Post by John Chanin on Oct 5, 2023 7:07:19 GMT
A new name but not a new seat. This constituency was created under the name of Mid Worcestershire in 1997 as an additional seat for Worcestershire, which made the Boundary Commission’s job easier. Each of Worcestershire’s Districts now have a seat based on them, and in this case it is Wychavon. Curiously this is actually the largest of the district councils, despite not previously having a seat to itself, and as a result rural wards have to be carved off to make up the numbers for Redditch and Malvern Hills (West Worcestershire). In the latest boundary review two more rural wards have been removed to bring Redditch up to size, which makes the seat even less satisfactory. It consists of two medium sized towns, both with a population of around 25,000, and their surrounding hinterland, connected by a narrow rural neck between Worcester and Redditch, made even narrower by the placing of Pershore in West Worcestershire. In the north is Droitwich, and in the south Evesham, and the two urban areas make up almost exactly half of the voters.
Droitwich is an old town with a fading reputation as a spa, based on the Permo-Triassic salt deposits underlying the area. It has a quaint old centre but the town has expanded greatly over the last 50 years, with private estates of ever newer vintage the further you go from the centre. The council housing is mostly tucked away on the far side of the river Salwarpe in Droitwich West ward, and this is the only ward that Labour has occasionally won. The rest of the town is solidly Conservative although not with particularly high managerial occupations, or educational qualifications, except for the endless new estates to the south-east where over 85% of households are owner-occupied. The other thing the town is famous for is the long-wave radio transmitter, just to the north, which serves the whole of England, although this is now outside the constituency as Redditch has been expanded right to the border of the town. Evesham is quite a working class town, with more routine than managerial workers in all five of its wards, and lower educational qualifications than Droitwich. The centre is classic market town, with its wide main street and market place, tucked inside a bend of the river Avon. The bulk of the town sits across the Avon to the south-east. Across the river to the west is the slightly detached area of Great Hampton. The Avon is wide here and subject to flooding, and there are only two river crossings. It is however nearly as Conservative, although the Greens now have a foothold in the town at local level. Labour did not even stand candidates for many years prior to 2019, but did win one seat in the town centre in 2023.
The extensive rural areas provide the other half of the electorate, although there are no settlements of any size. The south is flat land in the Vale of Evesham - very agricultural with lots of small villages. There is some rural council housing here, and a significant proportion of unqualified routine workers, typical of such areas. At the far south of the seat the land rises up into the Cotswolds at the village of Broadway, with its tower on top of the hill visible for miles. Between Worcester and Droitwich the land is more rolling, less agricultural, with more managerial workers and commuters, mostly to Worcester. The river Severn forms the western boundary of the seat here. South of Worcester is a flatter but demographically similar area, with managerial workers exceeding 50% in places. Owner-occupation is nearly 80% throughout. As usual the villages are generally monolithically Conservative, sometimes returning councillors unopposed. Where there is opposition it comes from the Liberal Democrats who hold the four wards in the central section including the best educated and highest status Bowbrook ward to the north-east of Worcester.
This all adds up to a very safe Conservative seat, which has been becoming safer. In 2019, as Mid Worcestershire, the name characterizing its status as left over bits, it was the 15th safest Conservative seat in the country. The loss of two rural wards with their 4000 voters will reduce the majority a little, but not enough to be significant. Its first MP, moving from now marginal Worcester, which had included the rural centre of the new seat, was Peter Luff, who gained selection in preference to the sitting MP for Redditch & Droitwich (which had previously carried the name of Mid Worcestershire). Constituency nomenclature here has been confusing, and the new name is welcome. The Evesham area had been in the South Worcestershire seat prior to 1997. Current MP is management consultant Nigel Huddleston, first elected in 2015.
Census data: Owner-occupied 70% (172/575 in England & Wales), private rented 14% (503rd), social rented 16% (244th).
: White 97%(98th), Black 0%(485th), South Asian 1%(450th), Mixed 1%(479th), Other 1%(472nd)
: Managerial & professional 39% (257th), Routine & Semi-routine 27% (321st)
: Degree level 32%(292nd), Minimal qualifications 29%(250th)
: Students 4% (520th), Over 65: 24% (116th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 100% from Mid Worcestershire
94% of the old seat is in the new one, with 6% going to Redditch
Droitwich is an old town with a fading reputation as a spa, based on the Permo-Triassic salt deposits underlying the area. It has a quaint old centre but the town has expanded greatly over the last 50 years, with private estates of ever newer vintage the further you go from the centre. The council housing is mostly tucked away on the far side of the river Salwarpe in Droitwich West ward, and this is the only ward that Labour has occasionally won. The rest of the town is solidly Conservative although not with particularly high managerial occupations, or educational qualifications, except for the endless new estates to the south-east where over 85% of households are owner-occupied. The other thing the town is famous for is the long-wave radio transmitter, just to the north, which serves the whole of England, although this is now outside the constituency as Redditch has been expanded right to the border of the town. Evesham is quite a working class town, with more routine than managerial workers in all five of its wards, and lower educational qualifications than Droitwich. The centre is classic market town, with its wide main street and market place, tucked inside a bend of the river Avon. The bulk of the town sits across the Avon to the south-east. Across the river to the west is the slightly detached area of Great Hampton. The Avon is wide here and subject to flooding, and there are only two river crossings. It is however nearly as Conservative, although the Greens now have a foothold in the town at local level. Labour did not even stand candidates for many years prior to 2019, but did win one seat in the town centre in 2023.
The extensive rural areas provide the other half of the electorate, although there are no settlements of any size. The south is flat land in the Vale of Evesham - very agricultural with lots of small villages. There is some rural council housing here, and a significant proportion of unqualified routine workers, typical of such areas. At the far south of the seat the land rises up into the Cotswolds at the village of Broadway, with its tower on top of the hill visible for miles. Between Worcester and Droitwich the land is more rolling, less agricultural, with more managerial workers and commuters, mostly to Worcester. The river Severn forms the western boundary of the seat here. South of Worcester is a flatter but demographically similar area, with managerial workers exceeding 50% in places. Owner-occupation is nearly 80% throughout. As usual the villages are generally monolithically Conservative, sometimes returning councillors unopposed. Where there is opposition it comes from the Liberal Democrats who hold the four wards in the central section including the best educated and highest status Bowbrook ward to the north-east of Worcester.
This all adds up to a very safe Conservative seat, which has been becoming safer. In 2019, as Mid Worcestershire, the name characterizing its status as left over bits, it was the 15th safest Conservative seat in the country. The loss of two rural wards with their 4000 voters will reduce the majority a little, but not enough to be significant. Its first MP, moving from now marginal Worcester, which had included the rural centre of the new seat, was Peter Luff, who gained selection in preference to the sitting MP for Redditch & Droitwich (which had previously carried the name of Mid Worcestershire). Constituency nomenclature here has been confusing, and the new name is welcome. The Evesham area had been in the South Worcestershire seat prior to 1997. Current MP is management consultant Nigel Huddleston, first elected in 2015.
Census data: Owner-occupied 70% (172/575 in England & Wales), private rented 14% (503rd), social rented 16% (244th).
: White 97%(98th), Black 0%(485th), South Asian 1%(450th), Mixed 1%(479th), Other 1%(472nd)
: Managerial & professional 39% (257th), Routine & Semi-routine 27% (321st)
: Degree level 32%(292nd), Minimal qualifications 29%(250th)
: Students 4% (520th), Over 65: 24% (116th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 100% from Mid Worcestershire
94% of the old seat is in the new one, with 6% going to Redditch
2017 | % | 2019 | % | Notional | % | |
Conservative | 35,967 | 65.3 | 37,426 | 66.7 | 34,614 | 65.7 |
Labour | 12,641 | 22.9 | 9,408 | 16.8 | 8,983 | 17.1 |
Liberal Democrat | 3,450 | 6.3 | 6,474 | 11.5 | 6,340 | 12.0 |
UKIP | 1,660 | 3.0 | ||||
Green | 1,371 | 2.5 | 2,177 | 3.9 | 2,114 | 4.0 |
Other | 638 | 1.1 | 638 | 1.2 | ||
| Majority | 23,326 | 42.3 | 28,018 | 49.9 | 25,631 | 48.7 |
