Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency is set to be one of the most-watched on election night. The North East Somerset and Hanham constituency sees much of the western half of the North East Somerset constituency join with the Bristol suburb of Hanham in South Gloucestershire, across the Avon from . But though the battlefield is new, it is set to be the site of a rematch of an old political battle.
In 2010 unseated Labour’s Dan Norris to become the Conservative MP for North East Somerset. Now 14 years later, the pair are standing against each other once again. But it's a crowded fight.
Also in the mix are candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party, Green Party, an Independent, Reform UK, and the Liberal Democrats. When the seat was drawn up, it was estimated to have an electorate of 73,241 based on previous turnout. The 2024 general election is being fought on new election boundaries which have been specifically designed to ensure most constituencies have a relatively equal number of between about 70,000 and 77,000 voters.
But in order to hit this number, the new constituency crosses the Avon and joins Somerset and Gloucestershire together. Now whoever is elected to represent the constituency will have to hold two different local councils to account: Bath and North East Somerset Council, and South Gloucestershire Council (both currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats.) Much of North East Somerset east of Paulton — including Midsomer Norton and Radstock — has now been.