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Copeland (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°25′52″N 3°23′20″W / 54.431°N 3.389°W / 54.431; -3.389
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copeland
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Copeland in Cumbria
Outline map
Location of Cumbria within England
CountyCumbria
Electorate63,696 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsWhitehaven
1983–2024
SeatsOne
Created fromWhitehaven

Copeland was a constituency in Cumbria created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 1][n 2] The constituency was represented in Parliament by Trudy Harrison, of the Conservative Party, from a by-election in February 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election. The seat had been held by Labour candidates at elections between 1983 and 2015 inclusive.

Copeland was one of five Cumbria seats won (held or gained) by a Conservative candidate in 2019 out of a total of six covering the county.

The bulk of the seat was in the Lake District, together with a large proportion of its population.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished, with the majority being included in a new constituency which also includes the town of Workington, and is named Whitehaven and Workington – first contested at the 2024 general election. Keswick was included in the new constituency of Penrith and Solway, and Millom was transferred to Barrow and Furness.[2]

History

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Copeland was created for the 1983 general election as the sole forerunner to the constituency of Whitehaven, renamed for the Borough of Copeland which had been created by the 1974 local government reorganisation. In 1983 the seat was won for Labour by Jack Cunningham, who had previously been the member for Whitehaven. It consistently returned Labour Party candidates until the by-election of 23 February 2017, when Trudy Harrison gained it for the Conservatives. Prior to that (save for the landslide in 1931 when part of the parliamentary Labour Party remained in government with the Conservative Party under Ramsay MacDonald), the last Conservative elected for the area was in 1924.

The 2015 result gave the seat the 31st most marginal majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[3]

Boundaries

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Map
Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1983–2010

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Following the renaming of the Whitehaven constituency as Copeland, its boundaries remained unchanged, being coterminous with the local government district of Copeland.

2010-2024

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Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies by making changes to this constituency for the 2010 general election, namely the addition of the wards Crummock, Dalton, Derwent Valley and Keswick in the Allerdale District.

The four new wards thus extended the constituency beyond the district of Copeland. They included the town of Keswick, which had a larger electorate than the other three new and sparsely populated wards, despite their extensive area.[4] The new wards were in the Lake District, like much of Copeland district. The inclusion of Keswick in the constituency was the main topic in public consultations regarding the changes.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[5] Party
1983 Jack Cunningham Labour
2005 Jamie Reed Labour
2017 by-election Trudy Harrison Conservative
2024 Constituency abolished

Elections

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Copeland election results

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2019: Copeland[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 22,856 53.7 +4.6
Labour Tony Lywood 17,014 40.0 −5.1
Liberal Democrats John Studholme 1,888 4.4 +1.1
Green Jack Lenox 765 1.8 New
Majority 5,842 13.7 +9.7
Turnout 42,523 68.9 −1.3
Conservative hold Swing +4.9
General election 2017: Copeland[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 21,062 49.1 +13.3
Labour Gillian Troughton 19,367 45.1 +2.8
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Hanson 1,404 3.3 −0.2
UKIP Herbie Crossman 1,094 2.5 −13.0
Majority 1,695 4.0 N/A
Turnout 42,927 70.2 +6.4
Conservative hold Swing +5.3
By-election 2017: Copeland[9][10][11][12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Trudy Harrison 13,748 44.3 +8.5
Labour Gillian Troughton 11,601 37.3 −5.0
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Hanson 2,252 7.2 +3.7
UKIP Fiona Mills 2,025 6.5 −9.0
Independent Michael Guest 811 2.6 New
Green Jack Lenox 515 1.7 −1.3
Independent Roy Ivinson 116 0.4 New
Majority 2,147 7.0 N/A
Turnout 31,889 51.3 −12.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +6.7
General election 2015: Copeland[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jamie Reed 16,750 42.3 −3.7
Conservative Stephen Haraldsen 14,186 35.8 −1.3
UKIP Michael Pye 6,148 15.5 +13.2
Liberal Democrats Danny Gallagher 1,368 3.5 −6.7
Green Allan Todd 1,179 3.0 +2.1
Majority 2,564 6.5 −2.4
Turnout 39,631 63.8 −3.8
Labour hold Swing −1.2
General election 2010: Copeland[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jamie Reed 19,699 46.0 −4.5
Conservative Chris Whiteside 15,866 37.1 +5.4
Liberal Democrats Frank Hollowell 4,365 10.2 −1.3
BNP Clive Jefferson 1,474 3.4 New
UKIP Edward Caley-Knowles 994 2.3 +0.1
Green Jill Perry 389 0.9 New
Majority 3,833 8.9 −9.9
Turnout 42,787 67.6 +5.4
Labour hold Swing −4.9

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2005: Copeland[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jamie Reed 17,033 50.5 −1.3
Conservative Chris Whiteside 10,713 31.7 −5.8
Liberal Democrats Frank Hollowell 3,880 11.5 +0.8
UKIP Edward Caley-Knowles 735 2.2 New
Independent Brian Earley 734 2.2 New
English Democrat Alan Mossop 662 2.0 New
Majority 6,320 18.8 +4.5
Turnout 33,757 62.3 −2.6
Labour hold Swing +2.3
General election 2001: Copeland[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 17,991 51.8 −6.4
Conservative Mike Graham 13,027 37.5 +8.3
Liberal Democrats Mark Gayler 3,732 10.7 +1.5
Majority 4,964 14.3 −14.7
Turnout 34,750 64.9 −11.4
Labour hold Swing −7.4

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1997: Copeland[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 24,077 58.2 +9.5
Conservative Andrew Cumpsty 12,081 29.2 −14.2
Liberal Democrats Roger Putnam 3,814 9.2 +1.6
Referendum Chris Johnston 1,036 2.5 New
ProLife Alliance Gerard Hanratty 389 0.9 New
Majority 11,996 29.0 +23.7
Turnout 41,397 76.3 −7.2
Labour hold Swing +11.9
General election 1992: Copeland[21][22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 22,328 48.7 +1.5
Conservative Philip Davies 19,889 43.4 +0.4
Liberal Democrats Roger Putnam 3,508 7.6 −1.5
Natural Law James Sinton 148 0.3 New
Majority 2,439 5.3 +1.1
Turnout 45,873 83.5 +2.2
Labour hold Swing +0.5

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1987: Copeland[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 20,999 47.2 +3.0
Conservative Ashton Toft 19,105 43.0 +3.1
SDP Edward Colgan 4,052 9.1 −6.8
Green Robert Gibson 319 0.7 New
Majority 1,894 4.2 −0.1
Turnout 44,475 81.3 +3.1
Labour hold Swing
General election 1983: Copeland[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack Cunningham 18,756 44.2 −8.2
Conservative Veronica Wilson 16,919 39.9 +0.1
SDP John Beasley 6,722 15.9 +9.9
Majority 1,837 4.3 −8.3
Turnout 42,397 78.2
Labour win (new seat)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

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  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  4. ^ "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
  6. ^ "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL" (PDF). www.copeland.gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Copeland parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  8. ^ "General election 2017: Full list of candidates". ITV News. 12 May 2017.
  9. ^ Glaze, Ben (19 January 2017). "Labour unveils Gill Troughton as its candidate for the tricky Copeland by-election". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Local NHS worker selected as UKIP candidate for the Copeland by-election". ukip.org. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Green Party announces anti-nuclear Copeland by-election candidate". Green Party. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Copeland by-election: Candidates list". BBC News. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Copeland Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Copeland". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ Copeland, BBC News
  18. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  23. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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54°25′52″N 3°23′20″W / 54.431°N 3.389°W / 54.431; -3.389

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