Romsey (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°00′14″N 1°29′28″W / 51.004°N 1.491°W

Romsey
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Romsey in Hampshire for the 2005 general election.
Location of Hampshire within England.
County	Hampshire
1983–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Romsey and Southampton North
Created from	Eastleigh, New Forest

Romsey was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The Borough of Test Valley wards of Abbey, Blackwater, Chilworth and Nursling, Cuppernham, Field, North Baddesley, Romsey Extra, and Tadburn, and the District of New Forest wards of Blackfield and Langley, Colbury, Dibden and Hythe North, Dibden Purlieu, Fawley Holbury, Hythe South, Marchwood, Netley Marsh, Totton Central, Totton North, and Totton South.

1997-2010: The Borough of Test Valley wards of Abbey, Blackwater, Chilworth and Nursling, Cuppernham, Dun Valley, Field, Harewood, Kings Somborne and Michelmersh, Nether Wallop and Broughton, North Baddesley, Over Wallop, Romsey Extra, Stockbridge, and Tadburn, the Borough of Eastleigh wards of Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury East, and Hiltingbury West, and the City of Southampton ward of Bassett.

The constituency was located in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, although it covered a smaller area with parts of the Test Valley to the north being part of the North West Hampshire constituency. The main town within the constituency was Romsey.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Eastleigh and New Forest. It was originally named Romsey and Waterside and included areas such as Hythe and Fawley on the west side of Southampton Water. In 1997 it lost the Waterside area and gained the Bassett Ward of the City of Southampton, and new territory in the north of the Test Valley district, and was consequently renamed to just Romsey. The first MP, Michael Colvin, held the constituency from its creation until his death in 2000. This led to a by-election, which was won by Liberal Democrat Sandra Gidley, who held the seat in the two subsequent General Elections.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Hampshire, the Boundary Commission for England created a modified Romsey constituency called Romsey and Southampton North, to reflect the fact that two wards of Southampton form part of the constituency (though one ward had in fact formed part of the constituency since 1997).

Sandra Gidley lost to the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election when she contested the new seat. She was succeeded by Caroline Nokes.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
1983		constituency created as Romsey and Waterside
	1983	Michael Colvin	Conservative
1997		constituency renamed Romsey
	1997	Michael Colvin	Conservative
	2000 by-election	Sandra Gidley	Liberal Democrat
2010		constituency abolished: see Romsey and Southampton North

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Romsey and Waterside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Colvin	30,361	56.6	N/A
	Social Democratic	Alan Thomas Bloss	16,671	31.1	N/A
	Labour	M.W. Knight	6,604	12.3	N/A
Majority			13,690	25.5	N/A
Turnout				75.8	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1987: Romsey and Waterside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Colvin	35,303	56.4	−0.2
	Social Democratic	Alan Thomas Bloss	20,031	32.0	+0.9
	Labour	Stephen John Roberts	7,213	11.5	−0.8
Majority			15,272	24.5
Turnout				79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Romsey and Waterside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Colvin	37,375	54.4	−2.0
	Liberal Democrat	George Dawson	22,071	32.1	+0.1
	Labour	Ms. Angela Mawle	8,688	12.6	+1.1
	Green	John C.T. Spottiswood	577	0.8	N/A
Majority			15,304	22.3
Turnout				83.16
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Colvin	23,834	46.0	−17.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mark G. Cooper	15,249	29.4	+6.3
	Labour	Miss Joanne V. Ford	9,623	18.6	+5.7
	UKIP	Alan Sked	1,824	3.5	N/A
	Referendum	Michael J.L. Wigley	1,291	2.5	N/A
Majority			8,585	16.57
Turnout				76.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

By-election 2000: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Sandra Gidley	19,571	50.6	+21.2
	Conservative	Tim Palmer	16,260	42.0	−4.0
	Labour	Andy Howard	1,451	3.7	−14.9
	UKIP	Garry Rankin-Moore	901	2.3	−1.2
	Legalise Cannabis	Derrick Large	417	1.1	+1.1
	Independent (politician)	Thomas Lamont	109	0.3	+0.3
Majority			3,311	8.6
Turnout				55.4
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 2001: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Sandra Gidley	22,756	47.0	+17.5
	Conservative	Paul John Edward Raynes	20,386	42.1	−3.9
	Labour	Stephen John Roberts	3,986	8.2	−10.3
	UKIP	Anthony Martin McCabe	730	1.5	−2.0
	Legalise Cannabis	Derrick Large	601	1.2	N/A
Majority			2,370	4.9
Turnout			48,459	67.2	-9.2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 2005: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Sandra Gidley	22,465	44.7	−2.3
	Conservative	Caroline Nokes	22,340	44.4	+2.3
	Labour	Matthew Stevens	4,430	8.8	+0.6
	UKIP	Michael Wigley	1,076	2.1	+0.6
Majority			125	0.2
Turnout			50,311	69.7	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−2.3

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)