Westmorland and Lonsdale | |
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County constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Westmorland and Lonsdale in North West England | |
County | Cumbria |
Electorate | 66,609 (December 2010) [1] |
Major settlements | Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Windermere |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Tim Farron ( Liberal Democrats) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Morecambe and Lonsdale and Westmorland |
Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency [n 1] in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017).
Since 2017 Westmorland and Lonsdale has been the only Liberal Democrat seat in the whole of Northern England. It is also the Liberal Democrats' longest continuously held seat in England, as the only seat where they have won every election since 2015.
The constituency mostly overlaps the South Lakeland district of Cumbria. Important towns by size in the constituency include Kendal, Windermere and Kirkby Lonsdale. It is named after the historic county of Westmorland and the Lancashire Hundred of Lonsdale, both of which extend beyond the bounds of the constituency. This is one of a minority of rural seats where residents voted to Remain in the European Union in 2016.
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cumbria, the Boundary Commission for England created a modified Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, to deal with population changes.
The electoral wards used to create the modified seat, contested for the first time at the 2010 general election, are entirely within the South Lakeland district.
This boundary change removed Broughton-in-Furness from the constituency.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The constituency will be expanded by adding parts of the (former) District of Eden, including the market towns of Appleby-in-Westmorland and Kirkby Stephen, currently in the (to be abolished) constituency of Penrith and The Border. To partly offset this, the (former) District of South Lakeland wards of Arnside & Milnthorpe, Burton & Crooklands, and Sedbergh & Kirkby Lonsdale will be included in Morecambe and Lunesdale (thereby creating a cross-county boundary constituency).
With effect from 1 April 2023, the Districts of Eden and South Lakeland were abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness. [4] The constituency will therefore now comprise the following wards of Westmorland and Furness from the 2024 general election:
Having been a Conservative-dominated seat since its creation in 1983, the 1997 general election saw the Conservatives' majority cut to fewer than 5,000 votes. This was further reduced at the 2001 general election. In 2005, the constituency featured among a list of seats held by high-profile Conservatives (in this case Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins) targeted by the Liberal Democrats by deploying supporters from across each region in what was referred in the media as a "decapitation strategy". [6] In the 2005 election, Tim Farron gained the seat by a marginal majority of 267 votes.
At the 2010 general election, the local electorate caused the largest Conservative-to-Lib Dem swing nationally, of 11.1% — equally the lowest share of the vote for Labour (2.2%, one of five lost deposits for Labour), nationally. With 96.2% of votes cast for either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates, Westmorland and Lonsdale had the highest combined share of the vote cast for the Coalition parties.
Contrasting with its long-term Conservative support, the combined Conservative/UKIP vote narrowly failed to reach 40% in 2015. Equally, Farron, who would become Leader of the Liberal Democrats two months later; was the only member of his party to secure an absolute majority (over 50%) of votes cast, after what was a poor result for the party nationwide with their seat count reduced from 57 seats to 8. [7] [8] In 2017 (when Farron was Lib Dem leader), Farron's majority fell to just 777 votes. However, in 2019, he was re-elected with a majority increased to 1,934.
Election | Member [9] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Michael Jopling | Conservative | |
1997 | Tim Collins | Conservative | |
2005 | Tim Farron | Liberal Democrats |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green | Phil Clayton [11] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron [12] | ||||
Conservative | Matty Jackman [13] | ||||
SDP | Wendy Long [14] | ||||
Labour | Pippa Smith [15] | ||||
Heritage | Izzy Solabarrieta [16] | ||||
Independent | John Studholme | ||||
Reform UK | James Townley [17] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Registered electors | |||||
Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | 27,188 | 50.5 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 22,048 | 40.9 | |||
Labour | 3,752 | 7.0 | |||
Brexit Party | 601 | 1.1 | |||
Green | 287 | 0.5 | |||
Majority | 5,140 | 9.6 | |||
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing |
In 2019, Westmorland and Lonsdale was one of five English constituencies, the others being Esher and Walton, East Devon, Cheltenham and Winchester, where Labour failed to obtain over 5% of the vote and lost their deposit. [19]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 25,795 | 48.9 | +3.1 | |
Conservative | James Airey | 23,861 | 45.3 | +1.0 | |
Labour | Phillip Black | 2,293 | 4.4 | −4.9 | |
Brexit Party | Steven Bolton | 763 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,934 | 3.6 | +2.1 | ||
Turnout | 52,712 | 77.8 | −0.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +1.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 23,686 | 45.8 | −5.7 | |
Conservative | James Airey | 22,909 | 44.3 | +11.1 | |
Labour | Eli Aldridge | 4,783 | 9.3 | +3.8 | |
Independent | Mr Fishfinger | 309 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 777 | 1.5 | −16.8 | ||
Turnout | 51,687 | 77.9 | +3.6 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −8.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 25,194 | 51.5 | −8.5 | |
Conservative | Ann Myatt | 16,245 | 33.2 | −3.0 | |
UKIP | Alan Piper | 3,031 | 6.2 | +4.6 | |
Labour | John Bateson | 2,661 | 5.4 | +3.2 | |
Green | Chris Loynes | 1,798 | 3.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 8,949 | 18.3 | −5.5 | ||
Turnout | 48,929 | 74.3 | −1.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −2.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 30,896 | 60.0 | +14.1 | |
Conservative | Gareth McKeever | 18,632 | 36.2 | −8.7 | |
Labour | Jonathan Todd | 1,158 | 2.2 | −5.6 | |
UKIP | John Mander | 801 | 1.6 | +0.2 | |
Majority | 12,264 | 23.8 | +23.3 | ||
Turnout | 51,487 | 75.8 | +5.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +11.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 22,569 | 45.5 | +5.1 | |
Conservative | Tim Collins | 22,302 | 44.9 | ―2.0 | |
Labour | John Reardon | 3,796 | 7.6 | ―3.3 | |
UKIP | Robert Gibson | 660 | 1.3 | +0.1 | |
Independent | Anthony Kemp | 309 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 267 | 0.6 | ―5.9 | ||
Turnout | 49,636 | 71.6 | +3.8 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +3.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Tim Collins | 22,486 | 46.9 | +4.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Tim Farron | 19,339 | 40.4 | +7.0 | |
Labour | John Bateson | 5,234 | 10.9 | ―9.7 | |
UKIP | Robert Gibson | 552 | 1.2 | New | |
Independent | Timothy Bell | 292 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 3,147 | 6.5 | ―2.6 | ||
Turnout | 47,903 | 67.8 | ―6.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ―1.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Tim Collins | 21,463 | 42.3 | ―14.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stanley Collins | 16,942 | 33.4 | +5.9 | |
Labour | John Harding | 10,452 | 20.6 | +5.5 | |
Referendum | Michael Smith | 1,924 | 3.8 | New | |
Majority | 4,521 | 8.9 | ―20.5 | ||
Turnout | 50,781 | 74.1 | ―3.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ―10.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Michael Jopling | 31,798 | 56.9 | ―0.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stanley Collins | 15,362 | 27.5 | ―1.7 | |
Labour | Dickon Abbott | 8,436 | 15.1 | +1.9 | |
Natural Law | Robert Johnstone | 287 | 0.5 | New | |
Majority | 16,436 | 29.4 | +1.0 | ||
Turnout | 55,883 | 77.8 | ―3.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +0.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Michael Jopling | 30,259 | 57.6 | ―3.7 | |
Liberal | Stanley Collins | 15,339 | 29.2 | +2.1 | |
Labour | Shaun Halfpenny | 6,968 | 13.2 | +3.3 | |
Majority | 14,920 | 28.4 | ―5.8 | ||
Turnout | 52,566 | 74.8 | +2.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | ―2.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Michael Jopling | 29,775 | 61.3 | ||
Liberal | Ken Hulls | 13,188 | 27.1 | ||
Labour | Chris Stott | 4,798 | 9.9 | ||
Ecology | Robert Gibson | 805 | 1.7 | ||
Majority | 16,587 | 34.2 | |||
Turnout | 48,566 | 72.3 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Note: The Robert Gibson who stood in this election and the similarly named candidate in 2001 and 2005 are not the same person.