Post by andrewp on Aug 13, 2023 8:20:28 GMT
Yeovil is the southern most constituency in Somerset. It covers roughly the area within the county boundary south of the A303, the main route from London down to Devon and Cornwall. Aside from Yeovil itself, the other main towns are Chard, Ilminster and Crewkerne., along with some very picturesque Somerset villages.
Yeovil town itself lies right on the Somerset/Dorset border and that border means that its town ‘centre’ is right in one corner of the town. From the main shopping area, it is about a 5 minute walk into open countryside to the South. Yeovil has a population of 45000. Its most prominent traditional industry was glove making, hence ‘the Glovers’ being the nickname of Yeovil Town Football Club. Another more recent industry is helicopter manufacturing. The Westland Helicopter firm is based in Yeovil. In 1986, a proposed sale of Westland to the US Sikorsky group led to a crisis that ended in the resignation of Michael Heseltine as Secretary of State for Defence and Leon Brittain as Secretary of state for Trade and Industry. Augusta Westland are still one of the main employers in Yeovil. Yeovil is also known for one of the most successful non league football league teams- famous for a pitch which had an 8ft side to side slope, on which they beat many league teams over the years. That site was sold to Tesco in 1990 and the club moved to Huish Park on the edge of Town.
The constituency then stretches some 20 miles to the West to Chard and Ilminster, through such Somerset bucolic sounding village names as Haselbury Plucknett and Hinton St George.
Chard has a population of 13000 with a wide sloping high street with a stream running down either side of it. Chard has had some issues in recent years with a relatively large Eastern European population being attracted to work at a food factory and causing some issues. Crewkerne is a picturesque little town with a population of 8000. The smallest of the towns is Ilminster with a population of 6000. Between Chard and Crewkerne lies the country estate and wildlife park of Cricket St Thomas, most famous for being the setting for the 1970s Tv series ‘To the Manor Born’
This constituency was formed in its current form in 1983, when areas to the North were moved into the newly created Somerton and Frome.
Yeovil, like most of the Somerset constituencies, is a little oversized and needed to be reduced in size in the current boundary review. Its geographical location in the corner of the county protects it from more major changes and it merely loses about 6,000 voters to the realigned Glastonbury and Somerton constituency. The perhaps unfortunate thing is that the area lost is immediately to the north of Yeovil town in Ilchester, Yeovilton and the Hamdons. These villages are very close to Yeovil town and are very much more inked to Yeovil than Chard, some 20 miles away, is. They also contain the home of Yeovil’s most famous political son, who on elevation to the Lords, took the title Lord Ashdown of Norton Sub Hamdon.
All of the territory here formed the major part of the South Somerset district, which was continuously Lib Dem controlled from 1987 until its abolition in 2023, usually with big majorities. In the final election to that authority in 2019 they achieved a clean sweep in Yeovil town, and the wards in this constituency elected 33 Lib Dem, 5 Conservative and 2 Independent councillors. In the first election to the new Somerset Unitary authority in 2022 the Lib Dem domination continued although the Conservatives did a little better than 2019 and may have heaved a sigh of relief of a final outcome of 18 Lib Dems elected to 5 Conservatives in this constituency. The Lib Dems lead 45-33 in vote share here. No fewer than 5 of the 11 wards wholly in this constituency, Yeovil South, Chard North, Chard South, Ilminster and Crewkerne all split their representation and elected 1 Liberal Democrat and 1 Conservative. The Lib Dem strength is highest in the working class parts of North and East Yeovil, where they have taken a lot of what would have been the former Labour vote, but they are able to win some very affluent villages too. The constituency is estimated to have voted 60% leave, and will contain more Lib Dem leavers than most journalists in London could ever contemplate.
Yeovil parliamentary constituency was in Conservative hands from 1918-83. The majority over Labour was a wafer thin 174 in 1945 and 2000 in 1966. Its long serving Conservative MP was John Peyton from 1951-83. Paddy Ashdown, a former diplomat and marine was selected by the Liberals in Yeovil in 1976 and in his first contest in 1979 , he moved the Liberals into second place behind Peyton. In 1983, the boundary changes reduced the notional Conservative majority from 11500 to 9000, and with the retirement of Peyton, Ashdown beat new Conservative candidate David Martin ( later MP for Portsmouth South ) by 3400 votes. Ashdown, of course, was leader of the Liberal Democrats within 5 years and was an immensely popular figure in the constituency. He increased his majority at each election, up to 11400 at his final election in 1997. He was then succeeded by David Laws. Laws suffered a drop of Ashdown’s final majority down to 4000 in his first election in 2001, but he too built up his majority to the largest ever Lib Dem majority of 13000 in 2010. In 2015 Laws, following a resignation as a cabinet minister after 17 days following a scandal and a later spell as Cabinet office minister, was swept away on a 16% swing by Conservative local councillor Marcus Fysh. Fysh was one of the ERG spartans during the Brexit process and after beating Laws by 5000 in 2015, has won by 14723 in 2017 and 16181 in 2019. It now looks like a solid Conservative seat, but the Lib Dem’s local government strength is still here.
The boundary changes here do probably not have that much political effect, if anything perhaps the Lib Dems were a little bit stronger in the departing territory than elsewhere. Despite its history and its 32 years of electing Liberal Democrat MPs, this is probably only now the 4th most vulnerable Conservative seat, and Lib Dem target, in Somerset after Taunton & Wellington, Wells & Mendip Hills and Glastonbury & Somerton.
Yeovil town itself lies right on the Somerset/Dorset border and that border means that its town ‘centre’ is right in one corner of the town. From the main shopping area, it is about a 5 minute walk into open countryside to the South. Yeovil has a population of 45000. Its most prominent traditional industry was glove making, hence ‘the Glovers’ being the nickname of Yeovil Town Football Club. Another more recent industry is helicopter manufacturing. The Westland Helicopter firm is based in Yeovil. In 1986, a proposed sale of Westland to the US Sikorsky group led to a crisis that ended in the resignation of Michael Heseltine as Secretary of State for Defence and Leon Brittain as Secretary of state for Trade and Industry. Augusta Westland are still one of the main employers in Yeovil. Yeovil is also known for one of the most successful non league football league teams- famous for a pitch which had an 8ft side to side slope, on which they beat many league teams over the years. That site was sold to Tesco in 1990 and the club moved to Huish Park on the edge of Town.
The constituency then stretches some 20 miles to the West to Chard and Ilminster, through such Somerset bucolic sounding village names as Haselbury Plucknett and Hinton St George.
Chard has a population of 13000 with a wide sloping high street with a stream running down either side of it. Chard has had some issues in recent years with a relatively large Eastern European population being attracted to work at a food factory and causing some issues. Crewkerne is a picturesque little town with a population of 8000. The smallest of the towns is Ilminster with a population of 6000. Between Chard and Crewkerne lies the country estate and wildlife park of Cricket St Thomas, most famous for being the setting for the 1970s Tv series ‘To the Manor Born’
This constituency was formed in its current form in 1983, when areas to the North were moved into the newly created Somerton and Frome.
Yeovil, like most of the Somerset constituencies, is a little oversized and needed to be reduced in size in the current boundary review. Its geographical location in the corner of the county protects it from more major changes and it merely loses about 6,000 voters to the realigned Glastonbury and Somerton constituency. The perhaps unfortunate thing is that the area lost is immediately to the north of Yeovil town in Ilchester, Yeovilton and the Hamdons. These villages are very close to Yeovil town and are very much more inked to Yeovil than Chard, some 20 miles away, is. They also contain the home of Yeovil’s most famous political son, who on elevation to the Lords, took the title Lord Ashdown of Norton Sub Hamdon.
All of the territory here formed the major part of the South Somerset district, which was continuously Lib Dem controlled from 1987 until its abolition in 2023, usually with big majorities. In the final election to that authority in 2019 they achieved a clean sweep in Yeovil town, and the wards in this constituency elected 33 Lib Dem, 5 Conservative and 2 Independent councillors. In the first election to the new Somerset Unitary authority in 2022 the Lib Dem domination continued although the Conservatives did a little better than 2019 and may have heaved a sigh of relief of a final outcome of 18 Lib Dems elected to 5 Conservatives in this constituency. The Lib Dems lead 45-33 in vote share here. No fewer than 5 of the 11 wards wholly in this constituency, Yeovil South, Chard North, Chard South, Ilminster and Crewkerne all split their representation and elected 1 Liberal Democrat and 1 Conservative. The Lib Dem strength is highest in the working class parts of North and East Yeovil, where they have taken a lot of what would have been the former Labour vote, but they are able to win some very affluent villages too. The constituency is estimated to have voted 60% leave, and will contain more Lib Dem leavers than most journalists in London could ever contemplate.
Yeovil parliamentary constituency was in Conservative hands from 1918-83. The majority over Labour was a wafer thin 174 in 1945 and 2000 in 1966. Its long serving Conservative MP was John Peyton from 1951-83. Paddy Ashdown, a former diplomat and marine was selected by the Liberals in Yeovil in 1976 and in his first contest in 1979 , he moved the Liberals into second place behind Peyton. In 1983, the boundary changes reduced the notional Conservative majority from 11500 to 9000, and with the retirement of Peyton, Ashdown beat new Conservative candidate David Martin ( later MP for Portsmouth South ) by 3400 votes. Ashdown, of course, was leader of the Liberal Democrats within 5 years and was an immensely popular figure in the constituency. He increased his majority at each election, up to 11400 at his final election in 1997. He was then succeeded by David Laws. Laws suffered a drop of Ashdown’s final majority down to 4000 in his first election in 2001, but he too built up his majority to the largest ever Lib Dem majority of 13000 in 2010. In 2015 Laws, following a resignation as a cabinet minister after 17 days following a scandal and a later spell as Cabinet office minister, was swept away on a 16% swing by Conservative local councillor Marcus Fysh. Fysh was one of the ERG spartans during the Brexit process and after beating Laws by 5000 in 2015, has won by 14723 in 2017 and 16181 in 2019. It now looks like a solid Conservative seat, but the Lib Dem’s local government strength is still here.
The boundary changes here do probably not have that much political effect, if anything perhaps the Lib Dems were a little bit stronger in the departing territory than elsewhere. Despite its history and its 32 years of electing Liberal Democrat MPs, this is probably only now the 4th most vulnerable Conservative seat, and Lib Dem target, in Somerset after Taunton & Wellington, Wells & Mendip Hills and Glastonbury & Somerton.
