Winchester
Liberal Democrat hold

In 1997 there were two parliamentary elections in the Winchester constituency, and the Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten won both, once by 2 votes and once by 21,556. This extraordinary story was occasioned by a challenge which resulted in a court case which decided that 55 ballot papers had been wrongly excluded due to a lack of franking by electoral officers, and thus a re-run was ordered for November 1997; but this did the Tories and their defeated May candidate Gerry Malone no good at all, as Oaten was overwhelmingly confirmed, with the help of massive tactical voting by the Labour contingent. Although the Conservatives were ahead in this seat in both the 1999 Euro-elections and the 2000 Winchester City elections, after such an endorsement as that of autumn 1997 it is hard to see him as a defeated contestant, at least not in the next parliamentary election that comes along here.

Mark Oaten, PPS to Charles Kennedy, is defending either the most marginal seat in Britain or one of the safest, according to taste. Of the generation (born 1964) to be impressed by the new Social Democratic Party in 1983, he duly joined up and was an SDP councillor in Watford before you could say "Gadarene rush" in 1986 - eventually leading the Liberal Democrat group. Secondary-modern-school-educated, and at Hatfield Polytechnic, his experience as a PR man equips him for the task of holding a safe Tory seat as a Liberal Democrat. Hence his votes against hunting bans and support for important local army interests on Japanese compensation for POWs, and making good deductions of pay of ex-POWs in German and Italian camps. Tall and street-wise looking, he also naturally sought legislation to stop candidates calling themselves 'Literal Democrats' in order to stop bona fide Liberal Democrats like him from winning. Conservative hopes here rest with Andrew Hayes, born 1963, educated at Hampton School and Edinburgh University and with a background in financial PR. He is a campaigner for the Business for Sterling, the anti-euro group, and wanted a referendum on the Maastricht Treaty.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 41.91% 14.99% 279.52 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 2.71% 2.13% 127.51 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 5.28% 2.49% 212.54 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 11.81% 4.43% 266.99 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 1.88% 7.27% 25.81 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 2.52% 2.56% 98.40 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 2.14% 2.04% 104.99 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.85% 3.94% 21.48 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 10.59% 13.04% 81.23 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 1.59% 12.70% 12.51 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 10.49% 8.14% 128.76 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 3.36% 4.02% 83.50 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 2.35% 3.19% 73.91 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 1.70% 11.31% 15.04 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.60% 3.06% 19.48 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 0.21% 0.06% 341.98

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 7.00% 9.41% 74.40 £5-10K 12.35% 16.63% 74.24 £10-15K 13.50% 16.58% 81.43 £15-20K 12.29% 13.58% 90.46 £20-25K 10.37% 10.39% 99.79 £25-30K 8.46% 7.77% 108.83 £30-35K 6.80% 5.79% 117.34 £35-40K 5.43% 4.33% 125.24 £40-45K 4.33% 3.27% 132.53 £45-50K 3.46% 2.48% 139.24 £50-55K 2.77% 1.90% 145.42 £55-60K 2.23% 1.47% 151.12 £60-65K 1.80% 1.15% 156.41 £65-70K 1.46% 0.91% 161.31 £70-75K 1.19% 0.72% 165.88 £75-80K 0.98% 0.57% 170.16 £80-85K 0.81% 0.46% 174.17 £85-90K 0.67% 0.37% 177.95 £90-95K 0.55% 0.31% 181.53 £95-100K 0.46% 0.25% 184.91 £100K + 2.74% 1.34% 203.79