Yeovil
Liberal Democrat hold

Paddy Ashdown, now a knight of the realm, has retired from the Commons, but Yeovil is now so associated with the Liberal Democrat party he led for so long that few doubt that he can hand it over for safe keeping to David Laws in 2001. This south Somerset seat has become accustomed to voting Liberal Democrat at all levels since Ashdown first won the seat in 1983. The party is in firm control of South Somerset district council, and won all 17 county council electoral wards while taking charge of Somerset when it was last fought in 1997, on the same day as Ashdown's last parliamentary victory: a remarkable clean sweep. There is a working class and industrial element here - Westland helicopters have several plants in and around the town of Yeovil - but Labour could come second only in one ward, Yeovil North and West in 1997, and contested fewer than one third of the wards on the district council in 1999, winning nowhere. The seat contains other towns such as Chard, Crewkerne and Ilminster, and much rural terrain as well, but the Lib Dems have established a firm lock on the whole.

David Laws, successor to Sir Paddy Ashdown, has been drawn from the Party's inner sanctum as a merchant banker (J P Morgan's)-turned-party-apparatchik working as the Party's economic adviser (1994-97), and as Director of Policy and Research (1997-99). Born 1965, he enjoyed something of a gilded youth, educated at St George's (RC) College, Weybridge (where he won The Observer Mace Debating Competition) and King's College, Cambridge, where he obtained a double first in economics. In 1997 he fought Michael Howard at Folkestone & Hythe.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 10.78% 14.99% 71.93 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 4.21% 2.13% 197.91 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 2.99% 2.49% 120.27 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 1.91% 4.43% 43.23 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 7.01% 7.27% 96.44 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 1.28% 2.56% 49.87 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.64% 3.94% 16.20 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 24.38% 13.04% 187.01 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 14.41% 12.70% 113.47 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 17.05% 8.14% 209.39 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 3.11% 4.02% 77.31 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 3.92% 3.19% 123.06 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 7.94% 11.31% 70.19 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.11% 3.06% 3.50 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.25% 2.52% 9.84 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 9.37% 9.41% 99.58 £5-10K 18.38% 16.63% 110.50 £10-15K 18.68% 16.58% 112.67 £15-20K 14.93% 13.58% 109.95 £20-25K 10.91% 10.39% 104.97 £25-30K 7.71% 7.77% 99.18 £30-35K 5.40% 5.79% 93.29 £35-40K 3.80% 4.33% 87.64 £40-45K 2.69% 3.27% 82.38 £45-50K 1.92% 2.48% 77.54 £50-55K 1.39% 1.90% 73.13 £55-60K 1.02% 1.47% 69.11 £60-65K 0.75% 1.15% 65.45 £65-70K 0.56% 0.91% 62.12 £70-75K 0.42% 0.72% 59.07 £75-80K 0.32% 0.57% 56.29 £80-85K 0.25% 0.46% 53.74 £85-90K 0.19% 0.37% 51.39 £90-95K 0.15% 0.31% 49.23 £95-100K 0.12% 0.25% 47.23 £100K + 0.51% 1.34% 37.69