West Chelmsford was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. From 1997 to 2010 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election.

History

This seat was created for the 1997 general election from parts of the abolished

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

constituency, together with areas transferred from Braintree. It was abolished at the next redistribution which came into effect for the 2010 general election, when the Chelmsford seat was re-established. It was a safe

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

seat throughout its existence.

Boundaries

The

Borough of Chelmsford The City of Chelmsford () is a local government district with borough and city status in Essex, England. It is named after its main settlement, Chelmsford, which is also the county town of Essex. As well as the settlement of Chelmsford itself, ...

wards of All Saints, Boreham, Broomfield, Pleshey and Great Waltham, Cathedral, Chignall, Good Easter, Mashbury, Highwood and Roxwell, Goat Hall, Great and Little Leighs and Little Waltham, Margaretting and Stock, Moulsham Lodge, Old Moulsham, Patching Hall, St. Andrews, Springfield North, Springfield South, The Lawns, Waterhouse Farm and Writtle. The seat took in northern and western parts of the abolished constituency of

including by far the majority of the city itself. It also included rural areas extending as far north as

Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England, halfway between Chelmsford itself and Braintree. In 1931 the parish had a population of 728. Histor ...

, the Walthams and

Good Easter Good Easter is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is northwest from the city and county town of Chelmsford. The parish includes the hamlets of Farmbridge End at the south, and Tye Green, conjoi ...

, which had previously been part of the Braintree constituency. At the 2010 general election, a newly re-created Chelmsford constituency (now a

Borough Constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

) succeeded this seat. Rural wards from this constituency mainly joined the Saffron Walden constituency, with a small area around

Margaretting Margaretting is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford (borough), Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England. The population of the village taken at the United Kingdom 2011 Census, 2011 Census was 847. The village is located on th ...

becoming part of the Maldon constituency.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 2000s

Notes and references

External links

West Chelmsford UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 51.76, 0.44, type:adm2nd_dim:30000_region:GB-ESS, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Essex (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2010 Politics of the City of Chelmsford