North Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

North Somerset is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sadik Al-Hassan of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

North Somerset
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Somerset in South West England
County	Somerset
Electorate	73,963 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Sadik Al-Hassan (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Woodspring
1950–1983
Created from	Frome and Weston-super-Mare
Replaced by	Woodspring, Wansdyke and Wells[2]
1885–1918
Created from	East Somerset
Replaced by	Frome and Weston-super-Mare

History

Earlier versions of the seat existed in 1885–1918 and 1950–1983.

First creation

Parliament passed the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 creating the larger constituency of North Somerset from the 1885 general election, which was later abolished for the 1918 general election.

Second creation

North Somerset was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election.

Third creation

Following the review of parliamentary representation in the North Somerset district by the Boundary Commission for England, the former Woodspring constituency was renamed as North Somerset without substantial boundary changes.^[3]

The Woodspring seat returned Conservative MPs, and had been held by Liam Fox from 1992 until its abolition. Fox won the new constituency by nearly 14 percentage points over the Liberal Democrats in 2010, while Labour took second place in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2024, with the Conservatives doing poorly around Bristol and surrounding constituencies in losing all their seats, Sadik Al-Hassan was elected as MP - the first to have been returned to Parliament for the Labour Party.

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Keynsham, Long Ashton, and Temple Cloud, and the civil parishes of Binegar, Chilcompton, and Midsomer Norton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Keynsham, Norton Radstock, and Portishead, the Rural Districts of Bathavon and Clutton, and part of the Rural District of Long Ashton.

2010–2024: The District of North Somerset wards of Backwell, Clevedon Central, Clevedon East, Clevedon North, Clevedon South, Clevedon Walton, Clevedon West, Clevedon Yeo, Easton-in-Gordano, Gordano, Nailsea East, Nailsea North and West, Pill, Portishead Central, Portishead Coast, Portishead East, Portishead Redcliffe Bay, Portishead South and North Weston, Portishead West, Winford, Wraxall and Long Ashton, Wrington, and Yatton.

2024–present: The District of North Somerset wards of: Backwell; Clevedon East; Clevedon South; Clevedon Walton; Clevedon West; Clevedon Yeo; Gordano Valley; Long Ashton; Nailsea Golden Valley; Nailsea West End; Nailsea Yeo; Nailsea Youngwood; Pill; Portishead East; Portishead North; Portishead South; Portishead West; Winford; Wrington.^[4]

Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to moderate boundary changes involving the loss of the Yatton area which was transferred to the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills, first contested at the 2024 general election.^[5]

Constituency profile

This is essentially the former Woodspring seat with a new name. A coastal strip between the Severn Estuary and the M5 motorway includes the towns of Clevedon and Portishead, while inland from the motorway is the town of Nailsea and a predominantly rural area dotted with villages. This is a fairly affluent constituency with average incomes and low proportion of unemployment claimants^[6] – about a third of the population commute to work, mostly in Bristol and Bath.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Year	Member	Party
1885	Evan Henry Llewellyn		Conservative
1892	Courtenay Warner		Liberal
1895	Evan Henry Llewellyn		Conservative
1906	William Henry Bateman Hope		Liberal
1910	Joseph King		Liberal
1918	constituency abolished
1950	Sir Ted Leather		Conservative
1964	Paul Dean		Conservative
1983	constituency abolished: see Woodspring
2010	Liam Fox		Conservative
2024	Sadik Al-Hassan		Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North Somerset^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sadik Al-Hassan	19,138	35.6	+10.6
	Conservative	Liam Fox	18,499	34.4	−19.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Cartman	7,121	13.2	−3.4
	Reform UK	Alexander Kokkinoftas	5,602	10.4	New
	Green	Oscar Livesey-Lodwick	3,273	6.1	+1.2
	Workers Party	Suneil Basu	133	0.2	New
Majority			639	1.2	N/A
Turnout			53,766	76.3	−0.6
Registered electors			74,426
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.8

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[9]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	30,411	53.5
	Labour	14,227	25.0
	Liberal Democrats	9,425	16.6
	Green	2,801	4.9
Turnout		56,864	76.9
Electorate		73,963

General election 2019: North Somerset^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	32,801	52.9	−1.3
	Labour	Hannah Young	15,265	24.6	−2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Cartman	11,051	17.8	+8.2
	Green	Phil Neve	2,938	4.7	+1.5
Majority			17,536	28.3	+0.7
Turnout			62,055	77.4	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 2017: North Somerset^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	33,605	54.2	+0.7
	Labour	Greg Chambers	16,502	26.6	+12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Foord	5,982	9.6	−3.1
	Independent	Donald Davies	3,929	6.3	New
	Green	Charley Pattison	1,976	3.2	−3.3
Majority			17,103	27.6	−11.6
Turnout			61,994	76.9	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

General election 2015: North Somerset^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	31,540	53.5	+4.2
	Labour	Greg Chambers	8,441	14.3	+3.2
	UKIP	Ian Kealey[13]	7,669	13.0	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Marcus Kravis	7,486	12.7	−23.0
	Green	David Derbyshire	3,806	6.5	+6.5
Majority			23,099	39.2	+25.6
Turnout			58,942	73.6	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: North Somerset^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Fox	28,549	49.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Mathew	20,687	35.7
	Labour	Steve Parry-Hearn	6,448	11.1
	UKIP	Sue Taylor	2,257	3.9
Majority			7,862	13.6
Turnout			57,941	75.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	43,173	54.34	+9.4
	Labour	AJ Smith	22,122	27.85	−3.8
	Liberal	David Sanders	12,898	16.23	−6.7
	Ecology	R Carder	1,254	1.58	New
Majority			21,051	26.49	+13.26
Turnout			79,447	82.24	+1.81
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	32,146	44.88
	Labour	HR White	22,671	31.65
	Liberal	JM Bourne	16,428	22.93
	United Democratic Party	JK Polling	387	0.54	New
Majority			9,475	13.23
Turnout			71,632	80.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	34,576	46.09
	Labour	HR White	22,421	29.89
	Liberal	JM Bourne	18,023	24.02	New
Majority			12,155	16.20
Turnout			75,020	85.06
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	38,975	58.1	+11.7
	Labour	John T Mitchard	28,121	41.9	−0.8
Majority			10,854	16.2	+12.5
Turnout			67,096	79.1	−6.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: North Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	28,824	46.4	±0.0
	Labour	Brian Tilley	26,526	42.7	+2.9
	Liberal	Mark E Willies	6,745	10.9	−2.9
Majority			2,298	3.7	−2.9
Turnout			62,095	85.3	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dean	27,814	46.4	−9.9
	Labour	DT White	23,896	39.8	−3.9
	Liberal	Mark E Willies	8,253	13.8	New
Majority			3,918	6.6	−6.0
Turnout			59,963	85.4	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	30,432	56.3	+2.1
	Labour	E Fraser Wilde	23,649	43.7	−2.1
Majority			6,783	12.6	+4.2
Turnout			54,081	85.5	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	26,985	54.2	+1.8
	Labour	David Llewellyn	22,802	45.8	−1.8
Majority			4,183	8.4	+3.6
Turnout			54,081	85.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	27,465	52.4	+6.8
	Labour	Robert J Hurst	24,917	47.6	+3.8
Majority			2,548	4.8	+3.0
Turnout			52,382
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Somerset North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ted Leather	23,953	45.6
	Labour	Xenia Field	23,050	43.8
	Liberal	Albert Ernest Whitcher	5,573	10.6
Majority			903	1.8
Turnout			52,576	87.7
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Strachey

General election 1885: North Somerset^[16][17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,170	54.4
	Liberal	Edward Strachey	3,491	45.6
Majority			679	8.8
Turnout			7,661	75.0
Registered electors			10,209
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: North Somerset^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,252	67.1	+12.7
	Liberal	James Dormer Marshall[19]	2,087	32.9	−12.7
Majority			2,165	34.2	+25.4
Turnout			6,339	62.1	−12.9
Registered electors			10,209
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1890s

Warner

General election 1892: North Somerset^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Courtenay Warner	3,920	50.1	+17.2
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	3,901	49.9	−17.2
Majority			19	0.2	N/A
Turnout			7,821	77.5	+15.4
Registered electors			10,086
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.2

General election 1895: North Somerset^[16][17][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evan Henry Llewellyn	4,652	54.0	+4.1
	Liberal	Courtenay Warner	3,966	46.0	−4.1
Majority			686	8.0	N/A
Turnout			8,618	84.4	+6.9
Registered electors			10,208
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: North Somerset^[16][17][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Even Llewellyn	4,530	53.0	−1.0
	Liberal	William Hope	4,014	47.0	+1.0
Majority			516	6.0	−2.0
Turnout			8,544	80.0	−4.4
Registered electors			10,682
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0

Hope

General election 1906: North Somerset^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hope	6,626	60.2	+13.2
	Conservative	William Mason	4,380	39.8	−13.2
Majority			2,246	20.4	N/A
Turnout			11,006	88.9	+8.9
Registered electors			12,381
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.2

Elections in the 1910s

King

General election January 1910: North Somerset^[16][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph King	6,568	53.2	−7.0
	Conservative	Frank Beachim Beauchamp	5,768	46.8	+7.0
Majority			800	6.4	−14.0
Turnout			12,336	91.4	+2.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.0

General election December 1910: North Somerset^[16][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph King	6,299	53.9	+0.7
	Conservative	Frank Beachim Beauchamp	5,378	46.1	−0.7
Majority			921	7.8	+1.4
Turnout			11,677	86.5	−4.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.7

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Joseph King
• Unionist: J Windsor Levis^[22]

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon

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.