Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:UK constituency infobox Chesterfield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a marginal seat between the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

Boundaries

It includes most of the town of Chesterfield, including the Church of St Mary and All Saints with its famous 'crooked spire', and borders the constituencies of Bolsover and Derbyshire North East.

The current boundaries centre on Chesterfield itself, with the areas around Staveley, and Barrow Hill, within the neighbouring North East Derbyshire seat. Under the boundary changes necessary to accommodate the new Mid Derbyshire constituency, Chesterfield is only moderately effected, losing New Whittington to North East Derbyshire but otherwise keeping its shape.

History

Chesterfield was traditionally a Labour Party stronghold. The former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn held the seat from a by-election in 1984 until he retired at the 2001 general election. Paul Holmes gained the seat for the Liberal Democrats at the 2001 general election, making the seat the first Liberal constituency in the East Midlands. Holmes has held the seat since.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1885	Alfred Barnes	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Unionist Party/meta/color" |	1886		Liberal Unionist
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1892	Thomas Bayley	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Lib-Lab/meta/color" |	1906	James Haslam	Lib-Lab
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1910		Labour
style="background-color: Template:Lib-Lab/meta/color" |	1913	Barnet Kenyon	Lib-Lab
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1929	George Benson	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1931	Roger Conant	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1935	George Benson	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1964	Eric Varley	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1984	Tony Benn	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats/meta/color" |	2001	Paul Holmes	Liberal Democrat

Election results

Elections in the 2000s

Next United Kingdom general election: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Holmes
	Labour	Toby Perkins

General Election 2005: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Holmes	20,875	47.3	−0.5
	Labour	Simon Rich	17,830	40.4	−1.6
	Conservative	Mark Kreling	3,605	8.2	+0.1
	UKIP	Christopher Brady	997	2.3	N/A
	English Democrat	Ian Jerram	814	1.8	N/A
Majority			3,045	6.9
Turnout			44,121	59.6	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+0.6

General Election 2001: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Holmes	21,249	47.8	+8.3
	Labour	Reg Race	18,663	42.0	−8.8
	Conservative	Simon Hitchcock	3,613	8.1	−1.1
	Socialist Alliance	Jeannie Robinson	437	1.0	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Bill Harrison	295	0.7	N/A
	Independent	Christopher Rawson	184	0.4	N/A
Majority			2,586	5.8
Turnout			44,441	60.7	−10.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+8.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Benn	26,105	50.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Rogers	20,330	39.6
	Conservative	Martin Potter	4,752	9.2
	Independent Old Age Pensioner	Norman Scarth	202	0.4	N/A
Majority			5,775
Turnout				78.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Benn	26,461	47.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Rogers	20,047	35.8
	Conservative	Peter Lewis	9,473	16.9
Majority			6,414
Turnout				78.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Benn	24,532	44.9
	Liberal	Tony Rogers	15,955	29.6
	Conservative	R. P. Grant	13,472	25.0
Majority			8,577	15.9
Turnout				76.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Chesterfield by-election, 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Benn	24,633	46.5	−1.6
	Liberal	Max Payne	18,369	34.7	+15.1
	Conservative	Nick Bourne	8,028	15.2	−17.3
	Independent	Bill Maynard	1,355	2.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	178	0.3	N/A
	Four-wheel drive Hatchback Road Safety	David Bentley	116	0.2	N/A
	Independent	John Davey	83	0.3	N/A
	Independent Ecology Party	Thomas Layton	46	0.1	N/A
	Independent - Freight on rails not roads	Helen Anscomb	34	0.1	N/A
	Yoga and Meditation	Jitendra Bardwaj	33	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Donald Butler	24	0.1	N/A
	The Welshman	Paul Nicholls-Jones	22	0.0	N/A
	Elvisly Yours Elvis Presley Party	Sid Shaw	20	0.0	N/A
	I am not a number	Christopher Hill	17	0.0	N/A
	Acne Party	Giancarlo Piccaro	15	0.0	N/A
	Independent	David Cahill	12	0.0	N/A
	Peace	John Connell	7	0.0	N/A
Majority			6,264	11.8	−3.8
Turnout			52,992	76.9	+4.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	23,881	48.1
	Conservative	N. Bourne	16,118	32.4
	Liberal	M. Payne	9,705	19.5
Majority			7,763	15.6
Turnout				72.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	31,049	57.4
	Conservative	S. Hill	17,445	32.2
	Liberal	M. Payne	5,617	10.4
Majority			13,604	25.1
Turnout				73.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	30,953	59.9
	Conservative	J. D. Taylor	13,393	25.9
	Liberal	M. W. Brown	7,349	14.2
Majority			17,560	34.0
Turnout				72.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	31,040	54.8
	Conservative	J. D. Taylor	15,644	27.6
	Liberal	M. W. Brown	9,937	17.6
Majority			15,396	27.2
Turnout				80.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	30,386	59.0
	Conservative	J. C. Ramsden	16,217	31.5
	Liberal	T. D. Bamford	4,891	9.5
Majority			14,169	27.5
Turnout				72.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	31,542	61.6
	Conservative	A. T. Hale	13,443	26.3
	Liberal	T. D. Bamford	6,227	12.2
Majority			18,099	35.3
Turnout				76.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Varley	29,452	56.5
	Conservative	W. G. Blake	14,944	28.7
	Liberal	D. A. McKie	7,738	14.8
Majority			14,508	27.8
Turnout				78.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Benson	30,534	56.6
	Conservative	J. A. Lemkin	17,084	31.7
	Liberal	G. R. Smedley-Stevenson	6,360	11.8
Majority			13,450	24.9
Turnout				82.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Benson	29,602	57.7
	National Liberal Party (UK)	F. Hadfield	21,748	42.4
Majority			7,854	15.3
Turnout				79.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Benson	34,753	63.7
	National Liberal Party (UK)	J. F. Nash	19,776	36.3
Majority			14,977	27.5
Turnout				84.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Benson	33,914	60.8
	National Liberal Party (UK)	Andrew Cavendish	17,231	30.9
	Liberal	J. O'Neill	4,052	7.3
	Communist	B. Barker	554	1.0
Majority			16,683	29.9
Turnout				87.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Chesterfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Benson	29,459	62.8
	National Liberal Party (UK)	Andrew Cavendish	17,424	37.2
Majority			12,035	25.7
Turnout			46,883	77.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Earlier elections articles

• Chesterfield by-election, 1913

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire

References

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page (Complete list of MPs)