Wells
Conservative hold

There was a rather odd result in the Somerset seat of Wells in 1997. With Conservatives going down all over the country like ninepins, and the long-established Liberal strength in the West Country and particularly in the county of Somerset, Wells might surely have been expected to join Somerton/Frome and Taunton as a Lib Dem gain; yet David Heathcoat-Amory held on, as the LD share of the vote scarcely rose. Rather it was Labour's which jumped forward, anti-tactically as it were. This may have had much to do with the candidature in the Labour interest of Michael Eavis, the organiser of the huge music festival near Glastonbury. Eavis is not standing this time, but the Liberal Democrat performance in Mendip and Sedgemoor district council elections in May 1999 does not indicate that they have the depth of local support to win Wells from Heathcoat-Amory in a 2001 General Election either.

David Heathcoat-Amory resigned in 1996 as Paymaster General in the Major government to oppose the single currency but was reinstated to the front bench under Hague and is currently Shadow Trade Secretary. A diffident, somewhat uncharismatic accountant, farmer and sometime Lloyds underwriter, he was born into a rich West country family (which included his great uncle, Derick Heathcoat-Amory, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Macmillan) and was educated at Eton and Balliol College Oxford. With his Thatcherite convictions reflected in his initial hesitation between Howard and Redwood in 1997, he had nonetheless earlier expressed doubts on the poll tax. He led the hunting-down of Labour's Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson in 1997-98. Liberal Democrat hopes here rest with the male nurse Graham Oakes, born 1959 and brought up in Yeovil. With ten years experience on Somerset County Council, he currently manages an old peoples' home.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 30.27% 14.99% 201.91 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 4.14% 2.13% 194.51 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 4.42% 2.49% 177.62 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 2.10% 4.43% 47.42 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 4.40% 7.27% 60.43 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.04% 2.56% 1.57 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.56% 3.94% 14.29 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 19.19% 13.04% 147.15 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 14.99% 12.70% 118.02 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 10.11% 8.14% 124.15 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 3.15% 4.02% 78.43 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 3.75% 3.19% 117.84 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 2.79% 11.31% 24.66 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.00% 3.06% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.09% 0.06% 148.71

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 9.58% 9.41% 101.80 £5-10K 17.39% 16.63% 104.57 £10-15K 17.39% 16.58% 104.87 £15-20K 14.07% 13.58% 103.61 £20-25K 10.56% 10.39% 101.57 £25-30K 7.72% 7.77% 99.25 £30-35K 5.61% 5.79% 96.90 £35-40K 4.10% 4.33% 94.66 £40-45K 3.02% 3.27% 92.59 £45-50K 2.25% 2.48% 90.70 £50-55K 1.69% 1.90% 89.00 £55-60K 1.29% 1.47% 87.47 £60-65K 0.99% 1.15% 86.11 £65-70K 0.77% 0.91% 84.90 £70-75K 0.60% 0.72% 83.82 £75-80K 0.48% 0.57% 82.86 £80-85K 0.38% 0.46% 82.00 £85-90K 0.30% 0.37% 81.23 £90-95K 0.25% 0.31% 80.55 £95-100K 0.20% 0.25% 79.94 £100K + 1.04% 1.34% 77.74