Witney (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox
Name = Witney
Map1 = Witney
Map2 = Oxfordshire
Type = County
Year = 1983
Entity = Oxfordshire
County = Oxfordshire
EP = South East England
MP = David Cameron
Party = Conservative

Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency is represented by Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the West Oxfordshire district in Oxfordshire, including the town of Witney itself, as well as Burford, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Minster Lovell and Eynsham. It also contains the villages of Shipton on Cherwell and Yarnton from the Cherwell district.

Following a review by the Boundary Commission for England published on 21 April 2004, at the next general election the constituency boundaries will be changed to match those of West Oxfordshire exactly, and the parts of Cherwell district will be covered by the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency.

History

The constituency was created in 1983, from parts of the Banbury and Mid Oxfordshire constituencies. It is a safe seat for the Conservative Party. Its first MP was the former Oxon Mid MP Douglas Hurd, who served as a cabinet minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and stood down in 1997.

Hurd was succeeded by Shaun Woodward at the 1997 general election. However, Woodward defected to the Labour Party in January 2000, and Witney unexpectedly had a Labour MP. Woodward was deemed unlikely to be re-elected in Witney as a Labour candidate, and moved to contest the Labour safe seat of St Helens South instead. At the 2001 general election, David Cameron was elected as MP for Witney and has held the seat since then. He has been the leader of the Conservative Party since December 2005.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = David Cameron
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Count Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky
votes =
percentage =
change =

Election box begin
title=General Election 2005: WitneyElection box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = David Cameron
votes = 26,571
percentage = 49.3
change = +4.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Liz Leffman
votes = 12,415
percentage = 23.0
change = +2.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Tony Gray
votes = 11,845
percentage = 22.0
change = −6.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Richard Dossett-Davies
votes = 1,682
percentage = 3.2
change = +0.9Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Paul Wesson
votes = 1,356
percentage = 2.5
change = +0.9Election box majority
votes = 14,156
percentage = 26.3
change = Election box turnout
votes = 53,869
percentage = 69.0
change = +3.1Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing = +0.8

Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: WitneyElection box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = David Cameron
votes = 22,153
percentage = 45.0
change = +2.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Michael Bartlet
votes = 14,180
percentage = 28.8
change = -1.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Gareth Epps
votes = 10,000
percentage = 20.3
change = +0.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Mark Stevenson
votes = 1,100
percentage = 2.2
change = +1.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Barry Beadle
votes = 1,003
percentage = 2.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Kenneth Dukes
votes = 767
percentage = 1.6
change = +0.2Election box majority
votes = 7,973
percentage = 16.2
change = Election box turnout
votes = 49,203
percentage = 65.9
change = -10.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1997: WitneyElection box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Shaun Woodward
votes = 24,282
percentage = 43.0
change = -14.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = A J Hollingsworth
votes = 17,254
percentage = 30.6
change = +12.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = A Lawrence
votes = 11,202
percentage = 19.9
change = -2.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Referendum Party (UK)
candidate = G M Brown
votes = 2,262
percentage = 4.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = M Montgomery
votes = 765
percentage = 1.4
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = S N Chapple-Perrie
votes = 636
percentage = 1.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 7,028
percentage = 12.4
change = Election box turnout
votes = 56,401
percentage = 76.7
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

See also

* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire

References