Bassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency)

Bassetlaw is a parliamentary constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The Bassetlaw constituency covers the north of Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, including the towns of Worksop

Worksop

Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...

and Retford

Retford

Retford is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England, located 31 miles from the city of Nottingham, and 23 miles west of Lincoln, in the district of Bassetlaw. The town is situated in a valley with the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal running through the centre of the...

. It shares the name of the Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw is the northernmost district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population according to the 2001 UK census of 107,713. The borough is predominantly rural, with two towns: Worksop, site of the borough offices, and Retford...

district.

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the constituency for the 2010 general election to allow for population changes.

The constituency includes these 22 electoral wards of Bassetlaw District Council:

Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, East Retford East, East Retford North, East Retford South, East Retford West, Everton, Harworth, Langold, Misterton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South, Worksop South East.

History

The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

Boundaries' history

The Bassetlaw Division (named after one of the ancient Wapentakes of the county) as originally constituted included the borough of East Retford, the petty sessional division

Petty sessional division

A petty sessional division was, in England and Wales, the area that a Magistrates' Court had jusridiction over. Petty sessional divisions were gradually consolidated in the 20th century , and were replaced by local justice areas in 2005.Petty sessional divisions were established under an Act of...

s of Retford

Retford

and Worksop

Worksop

and part of Mansfield

Mansfield

Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....

petty sessional division.

In 1918, the number of parliamentary divisions in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

was increased from four to five, with resulting changes in boundaries. Bassetlaw Division was now defined as containing the Borough of East Retford, the Urban District

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

s of Warsop and Worksop and the Rural District

Rural district

Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...

s of Blyth & Cuckney, Misterton

Misterton, Nottinghamshire

Misterton is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England.-Geography:Misterton is located in the far north-east of both Bassetlaw and Nottinghamshire between Walkeringham to the South and Haxey to the North. The East of the village is bordered by the River...

and East Retford, with the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

of Sookholme from the Skegby

Skegby

Skegby is a small village in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, located two miles west of Mansfield and one mile north of Sutton-in-Ashfield, close to Stanton Hill lying on the B6014 road. Skegby sits on both sides of a deep valley near the source of the River Meden...

Rural District.

In 1948, the five Parliamentary Divisions of Nottinghamshire were reorganised as six County Constituencies. The boundaries of Bassetlaw County Constituency were virtually unchanged, though local government changes in the 1930s now meant that it was defined as comprising the Boroughs of East Retford and Worksop, the Urban District of Warsop

Warsop

Warsop is a civil parish in the District of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, England, located on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 12,365....

and the Rural Districts of East Retford and Worksop.

The constituency's boundaries then remained unchanged until 1983. In that year, the town of East Retford and the neighbouring areas were transferred to the Newark

Newark (UK Parliament constituency)

Newark is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885, it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

constituency. Bassetlaw constituency then comprised Worksop and surrounding areas in the Bassetlaw district as well as the town of Warsop in the Mansfield

Mansfield (district)

Mansfield is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 UK census, its population was 98,181.Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly elected mayor, currently Tony Egginton, an independent...

district. There were only minor boundary changes in 1997.

From the 1997 General Election to the 2010 General Election, the constituency included the following wards of the Bassetlaw district:

Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, Everton, Harworth East, Harworth West, Hodsock, Misterton, Rampton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South, Worksop South East.

Electoral history

Bassetlaw is a safe seat

Safe seat

A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

for the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, with them having held it since 1935. In fact, Labour first won the seat in the 1929 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1929

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

. However its Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Malcolm MacDonald

Malcolm John MacDonald OM, PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Background:MacDonald was the son of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret MacDonald. Like his father he was born in Lossiemouth, Moray...

was one of the few Labour MPs to join his father Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

's National Government

UK National Government

In the United Kingdom the term National Government is an abstract concept referring to a coalition of some or all major political parties. In a historical sense it usually refers primarily to the governments of Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain which held office from 1931...

. MacDonald held the seat as a National Labour candidate in the 1931 election

United Kingdom general election, 1931

The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...

, but was defeated at the next election in 1935 by Labour's Frederick Bellenger

Frederick Bellenger

Captain Frederick John Bellenger was a British surveyor, journalist, soldier and Labour Party politician.-Soldier:...

.

Bellenger held his seat until his death in 1968. The subsequent by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

was won by Joe Ashton, who served as MP until his retirement at the 2001 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

. The current MP, since 2001, is John Mann

John Mann (politician)

John Mann is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw since 2001, after the retirement of previous MP Joe Ashton.John Mann serves on the Treasury Select Committee...

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918Representation of the People Act 1884Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	William Beckett-Denison William Beckett-Denison William Beckett-Denison was an English banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1876 and 1890. He died when he fell under a train....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1890 by-election Bassetlaw by-election, 1890 The Bassetlaw by-election, 1890 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire on 15 December October 1890.-Vacancy:...	Frederick Milner Sir Frederick Milner, 7th Baronet Sir Frederick George Milner, 7th Baronet was born in November 1849 and educated at Eton and Oxford University.He became the MP for York from 1883 until losing at the 1885 General Election , and then the MP for Bassetlaw from 1890 to 1906...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1906 United Kingdom general election, 1906 -Seats summary:-See also:MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:**-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	Frank Newnes Sir Frank Newnes, 2nd Baronet Sir Frank Hillyard Newnes was a British publisher, businessman and Liberal politician.-Family and education:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1910	William Ellis Hume-Williams	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 -Seats summary:-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987-External links:***...	Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm John MacDonald OM, PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Background:MacDonald was the son of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret MacDonald. Like his father he was born in Lossiemouth, Moray...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...		National Labour
1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...	Frederick Bellenger Frederick Bellenger Captain Frederick John Bellenger was a British surveyor, journalist, soldier and Labour Party politician.-Soldier:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1968 by-election Bassetlaw by-election, 1968 The Bassetlaw by-election, 1968 was a parliamentary by-election for the constituency of Bassetlaw held on 31 October 1968. It was caused by the death of the former Labour Member of Parliament, Fred Bellenger....	Joe Ashton	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...	John Mann John Mann (politician) John Mann is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw since 2001, after the retirement of previous MP Joe Ashton.John Mann serves on the Treasury Select Committee...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.