Romsey was a seat of 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

UK Parliament 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 suprema ...

1983–2010 which accordingly (as with all seats since 1950) elected one

Member of Parliament (MP) A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system of election. It is virtually tantamount to its replacement

Romsey and Southampton North Romsey and Southampton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Caroline Nokes for the Conservative Party. For the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer ...

which takes in two typical-size local government

wards of the United Kingdom The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and dist ...

named after and approximate to the Bassett and Swaythling parts of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Test Valley wards of Abbey, Blackwater, Chilworth and Nursling, Cuppernham, Field, North Baddesley, Romsey Extra, and Tadburn, and the District of New Forest wards of Blackfield and Langley, Colbury, Dibden and Hythe North, Dibden Purlieu, Fawley Holbury, Hythe South, Marchwood, Netley Marsh, Totton Central, Totton North, and Totton South. 1997–2010: The Borough of Test Valley wards of Abbey, Blackwater, Chilworth and Nursling, Cuppernham, Dun Valley, Field, Harewood, Kings Somborne and Michelmersh, Nether Wallop and Broughton, North Baddesley, Over Wallop, Romsey Extra, Stockbridge, and Tadburn, the Borough of Eastleigh wards of Chandler's Ford, Hiltingbury East, and Hiltingbury West, and the City of Southampton ward of Bassett. The constituency was approximate to the

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the boroughs of Andover and Romsey, a ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and covered a smaller area as parts of the north of Test Valley fell into part of the

North West Hampshire North West Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Conservative Kit Malthouse, who served as Education Secretary in 2022. History This constituency's results suggest a Conservative ...

seat to roughly ensure equal size electorates (low

malapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionmen ...

). The main town within the constituency was Romsey.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

and

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

. It was originally named Romsey and Waterside and included areas such as Hythe and Fawley on the west side of

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

. In 1997 it lost the Waterside area and gained the Bassett Ward of the City of Southampton, and new territory in the north of the Test Valley district, and was consequently renamed to just Romsey. The first MP,

Michael Colvin Michael Keith Beale Colvin (27 September 1932 – 24 February 2000) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North West in 1979. From 1983 onwards, he was the MP for Romsey a ...

, held the constituency from its creation until his death in 2000. This led to a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, which was won by

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Sandra Gidley Sandra Julia Gidley MRPharmS (''née'' Rawson; born 26 March 1957) is a British pharmacist and politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Romsey in Hampshire from 2000 to 2010, when she lost her seat to Conserva ...

, who held the seat in the two subsequent General Elections. Following their review of parliamentary representation in

, the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

created a modified Romsey constituency called

, to reflect the fact that two wards of

form part of the constituency (though one ward had in fact formed part of the constituency since 1997). Sandra Gidley lost to the

Conservatives 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 ...

in the 2010 general election when she contested the new seat. She was succeeded by Caroline Nokes.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romsey (Uk Parliament Constituency) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2010 Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire (historic) Test Valley