The placeConstituency · South West · Electorate 73,538 · 2023 boundaries

Wells and Mendip Hills.

Liberal Democrats MP Tessa Munt holds the seat on 46.9% of the vote — a split-council geography across 2 councils.

Member of ParliamentTessa Munt · Liberal Democrats
CouncilsSomerset · North Somerset
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001572
Electorate · 2024
73.5k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
46.9%
Liberal Democrats · +22.1pp over Con
Settlements
17
Largest: Rural & dispersed
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
15.4
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
3 Jun 2026

A steady, locally active MP who has nonetheless been busier than her rebel-free record suggests. In late April, Munt acted as a teller against government regulations that would strip asylum seekers of accommodation and financial support for working illegally -- signalling opposition to what the Liberal Democrats characterise as punitive policy that ignores the ban on working as a root cause. She also voted against the government's reserve power to direct pension fund investments, twice backed the Lords' position on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, and opposed carrying over the Northern Ireland Troubles legacy legislation. All of these votes followed her party's line, but they represent a consistent posture: back Lords scrutiny, resist executive overreach, and oppose coercive welfare measures.

Her parliamentary participation rate of 60% sits below the Commons average, though her 315 speech contributions across 150 debates suggest she is more active in debate than the headline voting figure implies. Her stance data tells a clear story: she votes with the Lords against government override nearly every time (97%), backs parliamentary scrutiny (95%), and opposes the employer National Insurance increase (100%). She is markedly less aligned than her party colleagues on civil liberties measures (57% versus the party's 79%), a gap of 22 percentage points worth watching. Her speeches cluster around economy-jobs, crime, health and local government -- broad rather than specialist in focus.

Locally, news coverage over the past 90 days has been modest in volume and mixed in direct relevance. She visited Somerset farms in March and spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on carnival funding, raising a specific constituency grievance about poor mobile signal hampering fundraising. She sits on the Justice Committee and the Administration Committee. No biographical background is provided, but no single prior specialism appears to dominate her parliamentary focus.

46.9%
LD vote · 2024 GE
2
Councils overlapping the seat
13
Wards · 22 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.13 wards · 22 councillors · 2 councils

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line. Each ward links to the council that runs it.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Banwell & Winscombe(2 seats)Tristram · Nicholson1,953North Somerset ConMay 2023
Blagdon & Churchill Patrick Keating741North Somerset ConMay 2023
Brent(2 seats)Filmer · Grimes3,193Somerset LDMay 2022
Cheddar(2 seats)Ferguson · Ham2,485Somerset LDMay 2022
Congresbury & Puxton Dan Thomas831North Somerset ConMay 2023
Huntspill(2 seats)Healey · Aujla2,507Somerset LDMay 2022
King Alfred(2 seats)Munt · Martin3,350Somerset LDMay 2022
Mendip Hills Sam Phripp1,534Somerset LDMay 2026
Mendip South Rob Reed1,313Somerset LDMay 2024
Mendip West(2 seats)Shearer · Wyke4,356Somerset LDMay 2022
Shepton Mallet(2 seats)Height · Lovell2,146Somerset LDMay 2022
Wells(2 seats)Munt · Philip4,554Somerset LDMay 2022
Yatton(2 seats)Bridger · Griggs2,551North Somerset ConMay 2023

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.17 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in Rural & dispersed (25,735), with Wells (11,145) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 89,268.

large-town 25,735town 37,068village 26,465

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Rural & dispersed25,735large town
Wells11,145town
Shepton Mallet10,594town
Yatton9,845town
Cheddar5,484town
Winscombe and Sandford4,752village
Showing 6 of 17·All 17 settlements
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate56.3%57.1%-1%
Owner-occupied76.3%63.1%+21%
Private rented14.8%20.0%-26%
Social rented8.9%16.8%-47%

Ethnicity.

White97.2%
Asian0.9%
Black0.2%
Mixed1.3%
Other0.3%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 48.6% Female 51.4% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£28,900
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£38,100
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
5,595
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
53
41 primary · 6 secondary
GCSE pass
70.6%
Attainment 8: 48.2

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£314m
Taxpayers52,000
Median per taxpayer£2,880
Mean per taxpayer£6,090

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by Somerset and North Somerset. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
15.4
-26% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
5.1
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
45% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences6.9
Anti-social behaviour1.7
Public order1.4
Other theft1.0
Criminal damage & arson0.9
Shoplifting0.9
Vehicle crime0.8

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.1 contest · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Tessa MuntWONLD23,62246.9
Meg Powell-ChandlerCon12,50124.8
Helen HimsRef6,61113.1
Joe JosephLab3,5277.0
Peter WelshGrn2,0684.1
Abi McGuireInd1,8493.7
Craig ClarkeInd1900.4

Turnout 50,368

Prior contests.

Created on the 2023 boundary review. 2024 General Election was the first contest on these boundaries.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission