For many years it seemed as though coastal constituencies and Conservative MPs went hand in hand. Then came 1997; Hove, Brighton Pavilion, Hastings and Rye, Thanet South, Harwich, Scarborough and Whitby, and both Blackpool divisions all fell to Labour from the Conservatives, and in Morecambe and Lunesdale Geraldine Smith overhauled a notional Conservative majority of 10,572 to win by a touch under 6,000 votes.
Unlike many coastal constituencies, Morecambe and Lunsdale is reasonably urban in nature, with just a slice of usually rock-solid Conservative countryside nestled between the Lune and Morecambe Bay coast.
Elsewhere, the seat is an uneasy blend of tourist traps and industry. Beyond the coastal town of Morecambe, characterised by its amusement arcade and sprawling suburbs, lies Heysham with its ferry terminal and nuclear power station. More than a quarter of the constituency’s voters are of pensionable age. Those young enough to work are mainly employed in the service sector posts provided by tourist-dependent resorts and hill-walking areas. Although unemployment across the constituency is around the national average, there are still a few black spots in Morecambe which suffer from the seasonal unemployment inherent in the tourism industry.
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