Post by peterl on Jul 7, 2023 15:36:54 GMT
Bournemouth East is one of two constituencies covering Bournemouth, a seaside town with a population of roughly 200,000 at virtually the Eastern extreme of the South West. It currently consists of the following wards of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council: Boscombe East and Pokesdown, Boscombe West, East Cliff and Springbourne, East Southbourne and Tuckton, Littledown and Iford, Moordown, Muscliff and Strouden Park, Queen's Park and West Southbourne. The constituency has not been altered by the boundary review. Tourism and banking are amongst the largest local industries, with 95% of people in Bournemouth as a whole working in the service sector and a large J.P. Morgan office located to the north of the constituency in the Littledown and Iford ward. Opposite this office is the local hospital, which will gain extra capacity as more services are transferred from Poole. Bournemouth as a whole is home to a university, a mainline train station and premiership football club.
Littledown and Iford is a mainly prosperous middle class ward, as are substantial parts of neighbouring Queen’s Park and Strouden Park and the Southbourne wards, which also contain a significant retired population. Throop and Muscliff is a largely working class to lower middle class residential area. The Boscombe wards along with East Cliff and Springbourne host some luxury apartments near to the beach, but are a largely deprived area with a significant drug problem.
The constituency was created for the February 1974 General Election and has exclusively returned Conservative MPs. There have been three members representing the seat since its creation. The first, John Cordle, resigned after being implicated in the John Poulson scandal and was replaced in a November 1977 by election by David Atkinson. Atkinson served until 2005 whereupon he was replaced by current incumbent Tobias Ellwood. Ellwood does not currently hold ministerial office, but has previously held several positions under the Cameron and May administrations. Ellwood has the whip suspended in July 2022 after being absent during a vote of no confidence. The whip was reinstated in October 2022. Ellwood has also recently gained publicity by calling for Britain to rejoin the "single market", which could lose the Tories votes given the above average 53.7% leave vote in the constituency. Bournemouth East however has always voted Conservative by a large margin, with 9.6% in 2001 being the smallest majority since its creation. Second place however has proved to be something of a battleground: being won by the Lib Dems and their Liberal predecessors in February and October 1974, and then in every election from 1983 until 2010 but Labour achieving runner-up in 2015, 2017 and 2019, a feat only previously managed in 1979 and in the 1977 by election.
Bournemouth East has also been a moderately successful seat for UKIP during its heyday with third place and 16.5% in 2015 and a saved deposit also achieved in 2010. The Green Party scored an impressive 7.3% in 2015, the only other occasion on which a smaller party has saved their deposit in this seat, but have seen diminished results in the two subsequent elections.
Until recently, council seats in the constituency have generally also gone Conservative in recent years. The Tories suffered heavy losses in the 2023 elections and now have just three councillors within the Bournemouth East constituency. Rising student numbers in recent years have boosted Labour's vote. Labour now have six councillors within the constituency. Bournemouth East is however a seat where there continues to be significant vote splitting between Labour and the Lib Dems, and whilst the seat may be seen as a possible target, a Labour victory here remains a distant possibility.
Littledown and Iford is a mainly prosperous middle class ward, as are substantial parts of neighbouring Queen’s Park and Strouden Park and the Southbourne wards, which also contain a significant retired population. Throop and Muscliff is a largely working class to lower middle class residential area. The Boscombe wards along with East Cliff and Springbourne host some luxury apartments near to the beach, but are a largely deprived area with a significant drug problem.
The constituency was created for the February 1974 General Election and has exclusively returned Conservative MPs. There have been three members representing the seat since its creation. The first, John Cordle, resigned after being implicated in the John Poulson scandal and was replaced in a November 1977 by election by David Atkinson. Atkinson served until 2005 whereupon he was replaced by current incumbent Tobias Ellwood. Ellwood does not currently hold ministerial office, but has previously held several positions under the Cameron and May administrations. Ellwood has the whip suspended in July 2022 after being absent during a vote of no confidence. The whip was reinstated in October 2022. Ellwood has also recently gained publicity by calling for Britain to rejoin the "single market", which could lose the Tories votes given the above average 53.7% leave vote in the constituency. Bournemouth East however has always voted Conservative by a large margin, with 9.6% in 2001 being the smallest majority since its creation. Second place however has proved to be something of a battleground: being won by the Lib Dems and their Liberal predecessors in February and October 1974, and then in every election from 1983 until 2010 but Labour achieving runner-up in 2015, 2017 and 2019, a feat only previously managed in 1979 and in the 1977 by election.
Bournemouth East has also been a moderately successful seat for UKIP during its heyday with third place and 16.5% in 2015 and a saved deposit also achieved in 2010. The Green Party scored an impressive 7.3% in 2015, the only other occasion on which a smaller party has saved their deposit in this seat, but have seen diminished results in the two subsequent elections.
Until recently, council seats in the constituency have generally also gone Conservative in recent years. The Tories suffered heavy losses in the 2023 elections and now have just three councillors within the Bournemouth East constituency. Rising student numbers in recent years have boosted Labour's vote. Labour now have six councillors within the constituency. Bournemouth East is however a seat where there continues to be significant vote splitting between Labour and the Lib Dems, and whilst the seat may be seen as a possible target, a Labour victory here remains a distant possibility.
