County Wiltshire European Parliament constituency South West England Number of members 1 Created from Swindon, Devizes | Electorate 73,449 (December 2010) Member of parliament Robert Buckland Replaced by Swindon, Devizes | |
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South Swindon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Robert Buckland, a Conservative.
Contents
Boundaries
1997-2010: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Central, Chiseldon, Dorcan, Eastcott, Freshbrook, Lawns, Park, Ridgeway, Toothill, Walcot, and Wroughton.
2010-present: The Borough of Swindon wards of Central, Dorcan, Eastcott, Freshbrook and Grange Park, Old Town and Lawn, Parks, Ridgeway, Shaw and Nine Elms, Toothill and Westlea, Walcot, and Wroughton and Chiseldon.
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the seats of Swindon that was abolished, and Devizes that remains. This seat with a population of around 93,000 incorporates the southern half of the town as well as farms and villages with hamlets to the immediate south and east of Swindon.
It used slightly amended boundaries for the 2010 election, which saw it lose South Marston to North Swindon. The border now runs from Dorcan across to Bishopstone and then down to Russley Park before running west to Barbury Castle. From there it runs north to the Roughmoor area and loops back down to incorporate West Swindon, before following the railway line east through the town and back to Dorcan. In addition to the south of Swindon, main settlements include Wroughton, Chiseldon, Wanborough and Liddington.
History
Historically Swindon is a railway town and until the latter part of the 20th century the related works were the primary employer. Today Swindon is the home of a number of large companies, examples specific to South Swindon include Intel's European headquarters, Nationwide's headquarters and Zurich Financial Services' UK headquarters.
Created in 1997, the South Swindon constituency swinging in line with the national average in the New Labour landslide, produced a fairly safe majority for the Labour winner. Julia Drown had a lead of more than 5,000 which was extended in 2001 to more than 7,000 but then dropped dramatically on a new candidate's selection, to just 1,353 in 2005, making it a highly marginal seat. In 2010 Robert Buckland, a Conservative, gained South Swindon at the general election with a majority of just over 3500. In 2015, the Conservative majority increased to 5785, making the seat fairly safe for the Conservatives. Robert Buckland is the current Solicitor General for England and Wales.