Sherwood Forest (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with the Australian Electoral district of Sherwood.

Sherwood Forest is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Michelle Welsh, of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]} The constituency's name is shared with Sherwood Forest, which is in the area.

Sherwood Forest
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Sherwood Forest in the East Midlands
County	Nottinghamshire
Electorate	76,543 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Hucknall, Ollerton, Ravenshead, Calverton
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Michelle Welsh (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Newark, Carlton, Ashfield

The constituency was formerly known as Sherwood. It was renamed as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, with minor boundary changes. It was first contested under the new name at the 2024 general election.^[2]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

Historic (Sherwood)

1983–1997: The District of Newark wards of Bilsthorpe, Blidworth, Boughton, Clipstone, Dover Beck, Edwinstowe, Farnsfield, Fishpool, Lowdham, Ollerton North, Ollerton South, Rainworth, and Rufford, the District of Ashfield wards of Hucknall Central, Hucknall East, Hucknall North, and Hucknall West, and the Borough of Gedling wards of Bestwood St Albans (Bestwood Village only), Calverton, Lambley, Newstead, and Woodborough.

1997–2010: The District of Newark and Sherwood wards of Bilsthorpe, Blidworth, Boughton, Clipstone, Dover Beck, Edwinstowe, Farnsfield, Lowdham, Ollerton North, Ollerton South, Rainworth, and Rufford, the District of Ashfield wards of Hucknall Central, Hucknall East, Hucknall North, and Hucknall West, and the Borough of Gedling wards of Bestwood Park, Calverton, Lambley, Newstead, Ravenshead, and Woodborough.

2010–2024 The District of Newark and Sherwood wards of Bilsthorpe, Blidworth, Boughton, Clipstone, Edwinstowe, Farnsfield, Ollerton, and Rainworth, the District of Ashfield wards of Hucknall Central, Hucknall East, Hucknall North, and Hucknall West, and the Borough of Gedling wards of Bestwood Village, Calverton, Lambley, Newstead, Ravenshead, and Woodborough.

Current (Sherwood Forest)

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The District of Ashfield wards of: Hucknall Central; Hucknall North; Hucknall South; Hucknall West.

• The Borough of Gedling wards of: Calverton; Newstead Abbey.

• The District of Newark and Sherwood wards of: Bilsthorpe; Boughton; Dover Beck; Edwinstowe & Clipstone; Farnsfield; Lowdham; Ollerton; Rainworth North & Rufford; Rainworth South & Blidworth.^[3]

The constituency saw minor boundary changes, primarily due to the redrawing of local authority ward boundaries.

The constituency is in central Nottinghamshire, covering parts of three local government authorities: Hucknall in the Ashfield district, parts of the Gedling borough, and the western part of the Newark and Sherwood district, the largest geographical area of the seat.

Constituency profile

The seat name is common with Sherwood Forest. The seat is an area of contrasts such as Ravenshead, home to some of Nottinghamshire's most affluent residents, numerous smaller rural villages, one mining village and many ex-mining villages, and the town of Hucknall, the largest in the constituency, now a commuter town, but one which remains involved with mining. Thoresby, Edwinstowe once contained a large operational coal mine underground. It does not contain the Nottingham City ward of Sherwood, which is further south, within the Nottingham East constituency.

In statistics

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of three local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose income is close to the national average, and lower than average reliance upon social housing.^[4] At the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 3.5% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to an identical regional average which was below the national average.^[5] Taking the part of Newark and Sherwood that contributes to the seat: a slightly below average 18.6% of its population are without a car, a medium 25.1% of the population are without qualifications and a high 24.2% have level 4 qualifications or above (2011). In terms of tenure, 70.2% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage by occupants as at the 2011 census across that district.^[6]

History

On the constituency's creation in 1983, Andy Stewart gained the seat for the Conservatives in their landslide victory that year with a small majority of 658. The Nottinghamshire miners drifted further from Labour during the 1984 strike and Stewart was re-elected with an increased majority in 1987. However, in 1992 the seat was gained for Labour by Paddy Tipping, who held it until he retired in 2010, when the seat was regained for the Conservatives by Mark Spencer, by a majority of 214. In 2015, Spencer's lead over the second placed candidate increased to 4,647 votes. This further increased in 2017 and another big swing to the Conservatives in 2019 saw Spencer's majority increase to 16,186, the first time a Conservative had a five-figure majority in the seat.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Newark, Carlton and Ashfield prior to 1983

Election		Member[8]	Party
	1983	Andy Stewart	Conservative
	1992	Paddy Tipping	Labour
	2010	Sir Mark Spencer	Conservative
	2024	Michelle Welsh	Labour

Elections

Sherwood Forest election results 1983-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Sherwood Forest^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michelle Welsh	18,841	38.7	+9.2
	Conservative	Mark Spencer	13,398	27.5	−33.3
	Reform UK	Helen O'Hare	11,320	23.3	N/A
	Green	Sheila Greatrex-White	2,216	4.6	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Dobbie [11]	1,838	3.8	−1.9
	Independent	Lee Waters	864	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Jeremy Spry	183	0.4	N/A
Majority			5,443	11.2	N/A
Turnout			48,660	61.9	−5.7
Registered electors			78,894
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.2

Lee Waters was selected to stand by the Ashfield Independents.

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Sherwood^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Spencer	32,049	60.8	9.3
	Labour	Jerry Hague	15,863	30.1	11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Ball	2,883	5.5	3.4
	Green	Esther Cropper	1,214	2.3	1.1
	Independent	Simon Rood	700	1.3	New
Majority			16,186	30.7	21.0
Turnout			52,709	67.6	2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.5

General election 2017: Sherwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Spencer	27,492	51.5	6.5
	Labour	Mike Pringle	22,294	41.8	5.9
	UKIP	Stuart Bestwick	1,801	3.4	11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Becky Thomas[13]	1,113	2.1	0.1
	Green	Morris Findley	664	1.2	1.0
Majority			5,198	9.7	0.6
Turnout			53,364	70.2	1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.3

General election 2015: Sherwood^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Spencer	22,833	45.0	+5.8
	Labour	Léonie Mathers	18,186	35.9	−2.9
	UKIP	Sally Chadd[16]	7,399	14.6	+11.6
	Green	Lydia Davies-Bright[17]	1,108	2.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Mosley[18]	1,094	2.2	−12.7
	Class War	Dave Perkins	78	0.2	New
Majority			4,647	9.1	+8.7
Turnout			50,698	69.1	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.4

General election 2010: Sherwood^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Spencer	19,211	39.2	+5.8
	Labour	Emilie Oldknow	18,997	38.8	−10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Moore	7,283	14.9	+1.4
	BNP	James North	1,754	3.6	New
	UKIP	Margot Parker	1,490	3.0	−0.7
	NOTA (None of the Above)	Russ Swan [21]	219	0.4	New
Majority			214	0.4	N/A
Turnout			48,954	68.9	+7.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Sherwood^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paddy Tipping	22,824	48.4	−5.8
	Conservative	Bruce Laughton	16,172	34.3	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Harris	6,384	13.5	+1.6
	UKIP	Moritz Dawkins	1,737	3.7	New
Majority			6,652	14.1	−6.3
Turnout			47,117	62.8	+2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.1

General election 2001: Sherwood^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paddy Tipping	24,900	54.2	−4.3
	Conservative	Brandon Lewis	15,527	33.8	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Harris	5,473	11.9	+3.3
Majority			9,373	20.4	−9.3
Turnout			45,900	60.7	−14.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Sherwood^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paddy Tipping	33,071	58.5	+11.0
	Conservative	Roland Spencer	16,259	28.8	−14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Moult	4,889	8.6	−1.0
	Referendum	Lee Slack	1,882	3.3	New
	BNP	Paul Ballard	432	0.8	New
Majority			16,812	29.7	+25.1
Turnout			56,533	75.6	−9.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1992: Sherwood^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paddy Tipping	29,788	47.5	+9.3
	Conservative	Andy Stewart	26,878	42.9	−3.0
	Liberal Democrats	JW Howard	6,039	9.6	−6.4
Majority			2,910	4.6	N/A
Turnout			62,705	85.5	+3.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Sherwood^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Stewart	26,816	45.9	+4.9
	Labour	William Bach	22,321	38.2	−1.5
	SDP	Stuart Thompstone	9,343	16.0	−3.3
Majority			4,495	7.7	+6.4
Turnout			58,480	81.9	+5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Sherwood^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Stewart	21,595	41.0
	Labour	William Bach	20,937	39.7
	SDP	Margaret E. Cooper	10,172	19.3
Majority			658	1.3
Turnout			52,704	76.3
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.