 The name Woodspring was taken from the local government district created in 1974 which has since been abolished. The main towns of Clevedon and Portishead serve as resorts on the Bristol Channel coast and boast large proportions of retired residents. The other main centres of population, such as Nailsea and the Gordano Valley, are communities based largely on farming.
This seat is largely rural and accounts for some 58% of the population of the North Somerset Council area. The Victorian town of Clevedon is Woodspring’s largest town. Its economy is largely dependent on commuters, with a large proportion working in Bristol and 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 coalfield in the 19th 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 since grown from a small village of a few thousand to a town of 18,000. Scottish Thatcherite Dr Liam Fox succeeded Conservative Sir Paul Dean as MP for Woodspring in 1992.
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