County Gloucestershire Created 1997 European Parliament constituency South West England Number of members 1 | Electorate 68,703 (December 2010) Created from West Gloucestershire Member of parliament Mark Harper Replaced by West Gloucestershire | |
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Forest of Dean is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Mark Harper, a Conservative.
Contents
Boundaries
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.
History
This seat was created for the 1885 general election, replacing the two-seat constituency of West Gloucestershire under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and abolished for the 1950 general election. It was re-created, with different boundaries, for the 1997 general election.
Constituency profile
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. 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. The Dean’s rich industrial heritage and spectacular natural beauty unsurprisingly means tourism is an increasingly important aspect of Forest life.
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 quintessentially unspoilt English countryside with rolling farmland centred on the picturesque Tudor town of Newent, and also produces fine English wine.
The constituency also includes parishes from Tewkesbury district, including Forthampton, Chaceley Hole, Hasfield, Ashleworth and Highnam.
Elections in the 1910s
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;