Forest of Dean (UK Parliament constituency) (original) (raw)

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Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997 onwards

Forest of Dean
County constituencyfor the House of Commons
MapInteractive map of boundaries from 1997
Boundary within South West England
County Gloucestershire
Electorate 71,510 (2023)[1]
Major settlements Coleford, Cinderford, Lydney
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of Parliament Matt Bishop (Labour)
Seats One
Created from West Gloucestershire
1885–1950
Seats One
Replaced by West Gloucestershire

Forest of Dean is a constituency[n 1] in Gloucestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 UK General Election by Matt Bishop, a Labour MP. Previously represented from 2005 by Mark Harper, a Conservative who served as Secretary of State for Transport between 2022 and 2024.[n 2]

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Coleford, Lydney, Newent, and Newnham.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Awre, Coleford, Newnham, and Westbury-on-Severn, the Rural Districts of East Dean and United Parishes, Lydney, Newent, and West Dean, and part of the Rural District of Gloucester.

1997–2010: The District of Forest of Dean, and the Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Haw Bridge and Highnam.

2010–present: The District of Forest of Dean, and the Borough of Tewkesbury ward of Highnam with Haw Bridge. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged by the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies also left the boundaries unchanged.[2]

This seat was created for the 1885 general election (replacing the two-seat constituency of West Gloucestershire under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885), was redrawn for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. It was re-created, with different boundaries, for the 1997 general election, and has thus far not undergone any boundary changes.

Constituency profile

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The Forest of Dean constituency covers Gloucestershire west of the river Severn, and lies in the south west of England, near the Welsh border.

The core of the constituency consists of the Royal Forest of Dean itself, which was established by William the Conqueror nearly a thousand years ago and is one of the last surviving Royal Forests in England.[3] The seat has a rich industrial and mining history, evidenced by the market towns of Coleford and Cinderford, and the old port of Lydney from where coal mined in the Forest of Dean Coalfield would start its journey to all parts of the world.[4]

The Wye Valley forms the western border of the Forest and is an area of outstanding natural beauty, whilst the Leadon Valley forms the northern portion of the constituency. The Vale consists of countryside and farmland centred on the Tudor town of Newent, and also produces English wine.

The constituency also includes parishes from Tewkesbury district, including Forthampton, Chaceley Hole, Hasfield, Ashleworth and Highnam.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[5] Party
1885 Thomas Blake
1887 Godfrey Samuelson
1892 Sir Charles Dilke
1911 Sir Henry Webb
1918 James Wignall
1925 A. A. Purcell
1929 David Vaughan
1931 John Worthington
1935 M. Philips Price
1950 constituency abolished
Election Member[5] Party
1997 Diana Organ
2005 Mark Harper
2024 Matt Bishop

Elections in the 2020s

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Elections in the 2010s

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Elections in the 2000s

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Election in the 1990s

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Election in the 1940s

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Elections in the 1930s

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Elections in the 1920s

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Purcell

Tennant

Election results 1885–1918

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Elections in the 1910s

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General Election 1914–15

A general election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been selected to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place;

Webb

Elections in the 1900s

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Elections in the 1890s

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Dilke

Elections in the 1880s

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  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.

  3. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 27 June 2024.

  4. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.

  5. ^ "Forest of Dean". Gloucestershire Live. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.

  6. ^ A Glance Back at Lydney Docks, Neil Parkhouse ISBN 9781903599006

  7. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"

  8. ^ "General election results 2024". BBC News. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.

  9. ^ a b "Forest of Dean parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2018.

  10. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

  11. ^ "Forest of Dean District Council – Page unavailable". www.fdean.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

  12. ^ a b "FOREST OF DEAN 2015". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

  13. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

  14. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

  15. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

  16. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

  17. ^ Percentage change and swing for 1997 is calculated relative to the Rallings and Thrasher 1992 notional constituency result, not actual 1992 result. See C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)

  18. ^ a b c d e f FWS Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

  19. ^ "Forest of Dean Election". North Devon Journal. 16 July 1925. Retrieved 13 October 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.

  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig

  21. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

  22. ^ a b c d e f The Liberal Year Book, 1907

  23. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901

  24. ^ ‘COLCHESTER WEMYSS, Maynard Willoughby’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2015; online edn, Feb 2015 accessed 19 Oct 2017 Archived 21 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine

  25. ^ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 144 (168 in web page), Gloucestershire

  26. ^ "The Contest in Dean Forest". Western Daily Press. 3 July 1886. p. 4. Retrieved 26 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

  27. ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886