Chichester (UK Parliament constituency)

Chichester is a constituency in West Sussex, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Jess Brown-Fuller, a Liberal Democrat.

History

Chichester centres on the small medieval cathedral city by the South Downs National Park. It is one of the oldest constituencies in the UK, having been created when commoners were first called to the Model Parliament in 1295 as one of the original Parliamentary boroughs returning two members. The seat has sent one member since 1868, after the Reform Act 1867.

In its various forms, Chichester was a Conservative stronghold from 1868 to 2024 (except for a brief period of 10 months in 1923-24 when it was held by the Liberal Party's Charles Rudkin), but at the 2024 general election, it was won decisively by the Liberal Democrats on a huge swing of 31% with the election of Jess Brown-Fuller.

Boundaries

The seat forms a far western strip of West Sussex and covers the southern half of the Chichester district (including the City of Chichester and the coastal area).

Before the 1974 redistribution Chichester was a more compact seat, taking in the eastern towns of Arundel and Bognor Regis in latter years. Emergence of newer urban centres meant that the area was expanded to the north to avoid malapportionment.

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Chichester, the Sessional Divisions of Arundel and Chichester, and part of the Sessional Division of Steyning.

1918–1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Arundel and Chichester, the Urban Districts of Bognor and Littlehampton, and the Rural Districts of East Preston, Midhurst, Petworth, Westbourne, and Westhampnett.

1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Chichester, the Urban District of Bognor Regis, and the Rural District of Chichester.

1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Chichester, the Rural Districts of Midhurst and Petworth, and part of the Rural District of Chichester.

1983–1997: The District of Chichester. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

1997–2010: All the wards of the District of Chichester except the Bury, Plaistow and Wisborough Green wards.

2010–2024: The District of Chichester wards of Bosham, Boxgrove, Chichester East, Chichester North, Chichester South, Chichester West, Donnington, Easebourne, East Wittering, Fernhurst, Fishbourne, Funtington, Harting, Lavant, Midhurst, North Mundham, Plaistow, Rogate, Selsey North, Selsey South, Sidlesham, Southbourne, Stedham, Tangmere, West Wittering, and Westbourne.

2024–present: The District of Arun wards of Bersted and Pagham, and District of Chichester wards of Chichester Central, Chichester East, Chichester North, Chichester South, Chichester West, Goodwood (part), Harbour Villages, Lavant, North Mundham & Tangmere, Selsey South, Sidlesham with Selsey North, Southbourne, The Witterings, and Westbourne.

:Electorate reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring northern, largely rural areas, including the town of Midhurst, to Arundel and South Downs. To partly compensate, Bersted and Pagham were transferred in from Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.

Constituency profile

Physical geography

The constituency runs from the county's border with Surrey, through a partly wooded broad swathe of the South Downs, to the town of Selsey and paired villages The Witterings on the English Channel. The small cathedral city Chichester and Selsey account for 6 of 24 wards but comprise a higher proportion of councillors as these are larger three-member wards. The highest density of villages is near the Hampshire border, in the west.

The city has relatively little social housing and few homes which are cheap to buy or rent, as epitomised in the National Park status of much of the land north of Chichester. In Chichester itself the percentage of social housing in 2011 was 20.5%, including 3% directly in local authority homes. The area is linked to London by train and the A3. Modestly deprived areas of Chichester, Selsey and the rural South Downs are dominated by the working poor and poorer pensioners with little generational unemployment. The local economy has many entry-level or intensive manual jobs in food production, retail, driving, warehousing as well as intermittent or traditionally low paid labour such as road repair and the care sector. Some of these workers commute from the outskirts of nearest major cities Brighton and Portsmouth. The contributory districts occupy the top two rankings out of all seven in terms of fuel poverty in West Sussex.

Results

The seat was held by the Conservatives from 1924 to 2024 continuously; in 2017 the new Conservative candidate Gillian Keegan polled over 60% of the vote, a share which dropped slightly in 2019. The 2024 election saw the seat gained by the Liberal Democrat Jess Brown-Fuller who polled over 49%. The closest election before then was the 1997 general election, where a Liberal Democrat took 29.0% of the vote. The best performances by Labour candidates were in 2001 and 2017, with 21.4% and 22.4% of the vote, respectively. In terms of the fourth party since 2001, the three general elections to 2010 saw an increase in support for the UK Independence Party to their highest level to date, 6.8%.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1660

Constituency created 1295

{| class="wikitable"

!Parliament!!First member!!Second member

| 1386|| Thomas Patching|| John Sherare

| 1388 (Feb)|| Thomas Patching|| William Neel||

| 1510–1523|| colspan = "2"|No names known

| 1529|| Robert Bowyer I|| Robert Trigges

| 1562–3|| Thomas Stoughton|| John Sherwin || Thomas Whatman

| 1624|| Thomas Edmondes|| Thomas Whatman

| 1625|| Algernon Percy|| Humphrey Haggett

| 1626|| Algernon Percy|| Humphrey Haggett

| April 1626|| Edward Dowse|| Humphrey Haggett

| 1628|| William Cawley|| Henry Bellingham

| 1629–1640|| colspan = "2"|No Parliaments summoned

| 1640 (Apr)|| Christopher Lewknor|| Edward Dowse

| 1640 (Nov)|| Christopher Lewknor|| Sir William Morley, disabled 23 November 1642

| 1645|| Sir John Temple|| Henry Peck

| 1648|| ?

| 1653|| colspan = "2"|Chichester not represented in Barebones Parliament

| 1654|| Henry Peckham||(one seat only)

| 1656|| Henry Peckham|| (one seat only)

| 1659|| Henry Peckham|| William Cawley