Cheltenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°53′24″N 2°04′41″W / 51.890°N 2.078°W / 51.890; -2.078

Cheltenham
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.
Location of Gloucestershire within England.
County	Gloucestershire
Population	104,867 (2011 census)^[1]
Electorate	77,937 (December 2010)^[2]
Major settlements	Cheltenham
Current constituency
Created	1832
Member of parliament	Alex Chalk (Conservatives)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Cheltenham /ˈtʃɛlʔ.nəm/ or /ˈtʃɛlt.nəm/ is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 7 May 2015 by Alex Chalk, a Conservative. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The parish of Cheltenham, and parts of the parishes of Leckhampton and Charlton Kings.

1918-1983: The Municipal Borough of Cheltenham, and the Urban District of Charlton Kings.

1983-1997: The Borough of Cheltenham, and the Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Leckhampton with Up Hatherley, Prestbury St Mary's, and Prestbury St Nicolas.

1997-2010: The Borough of Cheltenham wards of All Saints, Charlton Kings, College, Hatherley and The Reddings, Hesters Way, Lansdown, Park, Pittville, St Mark's, St Paul’s, and St Peter's.

2010-present: The Borough of Cheltenham wards of All Saints, Battledown, Benhall and The Reddings, Charlton Kings, Charlton Park, College, Hesters Way, Lansdown, Leckhampton, Oakley, Park, Pittville, St Mark’s, St Paul’s, St Peter’s, Springbank, Up Hatherley, and Warden Hill.

The seat covers the town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire with a slightly smaller, different area to the borough of the same name. It is bordered by the Tewkesbury and Cotswolds seats.

Constituency profile

Famous for its racecourse which hosts in March the annual Cheltenham Gold Cup, a long-established girls' school and right at the edge of the Cotswold Hills, Cheltenham has a large tourism sector. GE Aviation is a large employer and GCHQ, the government communications centre, is here, so numbers of highly skilled workers and professionals (47.5% in the year ended September 2014^[3]) are well above the national average (44.6%^[3]). One of the West of England's most upmarket towns, the few neighbourhoods of medium levels in the Index of Multiple Deprivation are almost wholly in Hester's Way ward which has the most social housing. About 10% of the electorate are students at the University of Gloucestershire just outside the compact town centre. A Liberal Democrat served the seat from 1992 when their candidate Nigel Jones overturned four decades of Conservative MPs to 2015 when the Tories regained the seat.

History

Cheltenham borough constituency was created in the Great Reform Act of 1832 and has returned nine Liberals (or Liberal Democrats) and nine Conservatives to Parliament since that time, along with one independent.

A Conservative served the constituency from 1950 until 1992. The Conservatives' campaign in the 1992 general election following the Poll Tax Riots saw a local party member's racist remarks about their own candidate, John Taylor, of Afro-Caribbean descent. Taylor lost the election to Nigel Jones of the Liberal Democrats.

In 2000, Jones was nearly murdered in a horrific incident at one of his MP's surgeries; a man attacked him and an assistant with a samurai sword. His colleague, Andrew Pennington, was killed in the attack. Jones was made a life peer in 2005. The Liberal Democrats held Cheltenham in the 2005 election when Martin Horwood won the election and held it again in 2010 but lost when the Conservatives retook the seat in 2015.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[4]^[5]	Party	Notes
1832	Hon. Craven Berkeley	Liberal	son of the 5th Earl of Berkeley
1847	Sir Willoughby Jones	Conservative	unseated on petition
1848, June by-election	Hon. Craven Berkeley	Liberal	unseated on petition
1848, September by-election	Grenville Berkeley	Liberal
1852	Hon. Craven Berkeley	Liberal	died 1855
1855 by-election	Grenville Berkeley	Liberal
1856 by-election	Francis Berkeley	Liberal	later 2nd Baron FitzHardinge
1865	Charles Schreiber	Conservative
1868	Henry Bernhard Samuelson	Liberal
1874	James Tynte Agg-Gardner	Conservative
1880	Charles de Ferrieres	Liberal
1885	James Tynte Agg-Gardner	Conservative
1895	Francis Shirley Russell	Conservative
1900	James Tynte Agg-Gardner	Conservative
1906	John Edward Sears	Liberal
1910, January	Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon	Conservative	later 9th Earl of Bessborough
1910, December	Richard Mathias	Liberal	unseated on petition
1911 by-election	Sir James Tynte Agg-Gardner	Conservative	Knighted in 1916
1928 by-election	Sir Walter Preston	Conservative
1937 by-election	Daniel Lipson	Independent Conservative
1945	Daniel Lipson	National Independent
1950	William Hicks-Beach	Conservative
1964	Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker	Conservative
Oct 1974	Charles Irving	Conservative
1992	Nigel Jones	Liberal Democrats	later a life peer as Baron Jones of Cheltenham
2005	Martin Horwood	Liberal Democrats
2015	Alex Chalk	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Cheltenham^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alex Chalk ^[8]	24,790	46.1	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Horwood ^[8]	18,274	34.0	-16.5
	Labour	Paul Gilbert ^[9]	3,902	7.3	+2.1
	UKIP	Christina Simmonds^[10]	3,808	7.1	+4.8
	Green	Adam Van Coevorden	2,689	5.0	+5.0
	Independent	Richard Lupson-Darnell^[11]	272	0.5	+0.5
Majority			6,516	12.1
Turnout			53,735	69.5	+2.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	+10.75

General Election 2010: Cheltenham^[12]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Horwood	26,659	50.5	+9.0
	Conservative	Mark Coote	21,739	41.2	+4.9
	Labour	James Green	2,703	5.1	−6.3
	UKIP	Peter Bowman	1,192	2.3	+0.9
	Monster Raving Loony	Dancing Ken Hanks	493	0.9	−0.3
Majority			4,920	9.3
Turnout			52,786	67.0	+6.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.05

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Cheltenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Horwood	18,122	41.5	−6.2
	Conservative	Vanessa Gearson	15,819	36.3	+1.1
	Labour	Christopher Evans	4,988	11.4	−0.6
	Independent	Dr Robert Hodges ^[15]	2,651	6.1	N/A
	Green	Keith Derek Bessant	908	2.1	+0.3
	UKIP	Niall Warry	608	1.4	+0.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Dancing Ken Hanks	525	1.2	0.0
Majority			2,303	5.3
Turnout			43,621	61.0	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−3.6

General Election 2001: Cheltenham^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Jones	19,970	47.7	−1.7
	Conservative	Rob Edward Garnham	14,715	35.2	−1.1
	Labour	Andrew Barnes Erlam	5,041	12.0	+1.9
	Green	Keith Derek Bessant	735	1.8	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Ken R.S. Hanks	513	1.2	+0.5
	UKIP	James Carver	482	1.2	+0.6
	ProLife Alliance	Anthony John Gates	272	0.7	+0.2
	Independent	Roger Everest	107	0.3	N/A
Majority			5,255	12.5
Turnout			41,835	61.9	−12.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−0.3

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Cheltenham^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Jones	24,877	49.45	+2.1
	Conservative	John Todman	18,232	36.24	-8.5
	Labour	Barry Leach	5,100	10.1	+3.8
	Referendum	Alison Powell	1,065	2.1
	Monster Raving Loony	Ken Hanks	375	0.8
	UKIP	Gordon Cook	302	0.6
	ProLife Alliance	Anne Harriss	245	0.5
	Natural Law	S Brighouse	107	0.2	-0.1
Majority			6.645	13.2
Turnout			50,303	74.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+5.3

General Election 1992: Cheltenham^[18]^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Jones	30,351	47.3	+5.0
	Conservative	John Taylor	28,683	44.7	−5.4
	Labour	Mrs Pam Rose Tatlow	4,077	6.4	−1.2
	Independent	Mervyn David Rendell	665	1.0	N/A
	Natural Law	Henry W. Brighouse	169	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Mark Ashley Bruce-Smith	162	0.3	N/A
Majority			1,668	2.6	−5.2
Turnout			64,107	80.3	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Cheltenham^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Irving	31,371	50.2	−0.4
	Liberal	Richard Gordon Holme	26,475	42.3	+1.3
	Labour	Michael Norman Luker	4,701	7.5	−0.1
Majority			4,896	7.8	−1.8
Turnout			62,547	78.9	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

General Election 1983: Cheltenham^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Irving	29,187	50.6	-0.4
	Liberal	Richard Gordon Holme	23,669	41.0	+11.0
	Labour	Mrs. Judith M. James	4,390	7.6	-10.7
	Ecology	David G. Swindley	479	0.8	N/A
Majority			5,518	9.6
Turnout			57,724	75.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.7

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Graham Irving	25,618	51.0	+4.9
	Liberal	Nigel Jones	15,080	30.0	+1.9
	Labour	M. Reilley	9,185	18.3	−7.5
	National Front	R. Jacklin	342	0.7	N/A
Majority			10,538	21.0
Turnout			50,225	77.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

General Election October 1974: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Graham Irving	21,691	46.1	+3.1
	Liberal	Frederick Carson Rodger	13,237	28.1	−3.0
	Labour	Frederick Charles Inglis	12,134	25.8	+0.1
Majority			8,454	18.0
Turnout			47,062	75.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

General Election February 1974: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker	21,723	43.0	−7.2
	Liberal	Frederick Carson Rodger	15,811	31.3	+12.8
	Labour	Hugh Gray	12,971	25.7	−5.6
Majority			5,912	11.7
Turnout			50,505	81.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Douglas Dodds-Parker	22,823	50.2	−3.2
	Labour	Leslie George Godwin	14,213	31.3	−15.3
	Liberal	A George Aldridge	8,431	18.5	N/A
Majority			8,610	18.9
Turnout			45,467	75.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Douglas Dodds-Parker	22,683	53.4	+6.2
	Labour	W. John Wilson	19,768	46.6	+11.9
Majority			2,915	6.9
Turnout			42,451	77.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.9

General Election 1964: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Douglas Dodds-Parker	19,797	47.2	−3.8
	Labour	Hugh Gray	14,557	34.7	+5.2
	Liberal	James Anthony Lemkin	7,568	18.1	−1.4
Majority			5,240	12.50
Turnout			41,922	77.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitehead Hicks Beach	21,997	51.0	−8.3
	Labour	Dr Kamalakant G. Pendse	12,725	29.5	−11.2
	Liberal	George Grimes Watson	8,428	19.5	N/A
Majority			9,272	21.5
Turnout			43,150	81.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.45

General Election 1955: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitehead Hicks Beach	24,259	59.3	+2.2
	Labour	James Finnigan	16,638	40.7	−2.2
Majority			7,621	18.6
Turnout			40,897	79.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General Election 1951: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitehead Hicks Beach	23,674	57.1	+13.7
	Labour	James Finnigan	17,777	42.9	−11.5
Majority			5,897	14.2
Turnout			41,451	83.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.6

General Election 1950: Cheltenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitehead Hicks Beach	18,009	43.4	+17.6
	Labour	A. G. James	13,027	31.4	+1.5
	Independent Conservative	Daniel Leopold Lipson	10,449	25.2	−18.1
Majority			4,982	12.0
Turnout			41,485	85.0
	Conservative gain from Independent Conservative		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Cheltenham^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Conservative	Daniel Leopold Lipson	16,081	43.3	+3.3
	Labour	Miss Phyllis Maude Warner	11,095	29.9	+0.4
	Conservative	William Whitehead Hicks Beach	9,972	26.8	−43.7
Majority			4,986	13.4
Turnout			37,148	75.4
	Independent Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Independent Conservative: Daniel Lipson
Conservative: C L Hargreaves^[23]
Labour: John Baird^[24]

Elections in the 1930s

Cheltenham by-election, 1937^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Conservative	Daniel Leopold Lipson	10,533	40.0	N/A
	Conservative	R. T. Harper	10,194	38.8	−31.7
	Labour	Cyril C Poole	5,570	21.2	−8.3
Majority			339	1.2
Turnout			26,297	69.3	−1.1
	Independent Conservative gain from Conservative		Swing	-

General Election 1935: Cheltenham^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Walter Reuben Preston	18,574	70.5	−10.6
	Labour	Hon. Mrs. Elizabeth Pakenham	7,784	29.5	+10.6
Majority			10,790	41.0
Turnout			26,358	70.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.6

General Election 1931: Cheltenham^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Walter Reuben Preston	22,524	81.1	+27.9
	Labour	John Ramage	5,263	18.9	+1.8
Majority			17,261	62.1
Turnout			27,787	75.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+13.05

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Cheltenham ^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Walter Reuben Preston	15,279	53.2	+3.7
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	8,533	29.7	-2.0
	Labour	William Ramsey Piggott	4,920	17.1	-1.7
Majority
Turnout				79.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.85

Cheltenham by-election, 1928 ^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Walter Reuben Preston	10,438	49.5	−7.1
	Liberal	Sir John Fowler Leece Brunner	6,678	31.7	−11.7
	Labour	Florence Beatrice Widdowson	3,962	18.8	N/A
Majority			3,760	17.8	+4.6
Turnout			21,078	80.3	−2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Cheltenham ^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon Sir James Tynte Agg-Gardner	11,909	56.6	+3.2
	Liberal	Joseph Stanley Holmes	9,146	43.4	-3.2
Majority			2,763	13.2
Turnout				82.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.2

General Election 1923: Cheltenham ^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir James Tynte Agg-Gardner	10,514	53.4	-4.6
	Liberal	Cuthbert Plaistowe	9,170	46.6	+4.6
Majority			1,344	6.8	-9.2
Turnout				79.5	-2.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	-4.6

General Election 1922 : Cheltenham ^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir James Tynte Agg-Gardner	11,383	58.0	-2.3
	Liberal	Cuthbert Plaistowe	8,237	42.0	+2.3
Majority			3,146	16.0	-4.6
Turnout				81.8	+13.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.3

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918: Cheltenham ^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir James Tynte Agg-Gardner	9,602	60.3
	Liberal	Dr Richard Davies	6,317	39.7
Majority			3,285	20.6
Turnout				68.6
	Unionist hold		Swing

A general election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election.

Unionist Party: James Tynte Agg-Gardner
Liberal Party: Rhys Williams

Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

Cheltenham by-election, 1911^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Tynte Agg-Gardner	4,043
	Liberal	Lewis Mathias	4,039
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Richard Mathias

General Election December 1910: Cheltenham ^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Mathias	3,846
	Conservative	Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon	3,753	49.4
Majority			93	1.2
Turnout				91.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election January 1910: Cheltenham ^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon	3,988	50.9
	Liberal	Richard Mathias	3,850	49.1
Majority			138	1.8
Turnout				93.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

John Sears

General Election 1906^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Edward Sears	3,910	52.7	n/a
	Conservative	James Tynte Agg-Gardner	3,509	47.3	n/a
Majority			401	5.4	n/a
Turnout				91.4	n/a
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

↑ "Cheltenham: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
1 2 "Constituency Profile". nomis Constituency Profile for Cheltenham. Source: Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
↑ "Cheltenham 1832-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ https://democracy.cheltenham.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=21&RPID=477109 19 June 2015
1 2 "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
↑ "Paul Gilbert". YourNextMP.
↑ "UKIP Cheltenham". ukipcheltenham.org.uk.
↑ jrmaidment (29 October 2014). "Cheltenham Decides 2015: Meet the independent MP candidate Richard Lupson-Darnell". Glocestershire Echo. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ Acting Returning officer (7 May 2010). "Election Results - Cheltenham Borough Council". Electoral Services. Cheltenham Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Doctor plans to fight West seat". BBC News. 15 April 2005.
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949 (Craig)
↑ Cheltenham Chronicle, 25 Feb 1939
↑ Cheltenham Chronicle, 20 Jan 1939
1 2 3 Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
1 2 3 4 British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

External Links

nomis Constituency Profile for Cheltenham — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

Constituencies in South West England (55)

Conservative (51)	Bath Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Bridgwater and West Somerset Bristol North West Camborne and Redruth Central Devon Cheltenham Chippenham Christchurch Devizes East Devon Filton and Bradley Stoke Forest of Dean Gloucester Kingswood Mid Dorset and North Poole Newton Abbot North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Somerset North Somerset North Swindon North Wiltshire Plymouth Moor View Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Poole Salisbury Somerton and Frome South Dorset South East Cornwall South Swindon South West Devon South West Wiltshire St Austell and Newquay St Ives Stroud Taunton Deane Tewkesbury The Cotswolds Thornbury and Yate Tiverton and Honiton Torbay Torridge and West Devon Totnes Truro and Falmouth Wells West Dorset Weston-super-Mare Yeovil

Labour (4)	Bristol East Bristol South Bristol West Exeter

South West England European constituency: Conservative (2) Green (1) Labour (1) UKIP (2)

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