| Bridgwater | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Type: | County |
| Electorate: | 71,418 (2023)[1] |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Year2: | 1885 |
| Abolished2: | 2010 |
| Type2: | County |
| Elects Howmany2: | One |
| Year3: | 1295 |
| Abolished3: | 1870 |
| Type3: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany3: | Two |
| Region: | England |
| County: | Somerset |
| Caption2: | Boundary of Bridgwater in South West England |
Bridgwater is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
In 2010 it was replaced by the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat has been re-established for the 2024 general election, primarily formed from the (to be abolished) constituency of Bridgwater and West Somerset - excluding the area comprising the former District of West Somerset.[2]
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 until its abolition in 2010.
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.
2024–present: The re-established constituency is composed of the following electoral divisions of Somerset from the 2024 general election:
It comprises:
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1377 | William Tomer[6] | John Sydenham[7] | |
| 1380 (Jan) | |||
| 1383 (Oct) | William Tomer | ||
| 1385 | William Tomer | ||
| 1386 | John Sydenham | Richard Mayne | |
| 1388 (Feb) | John Sydenham | Richard Mayne | |
| 1388 (Sep) | John Palmer | John Wynd | |
| 1390 (Jan) | William Tomer | John Palmer | |
| 1390 (Nov) | |||
| 1391 | William Tomer | John Sydenham | |
| 1393 | William Tomer | Robert Boson | |
| 1394 | John Cole | John Palmer | |
| 1395 | William Tomer | John Kedwelly | |
| 1397 (Jan) | William Tomer | John Kedwelly | |
| 1397 (Sep) | William Tomer | ||
| 1399 | William Tomer | ||
| 1401 | |||
| 1402 | William Tomer | John Kedwelly | |
| 1404 (Jan) | |||
| 1404 (Oct) | |||
| 1406 | William Tomer | William Gascoigne | |
| 1407 | William Gascoigne | Richard Ward | |
| 1410 | William Gascoigne | John Kedwelly | |
| 1411 | |||
| 1413 (Feb) | |||
| 1413 (May) | William Gascoigne | William Gosse | |
| 1414 (Apr) | William Gascoigne | Thomas Cave | |
| 1414 (Nov) | William Gascoigne | John Kedwelly | |
| 1415 | |||
| 1416 (Mar) | |||
| 1416 (Oct) | |||
| 1417 | William Gascoigne | John Kedwelly | |
| 1419 | William Gascoigne | Richard Mayne | |
| 1420 | William Gascoigne | Martin Jacob | |
| 1421 (May) | James FitzJames | William Gascoigne | |
| 1421 (Dec) | William Gascoigne | John Pitt | |
| 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 | William Hody[8] | ||
| 1510–1523 | No names known [9] | ||
| 1529 | Henry Thornton | Hugh Trotter | |
| 1536 | ? | ||
| 1539 | ? | ||
| 1542 | ? | ||
| 1545 | Thomas Dyer | Alexander Popham | |
| 1547 | Sir Thomas Dyer | Alexander Popham | |
| 1553 (Mar) | Sir Thomas Dyer | Richard Gubby | |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir Thomas Dyer | Nicholas Halswell | |
| 1554 (Apr) | John Newport | Robert Molyns (or Mullens) [10] | |
| 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 | ||
| Year | First member[11] | First party | Second member | Second party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1640 | Robert Blake | Edmund Wyndham[12] | Royalist | ||||
| November 1640 | Sir Peter Wroth | Parliamentarian | |||||
| February 1641 | Thomas Smith | Royalist | |||||
| August 1642 | Smith disabled from sitting — seat vacant | ||||||
| May 1644 | Wroth died — seat vacant | ||||||
| 1645 | Admiral Robert Blake[13] | 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 | < | -- party --> | ||||
| January 1659 | John Wroth | ||||||
| May 1659 | One seat vacant | ||||||
| April 1660 | Francis Rolle | ||||||
| 1661 | Edmund Wyndham | < | -- party --> | John Tynte | |||
| November 1669 | Sir Francis Rolle | ||||||
| December 1669 | Peregrine Palmer | ||||||
| February 1679 | Sir Halswell Tynte | < | -- party --> | Sir Francis Rolle | |||
| September 1679 | Ralph Stawell | ||||||
| 1681 | Sir John Malet | ||||||
| 1685 | Sir Francis Warre | Tory | |||||
| 1689 | Henry Bull | Tory | |||||
| 1692 | Robert Balch | ||||||
| 1695 | Nathaniel Palmer | Roger Hoar | < | -- party --> | |||
| 1698 | George Crane | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1699 | Sir Francis Warre | Tory | |||||
| January 1701 | John Gilbert | George Balch | Tory | ||||
| November 1701 | Sir Thomas Wroth | ||||||
| 1708 | George Dodington | Whig | |||||
| 1710 | Nathaniel Palmer | Tory | |||||
| 1713 | John Rolle | ||||||
| 1715 | George Dodington | Whig | Thomas Palmer | Tory | |||
| 1720 | William Pitt | ||||||
| 1722 | George Dodington | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1727 | Sir Halswell Tynte | Tory | |||||
| 1731 | Thomas Palmer | Tory | |||||
| 1735 | Charles Wyndham | Tory | |||||
| 1741 | Vere Poulett | Tory | |||||
| 1747 | Peregrine Poulett | Tory | |||||
| 1753 | Robert Balch | Tory | |||||
| 1754 | The Earl of Egmont | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1761 | Edward Southwell | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1762 | Viscount Perceval[14] | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1763 | The Lord Coleraine | ||||||
| 1768 | Benjamin Allen[15] | Whig[16] | |||||
| 1769 | Anne Poulett | Tory | |||||
| 1781 | John Acland | Tory | |||||
| 1784 | Rear-Admiral Alexander Hood[17] | Tory | |||||
| 1785 | Robert Thornton | ||||||
| 1790 | Major Vere Poulett[18] | Tory | John Langston | Tory | |||
| 1796 | George Pocock | Tory | Jeffreys Allen | Tory | |||
| 1804 | John Hudleston | Tory | |||||
| 1806 | Major-General Vere Poulett | Whig | John Langston | Whig | |||
| 1807 | William Thornton | Tory | George Pocock | Tory | |||
| 1820 | Charles Kemeys-Tynte (1) | Whig[19] | |||||
| 1832 | Whig | ||||||
| 1835 | Radical[20] [21] | ||||||
| May 1837 | Conservative | ||||||
| August 1837 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1841 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1847 | Whig[22] [23] | ||||||
| 1852 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1857 | Whig[24] | ||||||
| 1859 | Liberal | Liberal | |||||
| 1865 | Henry Westropp[25] | Conservative | |||||
| 1866 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1866 | Liberal | ||||||
| 1869 | Writ suspended — both seats vacant [26] | ||||||
| 1870 | Constituency abolished for corruption and incorporated into the West Somerset county division from 4 July 1870 | ||||||
| Year | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Edward Stanley | Conservative | ||
| 1906 | Henry Montgomery | Liberal | ||
| 1910 | Sir Robert Sanders | Unionist | ||
| 1923 | William Morse | Liberal | ||
| 1924 | Brooks Wood | Unionist | ||
| 1929 | Reginald Croom-Johnson | Conservative | ||
| 1938 by-election | Vernon Bartlett | Independent Progressive | ||
| 1942 | Common Wealth | |||
| 1945 | Independent Progressive | |||
| 1950 | Sir Gerald Wills | Conservative | ||
| 1970 by-election | Tom King | Conservative | ||
| 2001 | Ian Liddell-Grainger | Conservative | ||
| 2010 | constituency abolished, replaced by Bridgwater and West Somerset | |||
| 2019 notional result[27] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 26,058 | 57.9 | ||
| 9,334 | 20.7 | ||
| 7,932 | 17.6 | ||
| 925 | 2.1 | ||
| Others | 755 | 1.7 | |
| Turnout | 45,004 | 63.0 | |
| Electorate | 71,418 | ||
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;
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;
Sanders is appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring him to seek re-election.
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.
Leader resigned, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, in order to contest a by-election at, causing a by-election.