Post by Robert Waller on Nov 24, 2022 17:37:48 GMT
Broadland is one of the more unusual constituency names, in that it does not refer to a town or city but rather a geographical entity. The ‘Norfolk Broads’ is an extensive area of water features, based on man-made shallow lakes created by the process of peat working, along with slow flowing rivers. As a tourist destination it will hold happy memories for many people who enjoy ‘messing around in boats’, and even more who have read the children’s stories of Arthur Ransome in the Swallows and Amazons series, such as Coot Club and The Big Six. Unfortunately, the Broadland constituency contains neither the whole of the Broads themselves, nor the whole of Broadland council, nor indeed is it exclusively compared of Broadland wards. In fact, it is something of a rag-bag of different sections of Norfolk.
The reason for this is clear. Broadland was created as a ninth and extra seat for Norfolk in the boundary review which was enacted in time for the 2010 general election. Indeed it was largely carved out of the Mid Norfolk constituency which itself only dated from 1983 when Norfolk was granted its eighth seat. Divisions formed when a county’s allocation is increased are often rather artificial and seem to have no clear core, being made up of bits and pieces previously in other seats. Despite its apparently unifying name, Broadland remains no exception to this. This is apparent on a map. It is a long strip, quite a distance from west to east but thin from north to south. Like the current Mid Norfolk it touches neither the sea nor the boundary with any other county. There are several different elements within the Broadland constituency.
First, yes, it does include some broads, centred on Wroxham and following the south bank of the river Bure which forms the boundary with the North Norfolk seat for several miles. However the problem is that the Bure is very much set in the middle of the main section of the Broads, and other key villages associated with them such as Hoveton and Horning are on its north bank and therefore not in the Broadland constituency, but rather in North Norfolk - as is Hickling Broad (not even close). Second, Broadland does have a significant population concentration in what are effectively Norwich suburban villages such as Drayton, Taverham and Thorpe Marriott. The seat curls round the edge of Norwich’s built up area in a kidney shape from the north west right round to the east of the city, including along the periphery of the airport. This territory is linked by an A road called the Broadland Northway, which was constructed between 2016 and 2018. The possibility of further development in this section in the context of a national housing shortage and regional expansion is clear. The Broads seem a long way off in this part of the constituency.
That comment would also be valid if we move far to the north west to a section of the North Norfolk district nevertheless included in the Broadland parliamentary seat. The largest community here is Fakenham (population 8,000, actually less than that of Taverham, for example). It would take some careful planning and manoeuvring to travel from Fakenham to the other end of the Broadland seat, which almost reaches Great Yarmouth on the east coast, without crossing its boundaries. Fakenham is nearer to Kings Lynn than to Norwich, never mind Yarmouth. Despite its modest size Fakenham is a significant market centre for many nearby villages, many of them not in this seat as it is almost surrounded by parts of Mid Norfolk, North Norfolk and North West Norfolk. Probably the best known of these are Great and Little Walsingham, among England’s major pilgrimage destinations for both Roman Catholics and High Church Anglicans.
Indeed the oddity of including the six North Norfolk council wards in this Broadland seat was initially recognized by the Boundary Commission in its provisional proposals, when they proposed that they should be removed to join the North Norfolk constituency. However in the major revisions published in November 2022 this was reversed, and instead the only part to be removed is in the ‘Greater Norwich area’ in the shape of the two Drayton wards, switched to Norwich North. This is also imperfect as it splits the community of Thorpe Marriott (which has only existed since the 1980s but now has a population of over 6,000). The seat will now be even more of a long thin shape, although one concession to the North Norfolk section has been to rename it as Broadland and Fakenham. Over 42,000 electors in the Broadland council area will now be in the Norwich North seat though.
There is unlikely to be a significant electoral effect of the boundary changes, as Broadland is a very safe Conservative seat. At local level the main opposition is provided by the Liberal Democrats. In the most recent Broadland council elections in May 2019 they won the wards of Aylsham, Buxton (no, not that one), Hevingham, Horsford & Felthorpe, Reepham and Spixworth with St Faith’s – and one if the two council seats in Taverham North. The Conservatives won all the others though, with no representation for Labour, Greens or any other party within the Broadland section of the constituency. In the North Norfolk council area within this seat, the Tories swept the lot, even though both the council and the North Norfolk parliamentary constituency have a strong tradition of electing Liberal Democrats. In the county council elections in May 2021, of the nine divisions wholly within the Broadland constituency the score was 7-2 to the Conservatives, with the LD exceptions being Hevingham & Spixworth and Aylsham (and it was 2-1 to the Tories in the divisions partially included).
The demographics of the Broadland seat confirm its Conservative characteristics. The population is elderly – in the top decile as far as aged 65 plus is concerned. It is in the top 100 seats for owner occupied housing and close to the bottom 60 for the social rented sector. It is very white indeed for an English seat. It has substantially more in professional and managerial occupations than routine or semi-routine, tough not at the extremes for either. It has very few full time students. Finally, it is a region and county that have swung to the Conservatives as time as passed, both because of new housing and population growth and because of the decline of the agricultural working class radicalism that once made rural Norfolk seats ‘do different’. Labour have still been able to finish in second place in the last three general elections in Broadland, but it is the Liberal Democrats who challenge in local elections, although they have never been able remotely to reproduce their very respectable share of 32% the first time the constituency was contested in 2010.
The Conservatives may well lose a substantial part of their near 60% share from 2019, but with divided opposition they are highly likely to win again by a substantial margin. Dick, Dorothea and the others in Coot Club may have found adventure on and around the Norfolk Broads, but even though the MP is Jerome Mayhew who was the Managing Director of the Go Ape outdoor activity parks (“Find Your Next Adventure”), there will be probably be little excitement in the Broadland campaigns in the foreseeable future.
goape.co.uk/
2011 Census
Age 65+ 22.1% 55/650
Owner-occupied 76.0% 54/650
Private rented 12.0% 462/650
Social rented 9.9% 589/650
White 98.2% 89/650
Black 0.2% 522/650
Asian 0.7% 583/650
Managerial & professional 30.7%
Routine & Semi-routine 25.7%
Degree level 24.0% 376/650
No qualifications 23.0% 324 /650
Students 5.1% 628/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 75.0% 53/573
Private rented 14.3% 464/573
Social rented 10.7% 489/573
White 97.2%
Black 0.4%
Asian 0.9%
Managerial & professional 33.4% 262/573
Routine & Semi-routine 23.6% 294/573
Degree level 27.4% 412/573 6th lowest increase 2011021 in England and Wales
No qualifications 17.9% 278/573
General Election 2019: Broadland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jerome Mayhew 33,934 59.6 +1.7
Labour Jess Barnard 12,073 21.2 - 8.4
Liberal Democrats Ben Goodwin 9,195 16.1 + 8.2
Green Andrew Boswell 1,412 2.5 + 0.8
The Universal Good Party Simon Rous 363 0.6 New
C Majority 21,861 38.4 + 10.1
2019 electorate 78,151
Turnout 56,977 72.9 +0.5
Conservative hold
Swing 5.1 Lab to C
The reason for this is clear. Broadland was created as a ninth and extra seat for Norfolk in the boundary review which was enacted in time for the 2010 general election. Indeed it was largely carved out of the Mid Norfolk constituency which itself only dated from 1983 when Norfolk was granted its eighth seat. Divisions formed when a county’s allocation is increased are often rather artificial and seem to have no clear core, being made up of bits and pieces previously in other seats. Despite its apparently unifying name, Broadland remains no exception to this. This is apparent on a map. It is a long strip, quite a distance from west to east but thin from north to south. Like the current Mid Norfolk it touches neither the sea nor the boundary with any other county. There are several different elements within the Broadland constituency.
First, yes, it does include some broads, centred on Wroxham and following the south bank of the river Bure which forms the boundary with the North Norfolk seat for several miles. However the problem is that the Bure is very much set in the middle of the main section of the Broads, and other key villages associated with them such as Hoveton and Horning are on its north bank and therefore not in the Broadland constituency, but rather in North Norfolk - as is Hickling Broad (not even close). Second, Broadland does have a significant population concentration in what are effectively Norwich suburban villages such as Drayton, Taverham and Thorpe Marriott. The seat curls round the edge of Norwich’s built up area in a kidney shape from the north west right round to the east of the city, including along the periphery of the airport. This territory is linked by an A road called the Broadland Northway, which was constructed between 2016 and 2018. The possibility of further development in this section in the context of a national housing shortage and regional expansion is clear. The Broads seem a long way off in this part of the constituency.
That comment would also be valid if we move far to the north west to a section of the North Norfolk district nevertheless included in the Broadland parliamentary seat. The largest community here is Fakenham (population 8,000, actually less than that of Taverham, for example). It would take some careful planning and manoeuvring to travel from Fakenham to the other end of the Broadland seat, which almost reaches Great Yarmouth on the east coast, without crossing its boundaries. Fakenham is nearer to Kings Lynn than to Norwich, never mind Yarmouth. Despite its modest size Fakenham is a significant market centre for many nearby villages, many of them not in this seat as it is almost surrounded by parts of Mid Norfolk, North Norfolk and North West Norfolk. Probably the best known of these are Great and Little Walsingham, among England’s major pilgrimage destinations for both Roman Catholics and High Church Anglicans.
Indeed the oddity of including the six North Norfolk council wards in this Broadland seat was initially recognized by the Boundary Commission in its provisional proposals, when they proposed that they should be removed to join the North Norfolk constituency. However in the major revisions published in November 2022 this was reversed, and instead the only part to be removed is in the ‘Greater Norwich area’ in the shape of the two Drayton wards, switched to Norwich North. This is also imperfect as it splits the community of Thorpe Marriott (which has only existed since the 1980s but now has a population of over 6,000). The seat will now be even more of a long thin shape, although one concession to the North Norfolk section has been to rename it as Broadland and Fakenham. Over 42,000 electors in the Broadland council area will now be in the Norwich North seat though.
There is unlikely to be a significant electoral effect of the boundary changes, as Broadland is a very safe Conservative seat. At local level the main opposition is provided by the Liberal Democrats. In the most recent Broadland council elections in May 2019 they won the wards of Aylsham, Buxton (no, not that one), Hevingham, Horsford & Felthorpe, Reepham and Spixworth with St Faith’s – and one if the two council seats in Taverham North. The Conservatives won all the others though, with no representation for Labour, Greens or any other party within the Broadland section of the constituency. In the North Norfolk council area within this seat, the Tories swept the lot, even though both the council and the North Norfolk parliamentary constituency have a strong tradition of electing Liberal Democrats. In the county council elections in May 2021, of the nine divisions wholly within the Broadland constituency the score was 7-2 to the Conservatives, with the LD exceptions being Hevingham & Spixworth and Aylsham (and it was 2-1 to the Tories in the divisions partially included).
The demographics of the Broadland seat confirm its Conservative characteristics. The population is elderly – in the top decile as far as aged 65 plus is concerned. It is in the top 100 seats for owner occupied housing and close to the bottom 60 for the social rented sector. It is very white indeed for an English seat. It has substantially more in professional and managerial occupations than routine or semi-routine, tough not at the extremes for either. It has very few full time students. Finally, it is a region and county that have swung to the Conservatives as time as passed, both because of new housing and population growth and because of the decline of the agricultural working class radicalism that once made rural Norfolk seats ‘do different’. Labour have still been able to finish in second place in the last three general elections in Broadland, but it is the Liberal Democrats who challenge in local elections, although they have never been able remotely to reproduce their very respectable share of 32% the first time the constituency was contested in 2010.
The Conservatives may well lose a substantial part of their near 60% share from 2019, but with divided opposition they are highly likely to win again by a substantial margin. Dick, Dorothea and the others in Coot Club may have found adventure on and around the Norfolk Broads, but even though the MP is Jerome Mayhew who was the Managing Director of the Go Ape outdoor activity parks (“Find Your Next Adventure”), there will be probably be little excitement in the Broadland campaigns in the foreseeable future.
goape.co.uk/
2011 Census
Age 65+ 22.1% 55/650
Owner-occupied 76.0% 54/650
Private rented 12.0% 462/650
Social rented 9.9% 589/650
White 98.2% 89/650
Black 0.2% 522/650
Asian 0.7% 583/650
Managerial & professional 30.7%
Routine & Semi-routine 25.7%
Degree level 24.0% 376/650
No qualifications 23.0% 324 /650
Students 5.1% 628/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 75.0% 53/573
Private rented 14.3% 464/573
Social rented 10.7% 489/573
White 97.2%
Black 0.4%
Asian 0.9%
Managerial & professional 33.4% 262/573
Routine & Semi-routine 23.6% 294/573
Degree level 27.4% 412/573 6th lowest increase 2011021 in England and Wales
No qualifications 17.9% 278/573
General Election 2019: Broadland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jerome Mayhew 33,934 59.6 +1.7
Labour Jess Barnard 12,073 21.2 - 8.4
Liberal Democrats Ben Goodwin 9,195 16.1 + 8.2
Green Andrew Boswell 1,412 2.5 + 0.8
The Universal Good Party Simon Rous 363 0.6 New
C Majority 21,861 38.4 + 10.1
2019 electorate 78,151
Turnout 56,977 72.9 +0.5
Conservative hold
Swing 5.1 Lab to C
