Yeovil is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

created in 1918 and represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. It has been represented since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Marcus Fysh Marcus John Hudson Fysh (born 8 November 1970) is a British politician and former investment manager who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Parliamentary Under-S ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Boundaries

1918–1974: The Municipal Boroughs of Yeovil and Chard, the Urban Districts of Crewkerne and Ilminster, the Rural Districts of Chard, Langport, Yeovil. 1974–1983: As 1918 but with redrawn boundaries. 1983–1997: The District of Yeovil wards of Blackdown, Chard North East, Chard North West, Chard Parish, Chard South East, Chard South West, Chinnock, Coker, Crewkerne Town, Dowlish, Egwood, Hazelbury, Houndstone, Ilminster Town, Lynches, Mudford, Neroche, St Michael's, South Petherton, Stoke, Windwhistle, Yeovil Central, Yeovil East, Yeovil North, Yeovil Preston, Yeovil South, Yeovil West. 1997–2010: The District of South Somerset wards of Blackdown, Chard Avishayes, Chard Combe, Chard Crimchard, Chard Holyrood, Chard Jocelyn, Coker, Crewkerne, Egwood, Hamdon, Houndstone, Ilminster, Mudford, Neroche, Parrett, St Michael's, South Petherton, Tatworth and Forton, Windwhistle, Yeovil Central, Yeovil East, Yeovil Preston, Yeovil South, Yeovil West, Yeovil Without. 2010–present: The District of South Somerset wards of Blackdown, Brympton, Chard Avishayes, Chard Combe, Chard Crimchard, Chard Holyrood, Chard Jocelyn, Coker, Crewkerne, Egwood, Hamdon, Ilminster, Ivelchester, Neroche, Parrett, St Michael's, South Petherton, Tatworth and Forton, Windwhistle, Yeovil Central, Yeovil East, Yeovil South, Yeovil West, Yeovil Without.

Main settlements

The seat covers the towns of

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

Crewkerne Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard all in the South Somerset district. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley – and b ...

and

Ilminster Ilminster is a minster town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the town now lies just east of the junction of the A303 (London to Exeter) and the A358 (Taunton to C ...

in the county.

History

From 1918 until 1983, Yeovil always returned a

MP (though by only narrow margins over Labour in the 1940s and 1950s). There then followed a period of over 30 years during which the seat was represented by a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

or their successors, the Liberal Democrats; firstly former leader

Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internati ...

(1983–2001) and then former Chief Secretary to the Treasury

David Laws David Anthony Laws (born 30 November 1965) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, in his third parliament he served at the outset as a Cabinet Mini ...

(2001 to 2015). At the 2015 election, the seat returned to its former Conservative allegiance as

defeated Laws by over 5,000 votes. The South Somerset district voted 57% to leave the European Union, and academic analysis estimates that Yeovil itself voted 59% to leave. There was a swing of 7.7% away from the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats towards the pro-Leave Conservatives, which made the seat much safer in 2017, Marcus Fysh's majority increasing to just under 15,000. In 2019 the voters slightly increased this majority (to over 16,000).

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Election in the 1940s

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; *Conservative: John Fox-StrangwaysWestern Gazette, 4 Feb 1938 *Liberal: James Bateman *Labour:

Malcolm MacPherson Malcolm MacPherson (18 August 1904 – 24 May 1971) was a Scottish Labour politician. Biography Malcolm MacPherson was born on The Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth, where his father, John McPherson, was one of the lighthouse keepers. Ma ...

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeovil (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Somerset Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Yeovil