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 Wansdyke
derives its name from Woden's Dyke (Woden being a god of the Saxons),
the ancient defensive ditch that stretches from near Bristol to
beyond Marlborough. The constituency is mainly a residential area
from which people commute into Bristol or Bath but it includes the
picturesque Chew Valley to the south of Bristol and parts of South
Gloucestershire.
The northern
edge of the constituency includes parts of Bristol, moving across
to Bath and down to the old Somerset coalfields. One of the main
towns is Keynsham.
The electorate
in Wansdyke is evenly split between rural and urban areas. The constituency
is at present the only Labour seat in Somerset. The constituency
also contains the old Somerset coalfield centred around Midsomer
Norton and Radstock where Labour has always been strong, and Labour
had spread their roots at a local level before the 1997 election.
Dan Norris was
elected Labour MP for Wansdyke in 1997, with a majority of 4,799
over the Conservative Party. The result of a swing of 14.4% to Labour
from the Tories, and the biggest increase in Labour’s share
of the vote in the South West.
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