Rugby Constituency Profile

General

The Rugby Constituency comprises that part of the Rugby Borough [District] Council area which falls approximately within the triangle formed by the A45/M45 in the south, the A5 in the east and north and the A46/M69 in the west, plus the Bulkington Ward of the Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough [District] Council which is at the north-west corner of the constituency. Three Rugby Borough Wards, Dunchurch and Knightlow, Leam Valley and Ryton on Dunsmore that mostly lie south of the A45, are in the neighbouring Kenilworth and Southam constituency.

The Rugby Constituency lies on the eastern boundary of both Warwickshire and the West Midlands Region.  Coventry is its largest neighbour which lies to the west of the Constituency.  Other large towns within a 25 mile radius include Stratford Upon Avon, Northampton and Leicester.  Most of the population is concentrated in Rugby town but there is also a large rural area to the north and west of the constituency.

The total electorate numbers around 65,000.  Approximately 61,000 in the urban area of Rugby and 14,000 in the surrounding rural area which includes a number of major villages - Wolston, Long Lawford, Binley Woods, Brandon, Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, Brinklow, Pailton, Monks Kirby, Wolvey and Bulkington.

Rugby is growing fast. Two large developments at Cawston on the south west boundary of the town and at Coton to the north near M6 junction 1 are currently under construction and two further developments comprising a total of 800+ dwellings, commercial property and the re‑located FE College are planned for a former industrial site and the former Cattle Market site which are respectively to the north and south of the railway station.  A major redevelopment of the town centre which has been talked about for the past 30 years commenced in July 2007.  This will replace the old Co-op premises with an ASDA supermarket and several other new shops.  Also in July work started on the construction of the Western Relief Road which is hoped will divert many heavy trucks away from the town centre.  Negotiations for the development of a 100 bed hotel in the town centre are well advanced.

The rural area and the villages are linked to Rugby urban area by public transport.  The village residents shop in Rugby and the children attend secondary schools in the town.  Village residents also visit Rugby for leisure facilities and night-time entertainment.

Sociological

The following is an extract from the draft Sustainability Strategy recently published by the Borough Council -

"The overall population level remained steady from 1971 to 2001, but has risen over the last five years, and is expected to increase to well over 100,000 by 2026, largely due to people coming to live here and partly due to people living longer. Numbers of over 50s are beginning to increase sharply, while numbers of young people decline. The number of households has risen faster than the population, and around a quarter of Rugby's 39,000 households now have a single occupant.

The West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) was adopted in 2004 and has been subject to immediate partial review. Regional Housing allocations have been a feature of this partial review and will, when adopted, have a significant impact on the Borough and the surrounding areas. The current proposals indicate an upper limit of 23,000 houses for the Borough and this will need to be balanced with the necessary infrastructure and employment and retail opportunities. There is the potential, through the RSS, for the urban area of Rugby to double by 2026.

Rugby has settled and well-established minority ethnic communities, making up around 7% of the total population, the largest being Indian and Black Caribbean. Over the last couple of years, there has been a significant increase in the number of migrant workers from Eastern European countries, particularly Poland, with over 1,000 new workers in the last year alone.

Sitting on the West Coast Main Line and close to the M6 and M1 motorway network, the Borough has good transport links. However, this convenience brings its own challenges in terms of traffic movement, inward investment, and community identity, as many residents travel out of the Borough to work or shop.

Quality Of Life

Quality of life for most people in the Borough is good. Average household income is higher and rising faster than national and regional averages, and employment levels are high.

However, more than one in ten households have an income of less than £10,000 per year, and Rugby's traditional employers - manufacturing and agriculture - are in decline.

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (2004) - which measures a range of factors including income, education, employment, health, crime, amenities, housing and the environment - identifies some significant 'pockets of deprivation':

·                One neighbourhood (in Brownsover South) is in the 20% most deprived areas in England, and a further three areas (in Overslade, Newbold-On-Avon, and Newbold Town Centre) are in the bottom 30%.

·                Areas within Benn and New Bilton are amongst the worst 10 in Warwickshire with regard to crime and the quality of the living environment (both indoors and outdoors)

·                A number of villages feature in the bottom 10% in England with regard to access to services."

Economics / Employment

Rugby was traditionally a Heavy Engineering and Railway town but with the downturn in UK manufacturing, employment in Heavy Engineering has declined significantly but still provides the largest single type of employment.  In recent years there has been an increase in logistics bases and major business development adjacent to the M6 Junction 1

Following the recent closure of the Peugeot plant at Ryton, the major employers in the Borough are, ALSTOM, Rolls Royce, CEMEX and Local Authorities.

Local Government

The constituency is in Warwickshire with County, Borough and Parish Councils.

Rugby Borough Council is elected by thirds, Warwickshire County, Bulkington Ward and all the Parish Councils are elected every four years.

Rugby Borough Council

Following the 2007 election the make-up is as follows -

                                  Total                          In the Rugby

                                                                    Constituency

Conservative               27                                   23

Labour                         11                                   11

Liberal Democrat        10                                   9

Rugby Borough had been 'No Overall Control' for about 30 years although the Conservatives have had effective control following the resignation of a Labour Councillor in September 2006 and have held all the seats on the Cabinet since 2004 when Labour decided to stop supporting a mixed Cabinet.

Borough Council Wards are of varying size and have one, two or three members and are contest by the three main parties.  Independent candidates stand for election in some wards but since 2007 there are no Independent members of the Borough Council.  Also in 2007 there were Green Party Candidates in four Wards but they all came bottom of the poll.  To date there have been no BNP candidates.

Within the Rugby Constituency there are ten three-member wards, which have contests in three out of every four years, six two-member wards and one single-member ward.  In the rural wards the elections in one & two members wards are aligned with the Parish Council Elections.

The Bulkington Ward of the Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council is also a single-member ward, currently held by the Conservatives.

There has been steady growth in Liberal Democrat support in Council elections over the past years.  The first Liberal Democrat Councillor was elected in Rugby in 1990 and we reached a total of 10 Councillors in 2002.

Although we have not increased our number of seats in recent Borough elections our overall vote has been similar to Labour and on more than one occasion we polled more in total than Labour.

Warwickshire County Council - Overall

Conservative 28, Labour 23, Liberal Democrat 10, Independent 1.

Latest election results - May 2005 on revised boundaries.  Net changes - LD lost 2, Con gained 9, Lab lost 7. Subsequently a Lib Dem Councillor from Kenilworth defected to the Conservatives.

Warwickshire County Council - Rugby Borough area

Liberal Democrat 2, Labour 4, Conservative 5

Latest election results - May 2005 on revised boundaries.  LD no change, Con gained 1 from Lab

Parish Councils

As mentioned earlier there is a large rural area in the constituency, within the Rugby Borough part there are 27 Parishes, of which 19 have Parish Councils and 8 have Parish Meetings.  There are no PCs within the Bulkington Ward.  There are currently no Liberal Democrat Parish Councillors and we do not normally put up Liberal Democrat candidates.

Parliamentary Elections

The seat is considered as a Development Seat for the Liberal Democrats.

This is the first election to be fought on new boundaries.  Previously Rugby formed part of the Rugby & Kenilworth constituency.  The following information relates to the Rugby & Kenilworth constituency.

Kenilworth was added to the previous Rugby constituency in the 1983 boundary change.  Since then the high spot was second place for the 'Alliance' candidate in 1987, behind the Conservatives.

We slipped to third in 1992 and did not improve on this in 1997, 2001 or 2006.  However, the 2006 result showed a significant increase in the vote compared with the two previous elections and was amongst the highest percentage increases in the 59 constituencies in the West Midlands Region in comparison with 2001.

The 1997 election resulted in a unexpected defeat for the well-established and active Conservative MP, Jim Pawsey.  The Conservative majority of 12,000 was changed to a Labour majority of 500.  Mr Pawsey has subsequently retired from politics.

The Labour MP, somewhat surprisingly, held the seat with an increased majority of 2,500 in 2001 but lost to the Conservatives in 2005 by a similar margin.

The current member for Rugby & Kenilworth, Jeremy Wright, has opted to stand in the new Kenilworth and Southam Constituency and the Rugby Conservatives have chosen Mark Pawsey, son of the former MP, as their "Parliamentary Spokesperson.

Labour have very recently adopted Andy King as their Prospective Candidate again.

Media interest

It is anticipated that there will be a high level of media interest in Rugby at the next General Election.  Despite having lost some of the Tory heartland in Kenilworth and the rural south of the Borough which would normally make it a probable Labour seat, the constituency has gained the rural north of the Borough and Bulkington, which are predominantly Conservative in local elections.  In the current climate and the local government position this gives the Conservatives grounds for optimism that they can achieve what would be in effect a "gain" from Labour.

Local Party

Membership of the R & K Local Party fluctuated over the past 10 years between a low of 140 and a high of 190.  Of that Rugby always had the largest portion and the current membership in the new LP is around 80

Local Issues

Future Development proposals.

·                The Regional Spatial Strategy consultation document includes options that indicate Rugby may be required to provide for the building of up to 23,000 new dwellings by 2026.  This is approximately equivalent to doubling the size of the current Rugby town urban area.

·                Rugby Radio Mast Site.  BT announced their intention to close the site a few of years ago and the last of the large landmark masts were "felled" in early August 2007-  a number of smaller masts remain, but for how long?.  BT are promoting a re-development comprising around 9 - 10,000 houses plus an area of commercial premises.  The Warwickshire County Council Local Structure Plan identifies a requirement for 14,000 house to be developed "to the east of Rugby".  The Mast site is not specifically mentioned but is the only site that could become available and the County Council have identified it as a 'brownfield' site.

Rugby Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed development on the Site without -

Ø   major improvements in transport links between the Site and Rugby across the West Coast Main Line - current links are three low, or narrow, under-bridges and one narrow over-bridge - all single carriageway.

Ø   a green corridor along the line of the Oxford Canal to maintain the recreational aspect of the canal area.

Ø   a green buffer between the any development and the adjacent villages, e.g. Clifton and Newton, so they cannot be swamped, or simply absorbed into the large scale development.

NOTE

1.    Proposals to re-open the old Central Railway route through Rugby re-surface from time to time.  To date all such proposals have been rejected by Parliament.  In the most recent proposal the Mast site was the suggested route around Rugby.  BT have said they will resist any route through the Mast Site for obvious commercial reasons.  There are no current proposals.

2.    One third of the mast site lies to the east of the A5 in Northamptonshire who see no reason to declare it a 'brownfield' site.

Further Information

The following will be willing to give further information about the constituency:

Beatrice O'Dwyer [LP Treasurer], 102 Dunchurch Road Rugby Tel 01788 573368, or

Tom Hardgrave [LP Chairman], 18 Conrad Close Rugby Tel 01788 814456