About the Constituency
North Somerset Council comprises the Parliamentary constituencies of North Somerset (previously known as Woodspring) and Weston Super Mare. Since May 2007 the council is under Tory control but was previously a shared administration with a Lib Dem leader.
North Somerset constituency is largely rural, and takes in the towns of Nailsea, Clevedon and Portishead, together with numerous villages extending from the coast over to the Mendips, including Pill, Easton in Gordano, Long Ashton, Backwell, Yatton and Wrington. North Somerset constituency accounts for some 58% of the population of the North Somerset Council area.
The Victorian town of Clevedon's economy is largely dependent on commuters, with a large proportion working in Bristol. However, with its position on the M5, it has become a centre for distribution and light industry.
Nailsea was at the centre of the North Somerset coal field in the nineteenth century and was also famous for its glass. Sinking into rural tranquillity at the end of the 1800s the then village was identified by Somerset County Council as the site of a dormer town for Bristol in the 1950s. The town has grown from a small village of a few thousand to a town of 18,000.
Portishead is an attractive town right on the northern edge of the district, and the largest one in the constituency. It has recently doubled in size due to a major housing and industrial development. A new marina development, making use of port facilities built to service a now demolished power station and industrial complex, will create one of the most attractive (and challenging) new developments in the South West.