North Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| North Wiltshire County constituency |
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| North Wiltshire shown within Wiltshire, and Wiltshire shown within England | |
| Created: | 1832, 1885, 1983 |
| MP: | James Gray |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Wiltshire |
| EP constituency: | South West England |
North Wiltshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was known as Chippenham.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
As the name suggests, the constituency covers most of north Wiltshire. However, it excludes the town of Swindon which is represented by North Swindon and South Swindon.
North Wiltshire constituency was formed for the 1983 general election, with boundaries identical to the former Chippenham constituency (1885–1983). [1]
For the 54th general election, the North Wiltshire constituency changes radically, as a result of boundary change recommendations. The name will be retained by the northernmost part of the current constituency, focussed on the town of Malmesbury and Cricklade, while the largest town of Chippenham will be given its own seat, along with the nearby market towns of Bradford on Avon, Calne and Melksham. North Wiltshire MP James Gray has indicated his intention to stand for the new North Wiltshire seat, while the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Chippenham seat is Devon farmer Wilfred Emmanuel Jones.
While North Wiltshire has a long history of returning Conservative candidates, its district council has always been a closely-fought battle between Conservative and Liberal Democrat. The new split is expected to see the more rural North Wiltshire be a slightly safer Conservative seat than the more urban Chippenham seat.
[edit] Members of Parliament
- 1983 — 1997: Richard Needham, Conservative
- 1997 — present: James Gray, Conservative
[edit] Election results
| General Election 2005: North Wiltshire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | James Gray | 26,282 | 46.9 | +1.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Paul Fox | 20,979 | 37.4 | −0.8 | |
| Labour | David Nash | 6,794 | 12.1 | −2.2 | |
| UK Independence | Neil Dowdney | 1,428 | 2.5 | +0.4 | |
| Independent (politician) | Philip Allnatt | 578 | 1.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,303 | 9.5 | |||
| Turnout | 56,061 | 69.3 | +2.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.1 | |||
| General Election 2001: North Wiltshire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | James Gray | 24,090 | 45.5 | +1.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Hugh Pym | 20,212 | 38.2 | +0.4 | |
| Labour | Jo Garton | 7,556 | 14.3 | N/A | |
| UK Independence | Neil Dowdney | 1,090 | 2.1 | +1.4 | |
| Majority | 3,878 | 7.3 | |||
| Turnout | 52,948 | 67.3 | -7.6 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "About North Wiltshire" from the website of James Gray MP. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
| Constituencies in South West England | |
|---|---|
| Conservative |
Bournemouth East | Bournemouth West | Bridgwater | Christchurch | Cotswold | Devizes | East Devon | Forest of Dean | North Dorset | North Wiltshire | Poole | Salisbury | South West Devon | Tewkesbury | Tiverton and Honiton | Torridge and West Devon | Totnes | Wells | West Dorset | Westbury | Weston-super-Mare | Woodspring |
| Liberal Democrat |
Bath | Bristol West | Cheltenham | Falmouth and Camborne | Mid Dorset and North Poole | North Cornwall | North Devon | Northavon | Somerton and Frome | South East Cornwall | St Ives | Taunton | Teignbridge | Torbay | Truro and St Austell | Yeovil |
| Labour |
Bristol East | Bristol North West | Bristol South | Exeter | Gloucester | Kingswood | North Swindon | Plymouth Devonport | Plymouth Sutton | South Dorset | South Swindon | Stroud | Wansdyke |
| South West European constituency: Conservative (3) | UKIP (2) | Liberal Democrats (1) | Labour (1) | |
