History
Represented by the Conservatives since 1910, including for 34 years former prime minister Anthony Eden, the seat had not been expected to change hands in the 1997 general election. James Plaskitt's defeat of the Conservative incumbent, Dudley Smith, came as a surprise, even in the context of Labour's landslide victory. Plaskitt increased his majority in the 2001 election, but on a lower turnout. In the 2005 election, Warwick and Leamington was 85th on the Conservative list of target seats, meaning that to gain it they would have required a somewhat greater swing than was seen nationally. With the greatest increase in support being seen by the Liberal Democrats, Plaskitt only narrowly held the seat, with his majority slashed from nearly 6,000 votes to only 266.
However, boundary changes in Labour's favour which took effect at the 2010 general election mean that Warwick and Leamington will not necessarily be as marginal as this result suggests. In the event the seat was gained by the Conservatives, with Chris White defeating incumbent James Plaskitt by seven percentage points.
Read more about this topic: Warwick And Leamington (UK Parliament Constituency)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations ... all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)