West Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)

West Chelmsford
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Chelmsford in Essex for the 2005 general election.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Major settlements	Chelmsford
1997–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Chelmsford
Created from	Chelmsford
European Parliament constituency	East of England

West Chelmsford was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 and abolished in 2010. It always returned a Conservative MP.

Boundaries

Chelmsford West constituency took in a majority of the Borough of Chelmsford, and by far the majority of the town itself, including the town centre and Cathedral. It also included rural areas extending as far north as Great Leighs, the Walthams and Good Easter.

The seat consisted of the following electoral wards of the Borough of Chelmsford: All Saints, Boreham, Broomfield, Pleshey and Great Waltham, Cathedral, Chignall, Good Easter, Mashbury, Highwood and Roxwell, Goat Hall, Great and Little Leighs and Little Waltham, Margaretting and Stock, Moulsham Lodge, Old Moulsham, Patching Hall, St. Andrews, Springfield North, Springfield South, The Lawns, Waterhouse Farm and Writtle.

At the 2010 General Election, a newly re-created Chelmsford constituency succeeded this seat. Rural wards from this constituency mainly joined the Saffron Walden constituency, with a small area around Margaretting becoming part of the Maldon constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1997	Simon Burns	Conservative
	2010	Constituency abolished: see Chelmsford and Saffron Walden

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Chelmsford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Simon Burns	22,946	44.9	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Robinson	13,326	26.1	+2.8
	Labour	Russell Kennedy	13,236	25.9	-3.6
	UKIP	Ken Wedon	1,544	3.0	+1.4
Majority			9,620	18.8
Turnout			51,052	61.9	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.2

General Election 2001: West Chelmsford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Simon Burns	20,446	42.5	+1.9
	Labour	Adrian Longden	14,185	29.5	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Robinson	11,197	23.3	-5.9
	Green	Ms. Eleanor Burgess	837	1.7	+1.0
	UKIP	Ken Wedon	693	1.4	+1.0
	Legalise Cannabis	Herb Philbin	442	0.9	N/A
Majority			6,261	13.0
Turnout			48,143	61.5	-15.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: West Chelmsford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Simon Burns	23,781	40.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Bracken	17,090	29.2	N/A
	Labour	Dr. Roy K. Chad	15,463	26.4	N/A
	Referendum	Terry Smith	1,536	2.6	N/A
	Green	George Rumens	411	0.7	N/A
	UKIP	Martin Levin	323	0.6	N/A
Majority			6,691	11.4	N/A
Turnout			58,577	76.8	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)

Coordinates: 51°46′N 0°26′E / 51.76°N 0.44°E