Gosport (UK Parliament constituency)

Gosport (/ˈɡɒspɔːrt/ GOS-port) is a parliamentary constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Caroline Dinenage of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]} The constituency is anchored by the town and borough of Gosport.

Gosport
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 1983
Boundary of Gosport in South East England
County	Hampshire
Electorate	73,763 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Gosport Stubbington
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Caroline Dinenage (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Gosport & Fareham

Boundaries

1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Gosport.

1983–present: The Borough of Gosport, and the Borough of Fareham wards of Hill Head and Stubbington.

The constituency centres on Peel Common, Chalk Common and the River Alver that run north–south — its largest settlement is arguably the eastern town of Gosport. Gosport post town comprises several distinct villages and neighbourhoods on the south coast of England in Hampshire whereas the constituency comprises the whole of Gosport Borough (including Lee-on-the-Solent and Alverstoke) and includes Stubbington and Hill Head from the neighbouring Fareham Borough.

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election remained unchanged.^[2]

Constituency profile

Gosport has, to date, been a Conservative safe seat, as an area with a majority of privately owned properties that has a minority of poor residents. It has two large housing estates in the south and east of Rowner, for example: according to the 2001 census, these are predominantly social housing, and contain two of the most deprived output areas in terms of income and unemployment in the United Kingdom. However, the area is not of uniform characterisation.^[3][4] Rowner has a central conservation area of expensive housing, and touches, immediately to the west, the Lee on Solent Golf Club, Grange Farm Museum, the West of the Alder Nature Reserve and the Wild Grounds Nature reserve. Beside its bowling green, allotments and recreation ground lies the Grade I-architecture of St Mary's Church.^[5] Unlike the generally expensive west of the borough,^[4] Rowner resembles central Gosport and Bridgemary in presenting a diverse picture, retaining scenic and generally more rural surroundings than the City of Portsmouth, with some areas of deprivation.^[6]

History

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election. The area had previously been part of the constituency of Gosport and Fareham.

In December 2009, Gosport became the second constituency to vote in an open primary to select the Conservative PPC. All residents of the area were asked to take part via a postal vote. The result of the Gosport primary saw Caroline Dinenage publicly selected. At the general election on 6 May 2010, Caroline Dinenage was elected with 24,300 votes, a majority of 14,413 over her nearest opponent. Since the turn of the century, Labour, UKIP and the Liberal Democrats have all finished in second place.

Peter Viggers (later knighted) had represented the constituency from 1974 to 2010. David Cameron instructed Sir Peter not to stand for re-election after his nationally infamous attempt to claim for a duck house during the MPs' expenses scandal.

Members of Parliament

Gosport & Fareham prior to 1974

Election		Member [7]	Party
	Feb 1974	Sir Peter Viggers	Conservative
	2010	Caroline Dinenage	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Gosport ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	17,776	40.3	–26.2
	Labour	Edward Batterbury	11,776	26.6	+8.1
	Reform UK	Matt Mulliss	7,983	18.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Bearder	4,039	9.1	–2.2
	Green	Tony Sudworth	1,948	4.4	+0.7
	Independent	Jeff Roberts	334	0.8	N/A
	Heritage	Lisa Englefield	319	0.7	N/A
	Hampshire Ind.	Dave Watson	48	0.1	N/A
Majority			6,066	13.7	–34.3
Turnout			44,277	60.4	–5.3
Registered electors			73,261
	Conservative hold		Swing	–17.2

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Gosport^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	32,226	66.5	+4.6
	Labour	Tom Chatwin	8,948	18.5	−8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Pepper	5,473	11.3	+6.6
	Green	Zoe Aspinall	1,806	3.7	+1.6
Majority			23,278	48.0	+13.3
Turnout			48,453	65.9	−0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.6

General election 2017: Gosport^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	30,647	61.9	+6.6
	Labour	Alan Durrant	13,436	27.2	+12.7
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Tennent	2,328	4.7	−2.2
	UKIP	Chloe Palmer	1,790	3.6	−15.8
	Green	Monica Cassidy	1,024	2.1	−1.5
	Independent	Jeffrey Roberts	256	0.5	+0.3
Majority			17,211	34.7	−1.2
Turnout			49,481	66.7	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

General election 2015: Gosport^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	26,364	55.3	+3.5
	UKIP	Christopher Wood	9,266	19.4	+16.2
	Labour	Alan Durrant	6,926	14.5	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Hylands[13]	3,298	6.9	−14.2
	Green	Monica Cassidy	1,707	3.6	+2.4
	Independent	Jeffrey Roberts	104	0.2	New
Majority			17,098	35.9	+5.2
Turnout			47,662	65.1	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.4

General election 2010: Gosport^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	24,300	51.8	+7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Hylands	9,887	21.1	+4.5
	Labour	Graham Giles	7,944	16.9	−14.6
	UKIP	Andrew Rice	1,496	3.2	−1.0
	BNP	Barry Bennett	1,004	2.1	New
	English Democrat	Bob Shaw	622	1.3	New
	Green	Claire Smith	573	1.2	−1.7
	Independent	Dave Smith	493	1.1	New
	Independent	Charlie Read	331	0.7	New
	Independent	Brian Hart	289	0.6	New
Majority			14,413	30.7	+17.4
Turnout			46,939	64.6	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Gosport^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	19,268	44.8	+1.2
	Labour	Richard Williams	13,538	31.5	−5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Roberts	7,145	16.6	+1.5
	UKIP	John Bowles	1,825	4.2	+1.3
	Green	Claire Smith	1,258	2.9	New
Majority			5,730	13.3	+6.8
Turnout			43,034	60.5	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.4

General election 2001: Gosport^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	17,364	43.6	±0.0
	Labour	Richard Williams	14,743	37.1	+6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Roberts	6,011	15.1	−4.5
	UKIP	John Bowles	1,162	2.9	New
	Socialist Labour	Kevin Chetwynd	509	1.3	New
Majority			2,621	6.5	−6.4
Turnout			39,789	57.1	−13.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Gosport^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	21,085	43.6	−14.5
	Labour	Ivan Gray	14,827	30.7	+17.1
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Hogg	9,479	19.6	−8.0
	Referendum	Andrew Blowers	2,538	5.3	New
	Independent	Patrick Ettie	426	0.9	New
Majority			6,258	12.9	−17.6
Turnout			48,355	70.3	−6.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1992: Gosport^[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	31,094	58.1	−0.4
	Liberal Democrats	MG Russell	14,776	27.6	−4.0
	Labour	Mrs MF Angus	7,275	13.6	+3.7
	Independent	PFF Ettie	332	0.6	New
Majority			16,318	30.5	+3.6
Turnout			53,477	76.6	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Gosport^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	29,804	58.5	−2.1
	Liberal	Peter John Chegwyn	16,081	31.6	+2.1
	Labour	Alan Lloyd	5,053	9.9	+0.6
Majority			13,723	26.9	−4.2
Turnout			50,938	74.8	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.1

General election 1983: Gosport^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	28,179	60.6
	Liberal	Peter John Chegwyn	13,728	29.5
	Labour	Bernard Bond	4,319	9.3
	Independent	R.A. MacMillan	241	0.5	New
Majority			14,451	31.1	−4.4
Turnout			46,467	71.6	−5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Gosport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	24,553	61.8	+14.3
	Labour	John Slater	10,460	26.3	−2.6
	Liberal	N.C. Lewis	4,741	11.9	−11.7
Majority			14,093	35.5	+16.9
Turnout			39,754	77.5	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.9

General election October 1974: Gosport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	17,487	47.5	−2.2
	Labour	Peter Marsh Tebbutt	10,621	28.9	−2.4
	Liberal	Peter Dane Clark	8,701	23.6	+4.6
Majority			6,866	18.6	+0.2
Turnout			36,809	75.3	−6.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1

General election February 1974: Gosport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Viggers	19,563	49.7
	Labour	Graham John Hewitt	12,335	31.3
	Liberal	John George Rodway Rix	7,485	19.0
Majority			7,228	18.4
Turnout			39,383	81.4
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• Fareham
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

1. A borough 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. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
3. "2001 census statistics". Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
4. Local House Price Map - Mouseprice.com
5. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1276419)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
6. Ordnance survey website
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
8. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL & SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS" (PDF). Gosport Council. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
9. "Gosport Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
10. "Gosport parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "County councillor stands against Tory MP". Portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
13. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South East
14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Gosport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Gosport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Gosport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

50.80°N 1.17°W / 50.80; -1.17