53-778: Bristol West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party . It mostly covered the central and western parts of Bristol . Following the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies , the seat was reduced in size, with part of the Bishopston and Ashley Down ward being transferred to Bristol North West , and Lawrence Hill and Easton wards to Bristol East . It
106-628: A degree in history. While at the University of Bristol he was President of the SDP/Liberal society, and an active member of the local SDP branch. He later qualified as chartered tax adviser . He worked for Coopers and Lybrand , which would later merge into PricewaterhouseCoopers , from 1988 to 1995. He worked as a tax manager for Kraft Jacobs Suchard in 1995, and in the same role for Grant Thornton from 1996 to 2001 in Cheltenham and Bristol, then as
159-420: A few cases one). From 1535 each Welsh county and borough was represented, by one knight or burgess. The franchise was restricted differently in different types of constituency; in county constituencies forty shilling freeholders (i.e. landowners) could vote, while in boroughs the franchise varied from potwallopers , giving many residents votes, to rotten boroughs with hardly any voters. A county borough
212-666: A form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . The existing constituencies were created, effectively, for the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, in 1999. When created, all but two had the names and boundaries of Westminster constituencies. The two exceptions were the Orkney Holyrood constituency , covering the Orkney Islands council area , and the Shetland Holyrood constituency , covering
265-417: A large majority, thought to have been aided by the large student electorate, hostile to Labour's top-up fees policy. This Liberal Democrat success was similar to those in other seats with a large student population, such as Cambridge , Manchester Withington , Leeds North West and Cardiff Central . In the 2010 election , Stephen Williams held the seat with an increased majority. In the 2015 general election,
318-448: A more suitable label cannot be found. Where used, "The compass point reference used will generally form a prefix in cases where the rest of the constituency name refers to the county area or a local council, but a suffix where the rest of the name refers to a population centre." This is the reason for the difference in naming between, for example, North Shropshire (a county constituency ) and Reading West (a borough constituency ). In
371-586: A number of single-member first-past-the Post constituencies, matching the way Westminster MPs are elected. Following the decision that all MEPs should be elected by some form of proportional representation , the Labour government passed the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 , creating eleven constituencies on Great Britain, which were first used in 1999 . The South West England constituency
424-474: A tax accountant for various firms from 2001 to 2005. Williams was elected to Avon County Council in 1993 for Cabot in central Bristol. The authority was abolished in 1996. He was elected to Bristol City Council in 1995, to the same Cabot ward. He remained a councillor until 1999, leading the Liberal Democrat group on the council from 1995 to 1997. In the 1997 general election Williams stood as
477-668: Is in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh , while the main meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Palace of Westminster , in the City of Westminster . There are 73 Holyrood constituencies covering Scotland , and each elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first-past-the-post system . Also, the constituencies are grouped into eight electoral regions, and each of these regions elects seven additional members , to produce
530-513: The 2005 United Kingdom general election , the House of Commons had 646 constituencies covering the whole of the United Kingdom. This rose to 650 in the 2010 election following the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies . Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the " first-past-the-post " system of election. The House of Commons is one of the two chambers of
583-917: The 2010 general election with 48.0% of the vote. Williams served as chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health between July 2010 and October 2013. Between 2010 and 2013 he served as the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson. In January 2013 Williams introduced a backbench committee motion to reduce the voting age. The motion was passed. In October 2013, Williams was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary at Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). As communities minister, his responsibilities included community cohesion, race relations, localism and community rights, empty homes, housing standards, building regulations, neighbourhood planning, climate change and sustainable development. In March 2014, Williams published
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#1732851195480636-634: The 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 79.3%. This was the second highest support for remain for a constituency. As a result of the formation of a Brexit ' Unite to Remain ' pact between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru prior to the 2019 snap election, the Liberal Democrats agreed to withdraw from the Bristol West election in favour of
689-601: The Acts of Union 1707 , Scottish burghs were grouped into districts of burghs in the Parliament of Great Britain , except that Edinburgh was a constituency in its own right . After the Acts of Union 1800 , smaller Irish boroughs were disenfranchised, while most others returned only one MP to the United Kingdom Parliament. The Reform Act 1832 reduced the number of parliamentary boroughs in England and Wales by eliminating
742-526: The Cameron–Clegg coalition government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Communities and Local Government from 2013 to 2015. He came third in the inaugural 2017 West of England mayoral election , fourth in the 2017 United Kingdom general election where he sought re-election to his former seat of Bristol West, fourth in the 2021 West of England mayoral election , and second in
795-518: The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 , which enabled the creation of a new set of Westminster constituencies without change to Holyrood constituencies. The new Westminster boundaries became effective for the 2005 United Kingdom general election . There are 40 Senedd constituencies covering Wales , and each elects one Member of the Senedd (MS) by the first-past-the-post system . Also,
848-562: The Shetland Islands council area . For Westminster elections, these council areas were covered (and still are covered) by the Orkney and Shetland Westminster constituency . In 1999, under the Scotland Act 1998 , the expectation was that there would be a permanent link between the boundaries of Holyrood constituencies and those of Westminster constituencies. This link was broken, however, by
901-539: The bicameral Parliament of the United Kingdom , the other being the House of Lords . There are fourteen London Assembly constituencies covering the Greater London area, and each constituency elects one member of the assembly by the first-past-the-post system . Eleven additional members are elected from Greater London as a whole to produce a form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . Constituency names and boundaries remain now as they were for
954-488: The first general election of the assembly, in 2000. The assembly is part of the Greater London Authority and general elections of the assembly are held at the same time as election of the mayor of London . There are 18 Northern Ireland Assembly Constituencies : four borough (for Belfast ) and 14 county constituencies elsewhere (see below). Each elects five MLAs to the 90 member NI Assembly by means of
1007-424: The single transferable vote system. Assembly Constituency boundaries are identical to their House of Commons equivalents. The constituencies below are not used for the election of members to the 11 district councils . Scottish Parliament constituencies are sometimes called Holyrood constituencies, to distinguish them from Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. The Scottish Parliament Building
1060-729: The 2023 Hotwells and Harbourside councillor by-election. He is currently one of three Liberal Democrat councillors for the Westbury on Trym and Henleaze ward elected in the 2024 local elections . Stephen Roy Williams was born on 11 October 1966. He grew up in the village of Abercynon in the Cynon Valley in Glamorgan , Wales . He attended Mountain Ash Comprehensive School and the University of Bristol , where he graduated in 1988 with
1113-544: The Boundary Commissions for England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland the power to create names for constituencies, and does not provide a set of statutory guidelines for the Commissions to follow in doing so. Constituency names are geographic, and "should normally reflect the main population centre(s) contained in the constituency". Compass points are used to distinguish constituencies from each other when
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#17328511954801166-552: The British Isles . In 2017, it emerged that Williams had responded to 2014 concerns from the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group about the fire safety of Britain's tower blocks, especially the absence of sprinklers in many of these, by saying, "I have neither seen nor heard anything that would suggest that consideration of these specific potential changes is urgent and I am not willing to disrupt
1219-512: The Government's proposals following the housing standards review, which recommended a rationalisation of government, local authority and industry housing standards into a national set. As Minister for Communities, Williams also announced new funding for promotion of the Cornish language and gave recognition to the people of Cornwall as a national minority on the same basis as the other Celtic people of
1272-638: The Green Party. The result was a doubling of the Green vote and a reduction in the Labour majority by almost 10,000, but with a majority of over 28,000 for the Labour Party, the seat remains very safe. As of February 2023, 17 of the 20 city councillors in the Bristol West Constituency were from the Green Party. (Note that the vote-share changes for 2010 are from the notional results on the new boundaries, not
1325-494: The House of Commons to reduce the voting age to 16 . The motion was supported by a majority of Labour members and Liberal Democrats, but opposed by the Conservatives. It was defeated by 136–128 votes. In June 2006, Williams launched a campaign against homophobic bullying, after organising the education and skills select committee's first enquiry into bullying in schools. In the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership election Williams
1378-614: The July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; 51°27′47″N 2°36′30″W / 51.46301°N 2.60827°W / 51.46301; -2.60827 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 " constituencies " as opposed to " wards ": Between 1921 and 1973
1431-455: The Lib Dem vote fell by 29.2%; Williams came a distant third behind the winning Labour candidate Thangam Debbonaire and more than 5,000 votes behind the Green Party candidate, who achieved the greatest increase in the Green vote (+23%) in any seat that election. In 2017 Bristol West had the biggest swing to Labour in the country. The 52.1% majority was also the largest in the seat since 1931 . In
1484-466: The Liberal Democrat candidate for Bristol South , where he came third with 13.4% of the vote. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Bristol West in 2001, when he came second with 28.9% of the vote, and again in 2005, when he gained it from the Labour MP Valerie Davey with 38.3% of the vote. He became the first MP from the Liberal Democrats or its predecessor parties to hold the seat, and
1537-545: The Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2023 by-election in the Hotwells and Harbourside Bristol City Council ward, held after the sitting Liberal Democrat councillor resigned. Williams came second, with 40.85% of the vote, losing to the Green Party's Patrick McAllister on 42.93%. His loss made the Greens the largest group on the council. In November 2023, it was announced that Williams would be one of three Liberal Democrat candidates for
1590-466: The United Kingdom elected its Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) through twelve multimember European Parliament constituencies . One, Northern Ireland , used single transferable vote , while the eleven covering Great Britain used the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation . For its first European Parliamentary elections in 1979 Great Britain was divided into
1643-521: The actual 2005 results) Hicks Beach was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , requiring a by-election. Hicks Beach was appointed President of the Board of Trade , requiring a by-election. 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 and by
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1696-404: The changes implemented for the 2010 general election boundaries were relatively great, recommended by a periodic impartial Boundary Commission review. Easton and Lawrence Hill wards were transferred from Bristol East , while Henleaze , Stoke Bishop and Westbury-on-Trym wards were lost to Bristol North West . During the 2007 review, a proposal to rename the constituency as "Bristol Central"
1749-414: The committee that scrutinised a health bill that introduced a ban on smoking in public places. Williams supported a ban on smoking in all public places, rather than an alternative proposal to exempt private clubs and pubs which do not serve food from the ban. He won an award from World Health Organization for his advocacy of a full ban. On 29 November 2005, Williams introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill to
1802-485: The constituencies are grouped into five electoral regions, and each of these regions elects four additional members , to produce a form or degree of mixed-member proportional representation . The current set of Senedd constituencies is the second to be created. The first was created for the first general election of the National Assembly for Wales, in 1999. Before its withdrawal from the European Union in 2020,
1855-456: The council. The spending limits for election campaigns are different in the two, the reasoning being that candidates in county constituencies tend to need to travel farther. For by-elections to any of these bodies, the limit in all constituencies is £100,000. In the House of Commons of England , each English county elected two " knights of the shire " while each enfranchised borough elected "burgesses" (usually two, sometimes four, and in
1908-558: The distinction; the Boundary Commission for England has stated that, "as a general principle, where constituencies contain more than a small rural element they should normally be designated as county constituencies. Otherwise they should be designated as borough constituencies." In Scotland, all House of Commons constituencies are county constituencies except those in the cities of Glasgow , Edinburgh , Aberdeen , Dundee and three urban areas of Lanarkshire . In England and Wales,
1961-534: The first Liberal or Liberal Democrat MP in Bristol since 1935, as well as the first openly gay Liberal Democrat MP. His victory was credited to the party's opposition to tuition fees and the Iraq War . After his election on 5 May 2005, then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy appointed Williams as the party's public health spokesperson, shadowing the public health minister Caroline Flint . In this role he served on
2014-756: The following body also included members elected by constituencies: Electoral areas called constituencies were previously used in elections to the European Parliament , prior to the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union (see European Parliament constituency ). In local government elections (other than for the London Assembly) electoral areas are called wards or electoral divisions . House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies are designated as either county or borough constituencies, except that in Scotland
2067-439: The night of the election at 3:15 am, took Labour over the threshold of 330 seats required for an overall majority in the new House of Commons. At the 2005 election the seat was Liberal Democrat target number 18, and Conservative target number 50; it had been frequently described in the media as a "three-way marginal", and all parties fought hard for the constituency. The seat was taken by Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams with
2120-409: The party's spokesperson for innovation, universities and skills . In 2008, Williams wrote a policy proposal that would allow top-up fees as part of his role as spokesperson for universities, but the proposal was rejected by the party's Federal Policy Committee. He later said that he had led several attempts to remove or moderate the party's policy to abolish tuition fees. Williams held his seat in
2173-465: The position of returning officer in borough constituencies is held ex officio by the mayor or chairman of the borough or district council, and the high sheriff of the county in county constituencies. The administration of elections is carried out by the acting returning officer, who will typically be a local council's chief executive or Head of Legal Services. The role, however, is separate from these posts, and can be held by any person appointed by
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2226-413: The previous common electoral quota for the whole United Kingdom and replaced it with four separate national minimal seat quotas for the respective Boundaries commissions to work to, as a result the separate national electoral quotas came into effect: England 69,534; Northern Ireland 67,145, Wales 58,383 and in Scotland only 54,741 electors. The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 gives
2279-788: The rotten boroughs. It also divided larger counties into two two-seat divisions , the boundaries of which were defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 , and gave seven counties a third member. Similar reforms were also made for Scotland and for Ireland . The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) equalised the population of constituencies; it split larger boroughs into multiple single-member constituencies, reduced smaller boroughs from two seats each to one, split each two-seat county and division into two single-member constituencies, and each three-seat county into single-member constituencies. The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958 , eliminated
2332-1073: The size of the University of Bristol increased (the city's largest single independent employer which is chiefly in the seat). The seat also includes poorer areas such as Lawrence Hill and Easton . 1885–1918 : The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton, St Augustine's, St Michael's, and Westbury, and the local government district of Horfield. 1918–1950 : The County Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton North, Clifton South, Horfield, Redland, St Michael, and Westbury-on-Trym. 1950–1955 : The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Clifton, Redland, St Augustine, St James, and St Michael. 1955–1974 : The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Durdham, and Redland. 1974–1983 : as above plus District 1983–1997 : The City of Bristol wards of Ashley, Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Cotham, Henleaze, Redland, and Stoke Bishop. 1997–2010 : as above plus Westbury-on-Trym. 2010–2024 : as above less Westbury-on-Trym, Stoke Bishop and Henleaze, plus Clifton East, Easton, and Lawrence Hill The above shows that
2385-430: The term burgh is used instead of borough . Since the advent of universal suffrage , the differences between county and borough constituencies are slight. Formerly (see below ) the franchise differed, and there were also county borough and university constituencies. Borough constituencies are predominantly urban while county constituencies are predominantly rural . There is no definitive statutory criterion for
2438-415: The vote to increase tuition fees to £9,000 a year. He was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2017 West of England mayoral election , in which he came third with 20.2% of the vote. In the same year, he stood for his former seat of Bristol West, saying that the Liberal Democrat policy about UK membership of the European Union would mean he could win the seat back. He came fourth with 7.3% of
2491-413: The vote. In the 2019 European Parliament election , he was selected as the third candidate on the Liberal Democrat list for South West England . The list received 23.2% of the vote, with the two candidates ahead of him being elected. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate again in the 2021 West of England mayoral election . He came in fourth place, with 16.3% of the vote. Williams was also selected as
2544-518: The work of this department by asking that these matters are brought forward." The correspondence was leaked to the BBC after the Grenfell Tower fire . In the 2015 United Kingdom general election , Williams lost his seat to Labour Party candidate Thangam Debbonaire . He came third with 18.8% of the vote. Before the election, he said he was concerned about losing support amongst students for abstaining on
2597-412: Was also renamed to Bristol Central , and was first contested at the 2024 general election . More urban since boundary changes in 2010, the seat retains a high proportion of the city's most garden-rich, grandest houses and landscaped civic parks in affluent suburbs such as Clifton and Redland . Many of the townhouses in Bristol were subdivided in the latter half of the 20th century, during which time
2650-558: Was expanded from the 2004 elections onward to include Gibraltar , the only British overseas territory that was part of the European Union , following a court case. Stephen Williams (British politician) Stephen Roy Williams (born 11 October 1966) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol West from the 2005 general election until his defeat by Labour Party candidate Thangam Debbonaire in 2015 . As an MP, he served in
2703-428: Was rejected. Held by Conservatives continuously for 112 years, it was at various points represented by Conservative cabinet ministers Michael Hicks-Beach , Oliver Stanley , Walter Monckton and William Waldegrave . As part of a national Labour Party landslide, exceeding that of 1945 , the 1997 gain by Valerie Davey was from a third-placed starting point for the party's candidate in 1992 . That win, declared on
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#17328511954802756-492: Was the agent of Chris Huhne . Following the election, newly elected leader Menzies Campbell moved Williams to the further and higher education portfolio, shadowing minister Bill Rammell . After the reorganisation of government departments by new prime minister Gordon Brown in July 2007, Campbell reshuffled his team and Williams became the party's spokesperson on schools. Following the election of Nick Clegg as leader, whom Williams supported against Chris Huhne, Williams became
2809-459: Was the constituency of a county corporate , combining the franchises of both county and borough. Until 1950 there were also university constituencies , which gave graduates an additional representation. Similar distinctions applied in the Irish House of Commons , while the non-university elected members of the Parliament of Scotland were called Shire Commissioners and Burgh Commissioners. After
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