthing authority active on the forum? Mark Senior, how we miss you.
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Post by yellowperil on May 7, 2020 14:35:55 GMT
West Worthing is a constituency formed in 1997 and comprising about the western and central parts the fairly compact seaside resort of Worthing, about two thirds of the whole town and making up 9 Worthing wards, plus 4 wards of the neighbouring district of Arun, which form the largely built up coastal strip between Worthing and the next significant resort to the west,Littlehampton. Those four Arun wards are the two in Rustington, plus Ferring and East Preston. The four easternmost wards of Worthing borough are in East Worthing and Shoreham constituency.The irony is that Worthing borough on its own would be just about the right size for a parliamentary constituency.
Worthing is quite a sizeable seaside resort - of the Sussex resorts only the city of Brighton and Hove is significantly larger, while Eastbourne and Hastings/St Leonards are comparable, and Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Bexhill are all smaller. It always seems to me though that Worthing is the Sussex resort of all of those least able to show a distinctive character of its own and to have more a sort of generic south coast resort character, with a little bit of all the others. Maybe that is why its very ordinariness is why it was picked by Oscar Wilde for its particular mention in the Importance of Being Earnest.This is not to say Worthing is not a nice place- it is a very pleasant and agreable seaside resort with much going for it, but it does feel like a bit of an amalgam of everywhere else. (I put these comments in to see if others feel the same- they could well come out in any final version!)
One aspect of this of some interest on here is the thought that Worthing is best placed to be "the next Brighton and Hove", not least politically, and that it well head leftwards towards Labour and/or the Greens. There may be a few "green shoots" of that sort in Worthing but they have not fully formed yet, perhaps. In any case East Worthing & Shoreham is likely to the constituency first affected. Nevertheless Labour progress locally in Worthing Central and Heene wards particularly should be noted.
Of the 4 seafront wards, Goring ,which some would regard as a seperate resort and the most westward of those seaside Worthing wards, is safely Conservative, and these days Marine, the next ward, only slightly less so. Then Heene and Central, still with a Tory majority in 2016, went Labour on 2018 and this was confirmed in 2019. Of the next line of wards situated a mile or so inland, Castle in the west, is another pretty safe Tory one these days but Tarring remains the most reliable LibDem seat , right at the centre of what earlier this century was a sea of yellow. Northbrook is the least certain of all the west Worthing wards and has swung in all directions. Formerly Lib Dem, it was won by UKIP on a low vote in 2016 and the Tories in 2018 - a smaller ward, with only 2 members, it missed out on a contest in 2019. The two most northerly wards, Durrington and Salvington are Conservative held- Durrington anothe 2-member ward missing out in 2019, while Salvington compensated by having an extra by-election, very comfortably Conservative held.
One local issue will certainly relate to roads , particularly the problem of the A27. Further east this main east-west artery has been dualledand that means it runs over some of the South Downs though part of that has been tunnelled. Within Worthing borough the road is largely unimproved, including one section where it also doubles up as the main A24 road from London. There is very little room for road improvements between the built up area of Worthing and the South Downs national park immediately to the north. I frequently drive the A27 (I confess) and have been assailed for years by signs yelling ByPass Now at me. There are complex social, political and environmental issues to be resolved here.
In terms of the European question, by and large the constituency more resembles the other smaller Sussex coastal areas in being fairly firmly in the leave camp, and in contrast to Brighton and Hove. Worthing borough voted 53% leave compared with Hastings 55%, or Eastbourne 57%,or Arun 62.5%, but still in sharp contrast to Brighton & Hove 's 31.4%.
The MP for this constituency since its creation has been Sir Peter Bottomley. As he has now been an MP continuously since first elected in 1975, he has now taken up the prestigious and venerable role as Father of the House, and can now think at long last he is past the time when his main claim to fame was as Virginia's husband.
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Post by yellowperil on May 7, 2020 19:20:05 GMT
work in progress. Plenty more needs to be said. I know a councillor on Worthing council but I don't know the area well enough to write it up really. but any insights gratefully received. |
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Post by yellowperil on May 9, 2020 13:15:19 GMT
General Election 2019
30,475 55.8% Con (P.Bottomley)
15,652 28.6% Lab (R.Cooper)
6,024 11.0% LD (J.Bennett)
2,008 3.7% GP (J.Paul)
489 0.7% Ind (D.Aherne)
General Election 2017
30,181 55.4% Con (P.Bottomley)
18,091 33.2% Lab (R.Cooper)
2,982 5.5% LD (H.Thorpe)
1,635 3.0% UKIP (M.Withers)
1,614 3.0% GP (B.Cornish)
General Election 2015
26,124 51.3% Con (P.Bottomley)
9,269 18.3% UKIP (T.Cross)
7,955 15.7% Lab (J.Deen)
4,477 8.8% LD (H.Thorpe)
2,938 5.8% GP ( D.Aherne)
General Election 2010
25,416 51.7% Con (P.Bottomley)
13, 687 27.9% LD (H.Thorpe)
5,800 11.8% Lab (I.Ross)
2,924 6.0% UKIP (J.Wallace)
996 2.0% GP (D. Aherne)
300 0.6% Christian( S.Dearsley)
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Post by matureleft on May 9, 2020 14:45:31 GMT
West Worthing is a constituency formed in 1997 and comprising about the western and central parts the fairly compact seaside resort of Worthing, about two thirds of the whole town and making up 9 Worthing wards, plus 4 wards of the neighbouring district of Arun, which form the largely built up coastal strip between Worthing and the next significant resort to the west,Littlehampton. Those four Arun wards are the two in Rustington, plus Ferring and East Preston. The four easternmost wards of Worthing borough are in East Worthing and Shoreham constituency.The irony is that Worthing borough on its own would be just about the right size for a parliamentary constituency. Worthing is quite a sizeable seaside resort - of the Sussex resorts only the city of Brighton and Hove is significantly larger, while Eastbourne and Hastings/St Leonards are comparable, and Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Bexhill are all smaller. It always seems to me though that Worthing is the Sussex resort of all of those least able to show a distinctive character of its own and to have more a sort of generic south coast resort character, with a little bit of all the others. Maybe that is why its very ordinariness is why it was picked by Oscar Wilde for its particular mention in the Importance of Being Earnest.This is not to say Worthing is not a nice place- it is a very pleasant and agreable seaside resort with much going for it, but it does feel like a bit of an amalgam of everywhere else. (I put these comments in to see if others feel the same- they could well come out in any final version!) One aspect of this of some interest on here is the thought that Worthing is best placed to be "the next Brighton and Hove", not least politically, and that it well head leftwards towards Labour and/or the Greens. There may be a few "green shoots" of that sort in Worthing but they have not fully formed yet, perhaps. In any case East Worthing & Shoreham is likely to the constituency first affected. Nevertheless Labour progress locally in Worthing Central and Heene wards particularly should be noted. Of the 4 seafront wards, Goring ,which some would regard as a seperate resort and the most westward of those seaside Worthing wards, is safely Conservative, and these days Marine, the next ward, only slightly less so. Then Heene and Central, still with a Tory majority in 2016, went Labour on 2018 and this was confirmed in 2019. Of the next line of wards situated a mile or so inland, Castle in the west, is another pretty safe Tory one these days but Tarring remains the most reliable LibDem seat , right at the centre of what earlier this century was a sea of yellow. Northbrook is the least certain of all the west Worthing wards and has swung in all directions. Formerly Lib Dem, it was won by UKIP on a low vote in 2016 and the Tories in 2018 - a smaller ward, with only 2 members, it missed out on a contest in 2019. The two most northerly wards, Durrington and Salvington are Conservative held- Durrington anothe 2-member ward missing out in 2019, while Salvington compensated by having an extra by-election, very comfortably Conservative held. One local issue will certainly relate to roads , particularly the problem of the A27. Further east this main east-west artery has been dualledand that means it runs over some of the South Downs though part of that has been tunnelled. Within Worthing borough the road is largely unimproved, including one section where it also doubles up as the main A24 road from London. There is very little room for road improvements between the built up area of Worthing and the South Downs national park immediately to the north. I frequently drive the A27 (I confess) and have been assailed for years by signs yelling ByPass Now at me. There are complex social, political and environmental issues to be resolved here. In terms of the European question, by and large the constituency more resembles the other smaller Sussex coastal areas in being fairly firmly in the leave camp, and in contrast to Brighton and Hove. Worthing borough voted 53% leave compared with Hastings 55%, or Eastbourne 57%,or Arun 62.5%, but still in sharp contrast to Brighton & Hove 's 31.4%. There’s an A27 improvement project for Worthing and Lancing in Highways England’s plans for what that’s worth. It sits behind the Arundel scheme in the pecking order. |
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Post by yellowperil on May 9, 2020 15:18:36 GMT
West Worthing is a constituency formed in 1997 and comprising about the western and central parts the fairly compact seaside resort of Worthing, about two thirds of the whole town and making up 9 Worthing wards, plus 4 wards of the neighbouring district of Arun, which form the largely built up coastal strip between Worthing and the next significant resort to the west,Littlehampton. Those four Arun wards are the two in Rustington, plus Ferring and East Preston. The four easternmost wards of Worthing borough are in East Worthing and Shoreham constituency.The irony is that Worthing borough on its own would be just about the right size for a parliamentary constituency. Worthing is quite a sizeable seaside resort - of the Sussex resorts only the city of Brighton and Hove is significantly larger, while Eastbourne and Hastings/St Leonards are comparable, and Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Bexhill are all smaller. It always seems to me though that Worthing is the Sussex resort of all of those least able to show a distinctive character of its own and to have more a sort of generic south coast resort character, with a little bit of all the others. Maybe that is why its very ordinariness is why it was picked by Oscar Wilde for its particular mention in the Importance of Being Earnest.This is not to say Worthing is not a nice place- it is a very pleasant and agreable seaside resort with much going for it, but it does feel like a bit of an amalgam of everywhere else. (I put these comments in to see if others feel the same- they could well come out in any final version!) One aspect of this of some interest on here is the thought that Worthing is best placed to be "the next Brighton and Hove", not least politically, and that it well head leftwards towards Labour and/or the Greens. There may be a few "green shoots" of that sort in Worthing but they have not fully formed yet, perhaps. In any case East Worthing & Shoreham is likely to the constituency first affected. Nevertheless Labour progress locally in Worthing Central and Heene wards particularly should be noted. Of the 4 seafront wards, Goring ,which some would regard as a seperate resort and the most westward of those seaside Worthing wards, is safely Conservative, and these days Marine, the next ward, only slightly less so. Then Heene and Central, still with a Tory majority in 2016, went Labour on 2018 and this was confirmed in 2019. Of the next line of wards situated a mile or so inland, Castle in the west, is another pretty safe Tory one these days but Tarring remains the most reliable LibDem seat , right at the centre of what earlier this century was a sea of yellow. Northbrook is the least certain of all the west Worthing wards and has swung in all directions. Formerly Lib Dem, it was won by UKIP on a low vote in 2016 and the Tories in 2018 - a smaller ward, with only 2 members, it missed out on a contest in 2019. The two most northerly wards, Durrington and Salvington are Conservative held- Durrington anothe 2-member ward missing out in 2019, while Salvington compensated by having an extra by-election, very comfortably Conservative held. One local issue will certainly relate to roads , particularly the problem of the A27. Further east this main east-west artery has been dualledand that means it runs over some of the South Downs though part of that has been tunnelled. Within Worthing borough the road is largely unimproved, including one section where it also doubles up as the main A24 road from London. There is very little room for road improvements between the built up area of Worthing and the South Downs national park immediately to the north. I frequently drive the A27 (I confess) and have been assailed for years by signs yelling ByPass Now at me. There are complex social, political and environmental issues to be resolved here. In terms of the European question, by and large the constituency more resembles the other smaller Sussex coastal areas in being fairly firmly in the leave camp, and in contrast to Brighton and Hove. Worthing borough voted 53% leave compared with Hastings 55%, or Eastbourne 57%,or Arun 62.5%, but still in sharp contrast to Brighton & Hove 's 31.4%. There’s an A27 improvement project for Worthing and Lancing in Highways England’s plans for what that’s worth. It sits behind the Arundel scheme in the pecking order. Yes I think I broadly knew that much but wasn't quite sure where it had got to recently so decided not to comment further! I also wasn't sure who was behind what at one point had obviously been a pretty vocal campaign to raise the issue. Unless somebody else has more local knowledge or has time to dig out from local press or whatever. It's on my to do list but about as high on my own pecking order...... |
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Post by yellowperil on May 10, 2020 9:47:04 GMT
... a few extra statistics
2011 Census:ethnicity
White 97.6% (SE 90.7, UK 87.2)
Asian 1.3% (SE 5.2, UK 6.9)
Mixed 0.7% (SE 1.9, UK 2.0)
Black 0.3% (SE 1.6,UK 3.0)
Other 0.1 % (SE 0.6, UK 0.9)
2019 NOMIS :
In employment: 75.8% (SE 79.3, GB 75.8)
employees 59.9% (SE 66.7, GB 64.6)
self-employed 15.9% ( SE 12.3,GB 10.9)
skilled trades 21.9% (SE 9.0, GB 10.1)
Qualifications :NVQ4+ 28.8% (SE 48.4, GB 40.3)
(but note above average for NVQ 1& 2)
Earnings f/t w £ 553.6(SE 636.0,GB 587.0)
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