Swindon General Elections!
They say whichever party wins in Swindon, wins the general election - we look back on results since 1969
The two Swindon seats are always key targets for the party wanting to form a government.
Today they are both Conservative, and have been since 2010, when the present era of Tory government started. Before then, Swindon was represented by Labour during the 'Blair' years and Conservative before that when Thatcher was in power.
The way Swindon votes really is a snapshot of public opinion in the UK.
Looking back, here's where the people of Swindon have put their cross for the last 40 years.
General Election 2017 Results
In a dramatic election night, Swindon again voted with the majority of the UK and elected two Conservative MPs. But both results gave an indication of the swing to Labour that led to a Hung parliament.
Justin Tomlinson remained the MP for Swindon North with an 8,335 majority, down from 11,786 in 2015. And Robert Buckland narrowly won Swindon South with a reduced majority of 2,464, compared to his winning margin in 2015 of 5,785. Turnout was up in both constituencies. The Swindon results in full:
North Swindon
Turnout: 68.5%
South Swindon
Turnout: 70.8%
General Election 2015 Results
Both Conservative MPs re-elected with increased majorities Swindon stayed blue as both Conservative MPs were voted in with increased majorities. North Swindon Justin Tomlinson in North Swindon became the first Conservative MP to be elected in the country when the result was announced just after 1.30am. He beat Labour's Mark Dempsey in to second by 11,786 votes, with over 50% of the vote. The Swindon results in full:
North Swindon
Turnout: 64.7%
South Swindon
Turnout: 66.9%
General Election 2010 Results
Labour era ends as Conservatives triumph in North & South Swindon
Justin Tomlinson won for the Tories in North Swindon with a majority of 7,060.
Robert Buckland defeated Labour's Anne Snelgrove in South Swindon by 3,544 votes.
In North Wiltshire, Conservative MP James Gray held his seat.
The Swindon results in full:
North Swindon
Turnout: 50,295 64.2% +3.4%
South Swindon
Turnout: 47,119 64.9% +5.9%
General Election 2005 Results
Close Call For Labour The people of Swindon once again elected two Labour MPs to represent them in the Houses of Parliament on 05 May 2005.
Both candidates, however, had their majorities slashed by a reassurgent display by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. In a tense night of counting at the Oasis Leisure Centre, local Tory candidate Justin Tomlinson produced a 6.7% swing in his favour and whittled Michael Wills' 2001 cushion of 8,105 down to just 2,571. For Anne Snelgrove it was even tighter - with victory coming by only 1,353 votes from Conservative Robert Buckland.
One disappointing statistic on the night was the turnout, which was barely up on four years ago. In North Swindon 61.82% of those eligible had their say (61.15% in 2001). In South Swindon 60.35% (61.14%). Both were below the national average.
The results in full:
Swindon North 2005
Labour Majority: 2571 Turnout: 61.82%
Swing from Labour to Conservative: 6.7%
Swindon South 2005
Labour Majority: 1,353
Turnout: 60.35%
Swing from Labour to Conservative: 6.9%
General Election 2001 Results Landslide for Labour Swindon voters followed the national trend and re-elected Labour members in both the town's constituencies. Michael Wills was re-elected as the member of parliament for Swindon North, while Julia Drown won in Swindon South. The two constituencies recorded identical turnouts of 61.0% - above the national average. Swindon North 2001
Labour Majority: 8105
Turnout: 61.0%
Swing from Conservative to Labour: 1.6%
Swindon South 2001
Labour Majority: 7341 Turnout: 61.0%
Swing from Conservative to Labour: 3.0%
General Election 1997 Results
Swindon swaps blue for red and elects Blair In a big swing from the Conservatives, both Swindon constituencies voted overwelming for the two Labour candidates as Tony Blair won a landslide across the UK.
The pair joined 416 other Labour MPs in an overall Commons majority for Tony Blair of 179.
The result signalled the end of Simon Coombs, who had been Swindon's Conservative MP since 1983.
Swindon North 1997
Labour Majority: 7,688
Turnout: 48,270 (73.66%)
Swindon South 1997
Labour Majority: 5,645
Turnout: 51,162 (72.87%)
Boundary Change 1995
This was due to the planned Northern Development in the town that would swell the already overly large constituency of 90,000 (20,000 above the national average) to well over 120,000, and to simplify the constituency borders, which until the boundary change included anomalies such as Highworth still being part of the Devizes constituency. Swindon 1992
Coombs wins for third time
Conservative Majority: 2,826
Turnout: 73,405 (81.5%)
Swindon 1987
Swindon stays blue
Conservative Majority: 4,857
Turnout: 67,024 (77.8%)
Swindon 1983
End of Stoddart Era
It also saw the start of three consecutive Tory victories by Simon Coombs.
Conservative Majority: 1,395
Turnout: 56,933 (74.1%)
Swindon 1979
Swindon defies the country as Thatcher comes to power
Labour Majority: 5,899
Turnout: 65,761 (76.41%)
Short Stay
Interestingly, the man who preceeded Lord Stoddart as MP for Swindon was Conservative, Christopher Ward, who lost the general election on the 18th June 1970 to Stoddart after serving only 231 days as the town's Member of Parliament following his by-election victory on 30th October 1969 (the 13th shortest term in history). |
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