Electorate 70,723 (December 2010) | Population 92,635 (2011 census) Created 1974 (1974) Number of members 1 | |
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Chesham and Amersham /ˈtʃɛʃəm ənd ˈæmˌəʃəm/ is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the U.K. Parliament that elects a Member of Parliament (MP). It has to date been a safe Conservative seat.
Contents
Boundaries
1974-1983: The Urban District of Chesham, and the Rural District of Amersham.
1983-1997: The District of Chiltern wards of Amersham Common, Amersham-on-the-Hill, Amersham Town, Asheridge Vale, Ashley Green and Latimer, Austenwood, Chalfont Common, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter Central, Chartridge, Chenies, Chesham Bois and Weedon Hill, Cholesbury and The Lee, Coleshill and Penn Street, Gold Hill, Hilltop, Holmer Green, Little Chalfont, Little Missenden, Lowndes, Newtown, Penn, Pond Park, St Mary's, Seer Green and Jordans, Townsend, and Waterside, and the District of Wycombe wards of Hazlemere North and Hazlemere South.
1997-2010: All the wards of the District of Chiltern except the wards of Ballinger and South Heath, Great Missenden, and Prestwood and Heath End, and the District of Wycombe wards of Hazlemere Central, Hazlemere East and Hazlemere West.
2010-present: The District of Chiltern wards of Amersham Common, Amersham-on-the-Hill, Amersham Town, Asheridge Vale and Lowndes, Ashley Green, Latimer and Chenies, Austenwood, Ballinger, South Heath and Chartridge, Central, Chalfont Common, Chalfont St Giles, Chesham Bois and Weedon Hill, Cholesbury, The Lee and Bellingdon, Gold Hill, Great Missenden, Hilltop and Townsend, Holmer Green, Little Chalfont, Little Missenden, Newtown, Penn and Coleshill, Prestwood and Heath End, Ridgeway, St Mary’s and Waterside, Seer Green, and Vale.
The constituency is in Buckinghamshire, and broadly coincides with the Chiltern Local Government District. It includes the towns of Chesham and Amersham and outlying rural village settlements within the Metropolitan Green Belt and partly also within the Chilterns AONB. The area is connected with central London by the Metropolitan line of London Underground and the London to Aylesbury Line operated by Chiltern Railways. The constituency is also close to the M40 motorway and is one the Conservatives' safest seats, home to many affluent professionals and commuters to London.
History
The area was formerly part of the larger South Buckinghamshire constituency before boundary changes came into effect, creating this seat, for the February 1974 general election.
The constituency vote has been solidly Conservative since the seat's creation and at the 2010 election the party won with a large majority. The next largest party at that election was the Liberal Democrats, with 28% of the vote.
Members of Parliament
The current Member of Parliament for Chesham and Amersham is the Conservative Cheryl Gillan. She has been in this position since 1992.