County Oxfordshire Member of parliament Robert Courts Party Conservative Party Replaced by Mid Oxfordshire, Banbury | European Parliament constituency South East England Number of members 1 Electorate 78,220 (December 2010) Created from Mid Oxfordshire, Banbury | |
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Major settlements Witney, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Charlbury | ||
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, and was created for the 1983 general election. It is a safe Conservative Party seat.
Contents
The constituency was represented from 2001 to 2016 by David Cameron, who was Conservative leader from 2005 to 2016 and Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016. On 12 September 2016, Cameron said that he would resign as an MP with immediate effect, triggering the 2016 Witney by-election, which was won by Robert Courts, also a Conservative, albeit with a significantly reduced majority
The constituency is co-terminous with the district of West Oxfordshire and so, incorporates the towns of Carterton, Chipping Norton and Woodstock.
History
The constituency's first MP was Douglas Hurd, who served as a cabinet minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and retired in 1997. Hurd was succeeded by Shaun Woodward at the 1997 general election. However, Woodward defected to the Labour Party in 1999, and Witney unexpectedly had a Labour MP. Woodward chose not to stand in Witney as a Labour candidate and moved to the Labour safe seat of St Helens South instead, following the practice of Alan Howarth in 1997.
At the 2001 general election, David Cameron was elected as MP for Witney. Cameron was re-elected to a fourth term as MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with a majority of 25,155, the highest in his political career; on that occasion his Conservative Party won a surprise majority in the House of Commons, taking 330 seats to the opposition Labour Party's 232, and enabling them to become a majority government. However, on 24 June 2016, Cameron announced that he would resign as Prime Minister by that October due to the outcome of the EU Referendum the previous day, in which 51.9% of voters supported leaving the EU. On 12 September 2016, it was announced that Cameron would resign as MP for Witney. This triggered a by-election, which was won by Robert Courts, also a Conservative, albeit with a significantly reduced majority.
Boundaries
1983-1997: The District of West Oxfordshire wards of Ascott and Shipton, Aston Bampton and Standlake, Bampton, Bladon and Cassington, Brize Norton and Curbridge, Burford, Carterton North, Carterton South, Chadlington, Charlbury, Chipping Norton, Clanfield and Shilton, Combe and Stonesfield, Ducklington, Enstone, Eynsham, Filkins and Langford, Finstock and Leafield, Freeland and Hanborough, Hailey, Kingham, Milton-under-Wychwood, Minster Lovell, North Leigh, Rollright, Stanton Harcourt, Witney East, Witney North, Witney South, Witney West, and Woodstock, and the District of Cherwell wards of Gosford, North West Kidlington, South East Kidlington, and Yarnton.
1997-2010: The District of West Oxfordshire, and the District of Cherwell ward of Yarnton.
2010-present: The District of West Oxfordshire.
As part of the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the Boundary Commission reported in 2004 that the seat of Witney could be composed from the entire district of West Oxfordshire. Seven years later the Commission recommended no change.
In the late 19th century, the Bampton East petty sessional division, with Witney at its heart, formed one part of the Woodstock constituency.
Until 1974, much of the seat remained as part of the Woodstock and latterly Banbury constituency. From 1974 to 1983, the area was included in the Mid Oxfordshire seat along with parts of Bullingdon and Ploughley. Since 1983, Witney has been a full parliamentary seat in its own right and comprises the whole of the District of West Oxfordshire with surrounding villages attached until 1997.
Carterton is the second largest populated town with 14,000 and is situated alongside RAF Brize Norton which is vital to the local economy, being one of the largest and busiest Royal Air Force stations in the country.
For the 2010 general election, the Witney Parliamentary Constituency boundaries changed and it become co-terminous with the boundaries of West Oxfordshire District Council.