South Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Cambridgeshire is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Anthony Browne, a Conservative.[n 2]

South Cambridgeshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire
Location of Cambridgeshire within England
CountyCambridgeshire
Electorate83,790 (2018)[1]
Major settlementsCambourne
Cottenham
Sawston
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentAnthony Browne (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSouth West Cambridgeshire (most) South East Cambridgeshire (part)

Constituency profile

The constituency includes some outskirts of Cambridge such as Girton and its eponymous Cambridge College, and a large spread of rural land to the west of the city, which is generally affluent. The population live in villages, most of which are compact - the most densely populated are in the south where the M11 motorway cuts deep into the seat providing rapid access to London. The seat's only ward (Queen Edith's) that lies within the City of Cambridge has a strong Liberal Democrat vote. This ward also contains the Cambridge College Homerton and Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Registered jobseekers totalled 1.4% of the population, much lower than the regional average of 3.1% and the national average of 3.8% of the population in a statistical compilation by The Guardian in November 2012.[2] In 2017 South Cambridgeshire was identified as the constituency with the lowest proportion of claimants of unemployment benefits in the whole of the country, with only 0.6% of the economically active population claiming either Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit.[3]

Boundaries and boundary changes

The old boundaries of South Cambridgeshire as used at the 1997, 2001 and 2005 general elections.

1997–2010: The District of South Cambridgeshire wards of Arrington, Bar Hill, Barrington and Shepreth, Barton, Bassingbourn, Bourn, Comberton, Coton, Duxford, Elsworth, Foxton, Gamlingay, Girton, Great Shelford, Hardwick, Harston, Haslingfield, Ickleton, Little Shelford, Longstanton, Melbourn, Meldreth, Orwell, Papworth, Sawston, Stapleford, Swavesey, The Mordens, and Whittlesford; and the City of Cambridge wards of Queen Edith's and Trumpington.[4]

2010–present: The District of South Cambridgeshire wards of Bar Hill, Barton, Bassingbourn, Bourn, Caldecote, Comberton, Cottenham, Duxford, Fowlmere and Foxton, Gamlingay, Girton, Grantchester, Hardwick, Harston and Hauxton, Haslingfield and The Eversdens, Longstanton, Melbourn, Meldreth, Orwell and Barrington, Papworth and Elsworth, Sawston, Swavesey, The Abingtons, The Mordens, The Shelfords and Stapleford, and Whittlesford; and the City of Cambridge ward of Queen Edith's.[5]

The constituency was created following the boundary review of 1995, and was first contested at the 1997 general election. Before this, much of the region had been part of the South West Cambridgeshire constituency represented by Sir Anthony Grant from 1983 to 1997,[6] while the wards of Bar Hill, Coton, Elsworth, Girton, Longstanton and Swavesey had been part of South East Cambridgeshire.

Following the 2007 review of parliamentary representation in Cambridgeshire, the Boundary Commission made minor alterations to the existing constituencies to deal with population changes.

Trumpington ward and parts of Coleridge and Cherry Hinton wards in the City of Cambridge were transferred to Cambridge, having previously been part of South Cambridgeshire.[7]

Additionally, parts of Cottenham ward (specifically the civil parishes of Cottenham and Rampton) and the Abingtons (Babraham, Great Abington, Little Abington and Pampisford) have been added to South Cambridgeshire, having previously voted in the South East Cambridgeshire constituency.[8]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[9] Party
1997 Andrew Lansley Conservative
2015 Heidi Allen Conservative
2017 Change UK
Independent
The Independents
Liberal Democrats
2019 Anthony Browne Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Cambridgeshire[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Browne 31,015 46.3 −5.5
Liberal Democrats Ian Sollom 28,111 42.0 +23.4
Labour Dan Greef 7,803 11.7 −15.5
Majority 2,904 4.3 −20.3
Turnout 66,929 76.7 +0.5
Conservative hold Swing −14.4
General election 2017: South Cambridgeshire[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Heidi Allen 33,631 51.8 +0.7
Labour Dan Greef 17,679 27.2 +9.6
Liberal Democrats Susan van de Ven 12,102 18.6 +3.4
Green Simon Saggers 1,512 2.3 −4.0
Majority 15,952 24.6 −8.9
Turnout 64,924 76.2 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing −4.5
General election 2015: South Cambridgeshire[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Heidi Allen 31,454 51.1 +3.7
Labour Dan Greef 10,860 17.6 +7.4
Liberal Democrats Sebastian Kindersley 9,368 15.2 −18.9
UKIP Marion Mason 6,010 9.8 +6.6
Green Simon Saggers 3,848 6.3 +4.5
Majority 20,594 33.5 +20.2
Turnout 61,540 73.1 −1.7
Conservative hold Swing −1.9
General election 2010: South Cambridgeshire[14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Lansley 27,995 47.4 +0.9[17]
Liberal Democrats Sebastian Kindersley 20,157 34.1 +5.8
Labour Tariq Sadiq 6,024 10.2 −9.5
Independent Robin Page 1,968 3.3 New
UKIP Helene Davies-Green 1,873 3.2 +0.4
Green Simon Saggers 1,039 1.8 −1.0
Majority 7,838 13.3 +4.9
Turnout 59,056 74.8 +6.6
Conservative hold Swing −2.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Cambridgeshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Lansley 23,676 45.0 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Andrew Dickson 15,675 29.8 +2.9
Labour Sandra Wilson 10,189 19.4 −4.9
UKIP Robin Page 1,556 3.0 +1.2
Green Simon Saggers 1,552 2.9 +0.5
Majority 8,001 15.2 -2.1
Turnout 52,648 68.4 +1.3
Conservative hold Swing −1.1
General election 2001: South Cambridgeshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Lansley 21,387 44.2 +2.2
Liberal Democrats Amanda Taylor 12,984 26.9 +1.1
Labour Joan Herbert 11,737 24.3 −0.8
Green Simon Saggers 1,182 2.4 New
UKIP Helene Davies 875 1.8 +1.3
ProLife Alliance Beata Klepacka 176 0.4 New
Majority 8,403 17.3 +1.1
Turnout 48,341 67.1 −9.8
Conservative hold Swing +0.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Cambridgeshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Lansley 22,572 42.0
Liberal Democrats James A. Quinlan 13,860 25.8
Labour Tony Gray 13,485 25.1
Referendum Robin Page 3,300 6.1
UKIP Derek A. Norman 298 0.6
Natural Law Francis C. Chalmers 168 0.3
Majority 8,712 16.2
Turnout 53,683 76.9
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
  1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  3. McGuinness, Feargal; Brown, Jennifer; Powell, Andy. "People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency, March 2017". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  6. South Cambridgeshire, BBC News
  7. 2010 elections Archived 2010-04-12 at the Wayback Machine, Cambridge City Council
  8. Elections 2010 Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, South Cambridgeshire District Council
  9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)
  10. "Cambridgeshire South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  11. http://www.libdems.org.uk/susan_van_de_ven
  12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Cambridgeshire South parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. Notice of Poll and Statement of Persons Nominated - South Cambridgeshire Constituency Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, South Cambridgeshire District Council
  15. South Cambridgeshire, UKPollingReport
  16. Commons goal for newest hopefuls, CambridgeNews Online
  17. Percentage changes based on notional results due to boundary changes