Arundel & South Downs
Conservative hold

One of the ten safest Conservative seats is to be found here in West Sussex. Arundel is somewhat fortunate to be included in the name of the seat, for its population of 3,000 is one of the smallest of any town so honoured anywhere in Britain. But it does include a mighty castle, the home of the nation's premier Roman Catholic aristocratic family, and a cathedral (heavily associated therewith), and one of the most beautiful first class cricket grounds (ditto) and so fully deserves the mention. Nor are there any other towns of even as many as 10,000 souls. This peaceful, prosperous heartland of the lush southern English countryside is the epitome of the traditional character and virtues of the land, and its political allegiance is undoubting, or certainly unswaying.

Howard Flight, big and breezy and a Treasury spokesman, was elected in 1997. Misleadingly self-described as 'Essex Man', he comes with rather more traditional accoutrements than most of the Romford-born, as a plummy-voiced public school (albeit Brentwood) and Cambridge (Magdalene)-and-Michigan-educated investment manager, whose wife works at Sotheby's. His political pedigree is Right-wing with links to the Freedom Association and the Seldsdon Group, a keen advocate of welfare privatisation and a backer of Redwood in 1997 even into the last ditch with Kenneth Clarke. A defender of capitalism as redolent of a Bach fugue, he prefers its unregulated American to its European version and has opposed the EU's withholding tax. He dismissed Labour's total hand gun ban as 'political correctness'.

Arundel Town Council

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 45.26% 14.99% 301.84 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 2.86% 2.13% 134.68 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 5.62% 2.49% 226.02 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.44% 4.43% 9.95 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 7.48% 7.27% 102.78 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 1.05% 2.56% 40.88 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.41% 2.04% 20.11 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 22.59% 13.04% 173.25 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 2.42% 12.70% 19.02 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 7.32% 8.14% 89.94 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.18% 4.02% 4.42 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.04% 3.19% 32.60 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 2.45% 11.31% 21.69 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.88% 3.06% 28.69 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.01% 2.52% 0.31 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 1.77

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 6.15% 9.41% 65.38 £5-10K 11.93% 16.63% 71.75 £10-15K 13.57% 16.58% 81.83 £15-20K 12.55% 13.58% 92.37 £20-25K 10.65% 10.39% 102.45 £25-30K 8.69% 7.77% 111.76 £30-35K 6.96% 5.79% 120.25 £35-40K 5.54% 4.33% 127.93 £40-45K 4.40% 3.27% 134.89 £45-50K 3.50% 2.48% 141.20 £50-55K 2.80% 1.90% 146.92 £55-60K 2.24% 1.47% 152.14 £60-65K 1.81% 1.15% 156.92 £65-70K 1.46% 0.91% 161.31 £70-75K 1.19% 0.72% 165.35 £75-80K 0.97% 0.57% 169.10 £80-85K 0.80% 0.46% 172.58 £85-90K 0.66% 0.37% 175.83 £90-95K 0.55% 0.31% 178.86 £95-100K 0.45% 0.25% 181.70 £100K + 2.64% 1.34% 196.30