North Somerset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sadik Al-Hassan of the Labour Party.

History

Earlier versions of the seat existed in 1885–1918 and 1950–1983. Parliament passed the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 creating the larger constituency of North Somerset from the 1885 general election, which was later abolished for the 1918 general election. North Somerset was re-established for the 1950 general election, and abolished again for the 1983 general election. Following the review of parliamentary representation in the North Somerset district by the Boundary Commission for England, the former Woodspring constituency was renamed as North Somerset without substantial boundary changes. The Woodspring seat returned Conservative MPs, and had been held by Liam Fox from 1992 until its abolition. Fox won the new constituency by nearly 14 percentage points over the Liberal Democrats in 2010, while Labour took second place in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2024, Sadik Al-Hassan was elected as MP - the first to have been returned to Parliament for the Labour Party.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Keynsham, Long Ashton, and Temple Cloud, and the civil parishes of Binegar, Chilcompton, and Midsomer Norton. 1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Keynsham, Norton Radstock, and Portishead, the Rural Districts of Bathavon and Clutton, and part of the Rural District of Long Ashton. 2010–2024: The District of North Somerset wards of Backwell, Clevedon Central, Clevedon East, Clevedon North, Clevedon South, Clevedon Walton, Clevedon West, Clevedon Yeo, Easton-in-Gordano, Gordano, Nailsea East, Nailsea North and West, Pill, Portishead Central, Portishead Coast, Portishead East, Portishead Redcliffe Bay, Portishead South and North Weston, Portishead West, Winford, Wraxall and Long Ashton, Wrington, and Yatton. 2024–present: The District of North Somerset wards of: Backwell; Clevedon East; Clevedon South; Clevedon Walton; Clevedon West; Clevedon Yeo; Gordano Valley; Long Ashton; Nailsea Golden Valley; Nailsea West End; Nailsea Yeo; Nailsea Youngwood; Pill; Portishead East; Portishead North; Portishead South; Portishead West; Winford; Wrington. ''Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to moderate boundary changes involving the loss of the Yatton area which was transferred to the new constituency of Wells and Mendip Hills, first contested at the 2024 general election. ''

Constituency profile

This is essentially the former Woodspring seat with a new name. A coastal strip between the Severn Estuary and the M5 motorway includes the towns of Clevedon and Portishead, while inland from the motorway is the town of Nailsea and a predominantly rural area dotted with villages. This is a fairly affluent constituency with average incomes and low proportion of unemployment claimants – about a third of the population commute to work, mostly in Bristol and Bath.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: 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;