Election 97

Chelmsford West

Current MP Simon Burns
Conservative 97 23,781
Labour 97 15,436
LibDem 97 17,090
Nationalist 97 0
Other 97 734
Elected party
Chelmsford West

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Chelmsford
Conservative 92 34,284
Labour 92 9,443
LibDem 92 18,098
Nationalist 92 0
Other 92 699
Elected party Conservative

In the recent boundary changes, Essex's county town Chelmsford has been split in two, and the eastern half (mostly villages and suburbs) linked with Maldon. This is the successor constituency to the old Chelmsford - predominantly middle-class and well-off, it is undeniable Tory country. Yet the Liberals mounted a strong challenge in the 1970s and 1980s against Norman St John Stevas, one of the prominent Tory 'wets' purged from Mrs Thatcher's cabinet. Although the Liberals reduced St John-Stevas' majority to 378 in 1983, they never inherited the seat, and Simon Burns, a Thatcherite who replaced St John Stevas after the latter retired to the Lords, can expect a five-figure majority. Thatcherism lives on in this corner of Essex.


Super Profiles

5,232 12.60 9.03 139
6,304 15.18 11.17 136
7,107 17.11 11.25 152
7,703 18.54 14.70 126
4,851 11.68 10.45 112
394 0.95 2.81 34
2,393 5.76 8.01 72
5,981 14.40 15.25 94
255 0.61 7.13 9
1,095 2.64 10.17 26