County Bedfordshire Created 1918 Member of parliament Nadine Dorries | Electorate 76,381 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency East of England Number of members 1 | |
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Major settlements Ampthill, Flitwick, Shefford, Turvey, Bedfordshire, Toddington, Woburn | ||
Mid Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Nadine Dorries, a Conservative. Apart from four early years the constituency has returned a Conservative since its creation in 1918.
Contents
Boundaries
1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Leighton Buzzard, and the Rural Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Eaton Bray.
1950-1983: The Urban Districts of Ampthill, Biggleswade, and Sandy, the Rural Districts of Ampthill and Biggleswade, and part of the Rural District of Bedford.
1983-1997: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Arlesey, Biggleswade Ivel, Biggleswade Stratton, Blunham, Campton and Meppershall, Clifton and Henlow, Clophill, Haynes and Houghton Conquest, Langford, Maulden, Northill, Old Warden and Southill, Potton, Sandy All Saints, Sandy St Swithun's, Shefford, Shillington and Stondon, Stotfold, Wensley, and Wrest, and the Borough of North Bedfordshire wards of Eastcotts, Great Barford, Kempston East, Kempston Rural, Kempston West, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.
1997-2010: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Aspley, Campton and Meppershall, Clifton and Henlow, Clophill, Cranfield, Flitton and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, Haynes and Houghton Conquest, Marston, Maulden, Shefford, Shillington and Stondon, Westoning, Woburn, and Wrest, and the Borough of Bedford wards of Kempston Rural, Wilshamstead, and Wootton.
2010–present: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Ampthill, Aspley Guise, Clifton and Meppershall, Cranfield, Flitton, Greenfield and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, Houghton, Haynes, Southill and Old Warden, Marston, Maulden and Clophill, Shefford, Campton and Gravenhurst, Shillington, Stondon and Henlow Camp, Silsoe, Westoning and Tingrith, and Woburn, the Borough of Bedford wards of Turvey, Wilshamstead, and Wootton, and the District of South Bedfordshire wards of Barton-le-Clay, Streatley, and Toddington.
History
Mid Bedfordshire was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.
It has elected Conservative MPs since 1931. It was held from 1983 to 1997 by the Attorney General (for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish aspects of the legal system and as advisor to HM Government) Sir Nicholas Lyell, who then transferred to the newly created seat of North East Bedfordshire; his old seat was won by Jonathan Sayeed, a former MP in Bristol. Sayeed was forced to retire in 2005 due to ill health, following a row over allegations he had profited from his private educational tours of Parliament and a resulting deselection attempt by the constituency party. Nadine Dorries has held the seat since, but the Conservative whip was withdrawn from her in 2012 and returned six months later, after appearing on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. For the 2005 and 2010 elections the most successful opposition party candidate was a Liberal Democrat. However following their nationwide retreat in 2015, Labour once more occupies this position.
Elections in the 2010s
In June 2015 the independent candidate, Tim Ireland, lodged an unsuccessful election petition accusing Nadine Dorries of breaches of section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 by making false statements about his character. The petition was dismissed by the courts on 30 July 2015.
Elections in the 1940s
General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;