Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Ashley Fox of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

From 2010 to 2024 it was replaced by the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat has been re-established for the 2024 general election, primarily formed from the now abolished of Bridgwater and West Somerset seat but excluding the area comprising the former District of West Somerset.<ref>2023 review South West Boundary Commission for England</ref>

History

Bridgwater was one of the original Parliamentary Constituencies in the House of Commons, having elected Members of Parliament since 1295, the Model Parliament.

The original borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption in 1870. From 4 July 1870 the town was incorporated within the county constituency of West Somerset.

From Parliament's enactment of the major Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which took effect at the 1885 general election, a new county division of Bridgwater was created, which lasted with modifications until 2010. The constituency expanded considerably beyond Bridgwater town itself from 1885.

Bridgwater frequently compared to other seats had a radical or game-changing representative, though since 1950 this became less noticeable in its candidates elected.

The seat received particular fame in late 1938 when a by-election took place in the aftermath of the signing of the Munich Agreement. Opponents of the agreement persuaded the local Labour and Liberal parties to not field candidates of their own against the Conservative candidate, but to instead jointly back an independent standing on a platform of opposition to the Government's foreign policy, in the hope that this would be the precursor to the formation of a more general Popular Front of opposition to the government of Neville Chamberlain in anticipation of the General Election due in either 1939 or 1940. The noted journalist Vernon Bartlett stood as the independent Popular Front candidate and achieved a sensational victory in what was hitherto a Conservative seat. He represented the constituency for the next twelve years.

In 1970 another by-election in the constituency achieved fame as it was the first occasion when 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds were able to vote in a UK Parliamentary election. The first teenager to cast a vote was Trudy Sellick, 18 on the day of the poll. The by-election was won by the future Conservative Cabinet Minister Tom King who held the seat for the next thirty-one years, followed by another Conservative, Ian Liddell-Grainger, until its abolition in 2010.

Liddell-Grainger served as the MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset from 2010 to 2024, but opted to stand at the 2024 general election for the new seat of Tiverton and Minehead, which he failed to win. Ashley Fox was selected as the Conservative candidate for the re-established constituency, which he narrowly won.

Boundaries

Historic

File:BridgwaterConstituency.svg

Bridgwater within Somerset in 2005

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bridgwater, the Sessional Division of Bridgwater, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Taunton and Ilminster.

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Bridgwater, the Urban Districts of Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge, Minehead, and Watchet, and the Rural Districts of Bridgwater and Williton.

1950–1983: The Municipal Borough of Bridgwater, the Urban Districts of Burnham-on-Sea, Minehead, and Watchet, and the Rural Districts of Bridgwater and Williton. Highbridge Urban District had been absorbed by Burnham-on-Sea UD in 1933, but the constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

1983–2010: The District of Sedgemoor wards of Cannington and Combwich, Central, Dowsborough, Eastern Quantocks, Eastover, East Poldens, Hamp, Huntspill, Newton Green, North Petherton, Parchey, Pawlett and Puriton, Quantock, Sandford, Sowey, Sydenham, Victoria, Westonzoyland, West Poldens, and Woolavington, and the District of West Somerset wards of Alcombe, Aville Vale, Carhampton and Withycombe, Crowcombe and Stogumber, Dunster, East Brendon, Holnicote, Minehead North, Minehead South, Old Cleeve, Porlock and Oare, Quantock Vale, Watchet, West Quantock, and Williton.

Current

Template:Maplink Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the re-established constituency was defined as being composed of the following as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• The District of Sedgemoor wards of: Berrow; Bridgwater Dunwear; Bridgwater Eastover; Bridgwater Fairfax; Bridgwater Hamp; Bridgwater Victoria; Bridgwater Westover; Bridgwater Wyndham; Burnham Central; Burnham North; Cannington and Wembdon; Highbridge and Burnham Marine; Huntspill and Pawlett; King's Isle; North Petherton; Puriton and Woolavington; Quantocks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> With effect from 1 April 2023, the District of Sedgemoor was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of Somerset.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Consequently, the constituency now comprises the following electoral divisions of Somerset from the 2024 general election:

• Brent (part); Bridgwater East and Bawdrip; Bridgwater North and Central; Bridgwater South; Bridgwater West; Burnham on Sea North; Cannington; Highbridge and Burnham South; Huntspill (majority); King Alfred (small part); North Petherton.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

It comprises:

• The bulk of the parts of the former District of Sedgemoor in the abolished Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency (74% of the electorate), mainly consisting of the town of Bridgwater itself.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge, previously in the now abolished constituency of Wells.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1295)

Bridgwater borough, 1295–1870

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1377	William Tomer<ref name = HOPWT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>||John Sydenham<ref name = HoP1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1380 (Jan)	William Tomer <ref name = HOPWT/>
1383 (Oct)	William Tomer<ref name = HOPWT/>
1385	William Tomer<ref name = HOPWT/>
1386	John Sydenham	Richard Mayne<ref name = HoP1/>
1388 (Feb)	John Sydenham	Richard Mayne<ref name = HoP1/>
1388 (Sep)	John Palmer	John Wynd<ref name = HoP1/>
1390 (Jan)	William Tomer	John Palmer<ref name = HoP1/>
1390 (Nov)
1391	William Tomer	John Sydenham<ref name = HoP1/>
1393	William Tomer	Robert Boson<ref name = HoP1/>
1394	John Cole	John Palmer<ref name = HoP1/>
1395	William Tomer	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1397 (Jan)	William Tomer	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1397 (Sep)	William Tomer	John Sydenham <ref name = HoP1/>
1399	William Tomer	John Kedwelly <ref name = HoP1/>
1401
1402	William Tomer	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	William Tomer	William Gascoigne<ref name = HoP1/>
1407	William Gascoigne	Richard Ward<ref name = HoP1/>
1410	William Gascoigne	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	William Gascoigne	William Gosse<ref name = HoP1/>
1414 (Apr)	William Gascoigne	Thomas Cave<ref name = HoP1/>
1414 (Nov)	William Gascoigne	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	William Gascoigne	John Kedwelly<ref name = HoP1/>
1419	William Gascoigne	Richard Mayne<ref name = HoP1/>
1420	William Gascoigne	Martin Jacob<ref name = HoP1/>
1421 (May)	James FitzJames	William Gascoigne<ref name = HoP1/>
1421 (Dec)	William Gascoigne	John Pitt<ref name = HoP1/>
1442	William Dodesham	William Gascoigne
1449	Thomas Driffield	John Maunsel
1453	John Maunsel
1467	James FitzJames
1467	John Kendall (4 terms)
1472	Sir Thomas Tremayle
1483	John Hymerford	William Hody<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
1510–1523	No names known <ref name = HoP2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1529	Henry Thornton	Hugh Trotter<ref name = HoP2/>
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Thomas Dyer	Alexander Popham<ref name = HoP2/>
1547	Sir Thomas Dyer	Alexander Popham<ref name = HoP2/>
1553 (Mar)	Sir Thomas Dyer	Richard Gubby<ref name = HoP2/>
1553 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Dyer	Nicholas Halswell
1554 (Apr)	John Newport	Robert Molyns (or Mullens) <ref>Browne Willis gives Molyns' name only tentatively for 1555</ref>
1554 (Nov)	John Newport	John Chapell
1555	Thomas Dyer	Edmund Lyte
1558	John Newport	Robert Molyns (or Mullens)
1559	Sir Thomas Dyer	Robert Molyns (or Mullens)
1563–1567	John Edwards	Nicholas Halswell
1571		Edward Popham
1572–1581
1584–1585	Robert Blake
Parliament of 1586–1587		John Court
Parliament of 1588–1589		Alexander Popham
1593	Robert Bocking	William Thomas
1597–1598	Alexander Jones	Alexander Popham
1601	Sir Francis Hastings
1604–1611	Sir Nicholas Halswell	John Povey
Addled Parliament (1614)	Robert Halswell	Thomas Warre
1621–1622	Roger Warre	Edward Popham
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Arthur Lake
1625–1626
1628	Thomas Smith	Sir Thomas Wroth
1629–1640	No Parliament summoned

1640–1868

Year		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>!!First party!!!!Second member<ref name=histparl/>!!Second party
April 1640		Robert Blake		rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Edmund Wyndham<ref>Expelled as a monopolist, January 1641</ref>	Royalist
November 1640	rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Peter Wroth	Parliamentarian
February 1641	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Thomas Smith	Royalist
August 1642	Smith disabled from sitting — seat vacant
May 1644				Wroth died — seat vacant
1645		Admiral Robert Blake<ref>Cobbett lists the second MP elected in 1645 as John Palmer, MD, and gives Blake as MP for Taunton. Brunton & Pennington agree with the Dictionary of National Biography in naming Blake as MP for Bridgwater and Palmer for Taunton.</ref>			Sir Thomas Wroth
1653	Bridgwater was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Admiral Robert Blake		Bridgwater had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		Sir Thomas Wroth
January 1659					John Wroth
May 1659				One seat vacant
April 1660					Francis Rolle
1661		Edmund Wyndham			John Tynte
November 1669					Sir Francis Rolle
December 1669					Peregrine Palmer
February 1679		Sir Halswell Tynte			Sir Francis Rolle
September 1679					Ralph Stawell
1681					Sir John Malet
1685				rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Francis Warre	Tory
1689	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Henry Bull	Tory
1692		Robert Balch
1695		Nathaniel Palmer			Roger Hoar
1698		George Crane
1699				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Francis Warre	Tory
January 1701		John Gilbert		rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	George Balch	Tory
November 1701		Sir Thomas Wroth
1708	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	George Dodington	Whig
1710	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Nathaniel Palmer	Tory
1713		John Rolle
1715	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	George Dodington	Whig	rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Thomas Palmer	Tory
1720		William Pitt
1722		George Dodington
1727				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Halswell Tynte	Tory
1731				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Thomas Palmer	Tory
1735				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Charles Wyndham	Tory
1741				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Vere Poulett	Tory
1747				style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Peregrine Poulett	Tory
1753				rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Robert Balch	Tory
1754		The Earl of Egmont
1761					Edward Southwell
1762		Viscount Perceval<ref>Perceval was initially declared re-elected in 1768, but on petition he was judged not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Poulett, was seated in his place.</ref>
1763					The Lord Coleraine
1768				rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Benjamin Allen<ref>Allen was initially declared re-elected in 1780, but on petition he was judged not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Acland, was seated in his place.</ref>	Whig<ref name="stookssmith">Template:Cite book</ref>
1769	rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Anne Poulett	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1781	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			John Acland	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1784	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Rear-Admiral Alexander Hood<ref>Vice-Admiral from 1787</ref>	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1785		Robert Thornton
1790	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Major Vere Poulett<ref>Lieutenant-Colonel from 1793, Colonel from 1796</ref>	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Langston	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1796	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	George Pocock	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Jeffreys Allen	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1804	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			John Hudleston	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1806	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Major-General Vere Poulett	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Langston	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1807	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	William Thornton	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	George Pocock	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1820	rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Charles Kemeys-Tynte (1)	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1832	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	William Tayleur	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1835	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Temple Leader	Radical<ref name="stookssmith"/><ref name="johnbull1837">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
May 1837	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan="4"|	Henry Broadwood	Conservative<ref name="stookssmith"/>
August 1837	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Philip Courtenay	Conservative<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1841	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Thomas Seaton Forman	Conservative<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1847	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan="3"|			Charles Kemeys-Tynte (2)	Whig<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1852	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Brent Follett	Conservative
1857	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color"|	Alexander William Kinglake	Whig<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
1859	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" rowspan="4"|		Liberal		style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color"|	Liberal
1865	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Henry Westropp<ref>The election of Westropp was declared void and a by-election was held</ref>	Conservative
1866	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			George Patton	Conservative
1866	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Philip Vanderbyl	Liberal
1869	Writ suspended — both seats vacant <ref>The election of Kinglake and Vanderbyl in 1868 declared void. The writ (of election) was suspended and a Royal Commission was appointed, which reported that it had found proof of extensive bribery.</ref>
1870	Constituency abolished for corruption and incorporated into the West Somerset county division from 4 July 1870

Bridgwater county constituency, 1885–2010; 2024–present

• County division created (1885)

Year		Member<ref name=histparl/>	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1885	Edward Stanley	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1906	Henry Montgomery	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1910	Sir Robert Sanders	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1923	William Morse	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1924	Brooks Wood	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1929	Reginald Croom-Johnson	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1938 by-election	Vernon Bartlett	Independent Progressive
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1942		Common Wealth
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1945		Independent Progressive
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1950	Sir Gerald Wills	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1970 by-election	Tom King	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	2001	Ian Liddell-Grainger	Conservative
	2010	constituency abolished, replaced by Bridgwater and West Somerset

• County division re-created (2024)

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	2024	Ashley Fox	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Party		Vote	%
Template:Party color cell	Conservative	26,058	57.9
Template:Party color cell	Labour	9,334	20.7
Template:Party color cell	Liberal Democrats	7,932	17.6
Template:Party color cell	Green	925	2.1
Template:Party color cell	Others	755	1.7
Turnout		45,004	63.0
Electorate		71,418

Elections in the 1940s

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;

• Independent Progressive: Vernon Bartlett
• Conservative: Patrick Heathcoat Amery<ref>Western Daily Press, 13 Jan 1939</ref>

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 from 1914 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Robert Sanders
• Liberal: Philip Foale Rowsell

Sanders is appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring him to seek re-election.

Elections in the 1900s

File:Greville Montgomery.png

Montgomery

File:Edward Stanley of Bridgwater.jpg

Edward Stanley

Elections in the 1860s

A Royal Commission found extensive bribery in the seat and, from 4 July 1870, the writ was suspended, both MPs were unseated, and the electorate was absorbed into West Somerset.

Patton was appointed Lord Advocate, requiring a by-election.

Westropp's election was declared void on petition on 25 April 1866, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1830s

Leader resigned, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, in order to contest a by-election at Westminster, causing a by-election.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Somerset

Sources

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945–1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
• 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) [2]
• Esther S Cope and Willson H Coates (eds), Camden Fourth Series, Volume 19: Proceedings of the Short Parliament of 1640 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1977)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) [3]
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• 'Bridgwater: Parliamentary representation' in Victoria County History of Somerset: Volume 6 (1992)

External links

• Bridgwater UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Bridgwater UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK