County Buckinghamshire Created 1885 Member of parliament Steve Baker Number of members 1 European Parliament constituency South East England | Major settlements High Wycombe Type of constituency County constituency Major settlement High Wycombe Electorate 73,956 (April 2015) | |
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Wycombe /ˈwɪkəm/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Baker, a Conservative.
Contents
History
Wycombe has continuously returned MPs since the Model Parliament of 1295. As a parliamentary borough (often referred to as High Wycombe or Chepping Wycombe), it returned two MPs until 1868 and then one until its abolition in 1885. The name was then transferred to a new county division, formally known as the "Wycombe division of Buckinghamshire".
Constituency profile
The constituency shares similar borders with Wycombe local government district, although it covers a slightly smaller area. The main town within the constituency, High Wycombe contains many working/middle class voters and a sizeable ethnic minority population that totals around one quarter of the town's population, with some census output areas of town home to over 50% ethnic minorities. The surrounding villages which account for just under half of the electorate are some of the most wealthy areas in the country with extremely low unemployment, and high incomes. Workless claimants totalled 3.0% of the population in November 2012, lower than the national average of 3.8%.
Boundaries
1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Sessional Divisions of Burnham and Stoke, and parts of the first and second Sessional Divisions of Desborough.
1918-1945: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Urban Districts of Eton, Marlow, and Slough, the Rural Districts of Eton and Hambleden, and part of the Rural District of Wycombe.
1945-1950: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and the Rural District of Wycombe.
1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of High Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and the Rural District of Wycombe.
1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of High Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and in the Rural District of Wycombe the civil parishes of Chepping Wycombe, Fawley, Fingest and Lane End, Great Marlow, Hambleden, Hughenden, Little Marlow, Medmenham, Turville, and West Wycombe Rural.
1983-1997: The District of Wycombe wards of Booker and Castlefield, Bowerdean and Daws Hill, Cressex and Frogmoor, Downley, Great Marlow, Green Hill and Totteridge, Hambleden Valley, Hughenden Valley, Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, Kingshill, Lane End and Piddington, Little Marlow, Marlow Bottom, Marlow North, Marlow South, Marsh and Micklefield, Oakridge and Tinkers Wood, and West Wycombe and Sands.
1997-2010: The District of Wycombe wards of Booker and Castlefield, Bowerdean and Daws Hill, Cressex and Frogmoor, Downley, Great Marlow, Green Hill and Totteridge, Hambleden Valley, Hughenden Valley, Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, Kingshill, Lane End and Piddington, Marlow Bottom, Marlow North, Marlow South, Marsh and Micklefield, Oakridge and Tinkers Wood, and West Wycombe and Sands.
2010-present: The District of Wycombe wards of Abbey, Booker and Cressex, Bowerdean, Chiltern Rise, Disraeli, Downley and Plomer Hill, Greater Marlow, Hambleden Valley, Hazlemere North, Hazlemere South, Micklefield, Oakridge and Castlefield, Ryemead, Sands, Terriers and Amersham Hill, Totteridge, and Tylers Green and Loudwater.
MPs 1295–1640
MPs 1868–present
Election in the 1940s
A general election was expected 1939/40 and by 1939 the following had been adopted as candidates;
In 1938, the local Labour and Liberal parties had set up a formal organisation, 'The South Bucks Unity Committee' in support of a Popular Front and may well have agreed to support a joint candidate against the sitting Conservative.