Post by greenhert on May 9, 2020 21:46:10 GMT
Grantham & Stamford was created in 1997 mainly from Stamford & Spalding plus the town of Grantham itself from the former Grantham constituency, the majority of which became part of Sleaford & North Hykeham. It covers most of the South Kesteven district in Lincolnshire.
The town of Grantham is most famous for being the birthplace of the most famous/infamous Conservative Prime Minister in British history, Margaret Thatcher. Grantham is also famous for educating Sir Isaac Newton, swearing in the first female police officer in Britain, Edith Smith, and for being the site of the first UK-built diesel engine and England's oldest inn, the Angel and Royal. Today its main employer is the food-processing industry, with machine industries once having dominated. Stamford, meanwhile, is famous for its ancient churches and what remains of its walls, and it was the first ever conservation area designated in the United Kingdom as a result; unsurprisingly tourism is its main industry. Being close to Peterborough, the majority of the villages house Peterborough commuters. Grantham & Stamford's qualification levels and home ownership levels are almost exactly average for the East Midlands region and do not deviate too far from the UK average either. In fact it demographically matches the regional average in almost all respects apart from its population being 97.2% white.
Grantham & Stamford has been Conservative since its creation in 1997; that year, Labour still fell 2,692 votes short of unseating (John) Quentin Davies, who had moved there from Stamford & Spalding. Unusually during the 2005-10 Parliament as Labour was going into a downward spiral in the polls Mr Davies defected to Labour even though two years before the defection he claimed Gordon Brown was incompetent and imprudent. Mr Davies cited the "superficial" leadership of David Cameron as the main reason for his defection; he stood in 2010 and despite having only been a Labour MP for 4 years and a Conservative MP for 19 years before that was ennobled as Baron Davies of Stamford. Nick Boles held the seat for the Conservatives in 2010 with Labour falling to third place in spite of the coverage the surprise defection received. In March 2019, two months before Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister, Nick Boles famously and publicly left the Conservative benches in the middle of a parliamentary session, never to return to them. He stood down in December 2019 and Gareth Davies became Conservative MP in his place. Locally Grantham leans Conservative but Labour always elect at least one or two councillors in Grantham at district level; Stamford also leans Conservative with the Liberal Democrats and Independent candidates the main competitors; the rest of the constituency's wards are safely Conservative aside from the occasional Independent challenge.
The town of Grantham is most famous for being the birthplace of the most famous/infamous Conservative Prime Minister in British history, Margaret Thatcher. Grantham is also famous for educating Sir Isaac Newton, swearing in the first female police officer in Britain, Edith Smith, and for being the site of the first UK-built diesel engine and England's oldest inn, the Angel and Royal. Today its main employer is the food-processing industry, with machine industries once having dominated. Stamford, meanwhile, is famous for its ancient churches and what remains of its walls, and it was the first ever conservation area designated in the United Kingdom as a result; unsurprisingly tourism is its main industry. Being close to Peterborough, the majority of the villages house Peterborough commuters. Grantham & Stamford's qualification levels and home ownership levels are almost exactly average for the East Midlands region and do not deviate too far from the UK average either. In fact it demographically matches the regional average in almost all respects apart from its population being 97.2% white.
Grantham & Stamford has been Conservative since its creation in 1997; that year, Labour still fell 2,692 votes short of unseating (John) Quentin Davies, who had moved there from Stamford & Spalding. Unusually during the 2005-10 Parliament as Labour was going into a downward spiral in the polls Mr Davies defected to Labour even though two years before the defection he claimed Gordon Brown was incompetent and imprudent. Mr Davies cited the "superficial" leadership of David Cameron as the main reason for his defection; he stood in 2010 and despite having only been a Labour MP for 4 years and a Conservative MP for 19 years before that was ennobled as Baron Davies of Stamford. Nick Boles held the seat for the Conservatives in 2010 with Labour falling to third place in spite of the coverage the surprise defection received. In March 2019, two months before Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister, Nick Boles famously and publicly left the Conservative benches in the middle of a parliamentary session, never to return to them. He stood down in December 2019 and Gareth Davies became Conservative MP in his place. Locally Grantham leans Conservative but Labour always elect at least one or two councillors in Grantham at district level; Stamford also leans Conservative with the Liberal Democrats and Independent candidates the main competitors; the rest of the constituency's wards are safely Conservative aside from the occasional Independent challenge.
