The seat was largely
Conservative-held during the 20th century and has never elected a
Labour MP. The only other political party to have been represented is the
Liberal Democrats or their predecessor, the
Liberal Party, who achieved a marginal victory in 2010, see
marginal seat.
Prominent frontbenchers
Sir William Hayter was chief government whip of the Commons under three Liberal Prime Ministers governing from the Lords, (Lord John) Russell, Aberdeen and Palmerston.
So too in this role was
Lord Hylton from 1916 to 1922 alongside the Lord Colebrooke in the Conservative-Liberal National coalition.
Robert Sanders was Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons, 1918–1919, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1922–1924.
1885-1918: The Borough of Wells, and the Sessional Divisions of Axbridge and Wells (except the parish of Binegar).
1918-1950: The Boroughs of Glastonbury and Wells, the Urban Districts of Shepton Mallet and Street, the Rural Districts of Shepton Mallet, Wells, and Wincanton, and in the Rural District of Frome the parishes of Cloford, Marston Bigot, Nunney, Wanstrow, Whatley, and Witharn Friary.
1950-1983: The Boroughs of Glastonbury and Wells, the Urban Districts of Frome, Shepton Mallet, and Street, and the Rural Districts of Frome, Shepton Mallet, Wells, and Wincanton.
1983-2010: The District of Mendip wards of Ashwick, Avalon, Chilcompton and Ston Easton, Ebbor, Glastonbury St Benedict's, Glastonbury St Edmund's, Glastonbury St John's, Glastonbury St Mary's, Moor, Nedge, Pylcombe, Rodney, Sheppey, Shepton Mallet, Street North, Street South, Wells Central, Wells St Cuthbert's, and Wells St Thomas, and the District of Sedgemoor wards of Axbridge, Axe Vale, Berrow, Brent, Burnham North, Burnham South, Cheddar, Highbridge, Mark, Shipham, and Wedmore.
2010–2024: The District of Mendip wards of Ashwick and Ston Easton, Avalon, Chilcompton, Glastonbury St Benedict's, Glastonbury St Edmund's, Glastonbury St John's, Glastonbury St Mary's, Knowle, Moor, Nedge, Pylcombe, Rodney and Priddy, St Cuthbert Out North and West, Shepton East, Shepton West, Street North, Street South, Street West, Wells Central, Wells St Cuthbert's, and Wells St Thomas, and the District of Sedgemoor wards of Axbridge, Axe Vale, Berrow, Brent North, Burnham North, Burnham South, Cheddar and Shipham, Highbridge, Knoll, and Wedmore and Mark.
Constituency profile
Aside from energy, transportation, retail, and distribution which are major sectors, agriculture and tourism are still important areas to this central and quite quintessential part of Somerset which includes the coastal resort of
Burnham-on-Sea, the city of
Wells with
its cathedral, and notable natural landmarks such as the
Cheddar Gorge and
Glastonbury Tor. The site of the
Glastonbury Festival also lies within this seat, causing a major influx of visitors in late June. The founder of the festival,
Michael Eavis, stood as the Labour candidate for the 1997 election, receiving 10,204 votes, the highest for Labour since 1974.
Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[3]
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
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;
^
abJenkins, Terry.
"Wells". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
Sources
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services.
ISBN0-900178-06-X.
D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
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