Oxford West and Abingdon | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Oxfordshire |
Electorate | 76,953 (December 2019) [1] |
Major settlements | Abingdon, Kidlington, Oxford (5 wards), Radley |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Oxford, Abingdon |
Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency [n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat. [n 2]
The constituency includes the town of Abingdon, the village of Kidlington, and the western and northern parts of the city of Oxford, and some of the colleges of the University of Oxford. At the end of 2010, unemployment was the fifth lowest of the 84 South East constituencies, at 1.2% compared to a mean of 2.45%. [2] The area has rapid transit connections to London, Reading and the commercial heart of Oxford, has large business and research parks and a choice of two major railway stations, Oxford and Didcot Parkway.
The seat was created in 1983 as part of the reconfiguration of those in the county to avoid malapportionment, abolishing Oxford as a seat. It merged about half the city with the eastern portion of the former Abingdon seat.
Conservative John Patten (MP for Oxford in the 1979–1983 Parliament), held the seat from its creation until he retired in 1997. The seat was gained by Liberal Democrat, Evan Harris, who held the seat for thirteen years until the 2010 general election, when the Conservative Nicola Blackwood retook the seat in one of the most marginal results of that election. Blackwood held the seat until the 2017 general election, when she was defeated by Liberal Democrat Layla Moran in another marginal result. Moran retained the seat at the 2019 general election with a much increased majority of 15.2%.
The seat has been contested nine times, each of them general elections. At each contest, the Labour party candidate has polled third, with the peak share of votes to date being 20.2% in 1997. The strongest victory, in share of the vote, was that of Harris of the Liberal Democrats in 2001, a 17.8% majority (in a seven-way contest).
The Green Party and its predecessor, the Ecology Party, stood in the first eight contests, in each losing the deposit paid.
In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable. [3]
The majority of the new constituency, comprising the town of Abingdon-on-Thames and areas to the west of Oxford, was previously part of the abolished constituency of Abingdon in Berkshire. The City of Oxford wards had previously been in the abolished constituency of Oxford.
Kidlington was transferred from Witney. The South ward of the City of Oxford was transferred to Oxford East.
Further loss to Oxford East, including the city centre, following revision of City of Oxford wards; marginal realignment of boundary with Wantage; Yarnton transferred from Witney.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The electorate will be reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring Kidlington to the newly created constituency of Bicester and Woodstock. To partly compensate, Oxford city centre and University colleges will be moved back in from Oxford East. In addition, the village of Marcham will be transferred from Wantage.
Election | Member [8] [9] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | John Patten | Conservative | |
1997 | Evan Harris | Liberal Democrats | |
2010 | Nicola Blackwood | Conservative | |
2017 | Layla Moran | Liberal Democrats |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green | Cheryl Briggs [10] | ||||
Reform UK | James Gunn [11] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Layla Moran [12] | ||||
Conservative | Vinay Raniga [13] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Layla Moran | 31,340 | 53.3 | 9.6 | |
Conservative | James Fredrickson | 22,397 | 38.1 | 4.3 | |
Labour | Rosie Sourbut | 4,258 | 7.2 | 5.4 | |
Brexit Party | Allison Wild | 829 | 1.4 | New | |
Majority | 8,943 | 15.2 | 13.9 | ||
Turnout | 58,824 | 76.4 | 3.2 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | 6.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Layla Moran | 26,256 | 43.7 | 14.8 | |
Conservative | Nicola Blackwood | 25,440 | 42.4 | 3.3 | |
Labour | Marie Tidball | 7,573 | 12.6 | 0.1 | |
UKIP | Alan Harris | 751 | 1.3 | 5.6 | |
Majority | 816 | 1.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 60,020 | 79.6 | 4.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | 9.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nicola Blackwood | 26,153 | 45.7 | 3.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Layla Moran | 16,571 | 28.9 | 13.1 | |
Labour | Sally Copley | 7,274 | 12.7 | 2.1 | |
UKIP | Alan Harris | 3,963 | 6.9 | 4.2 | |
Green | Larry Sanders | 2,497 | 4.4 | 2.3 | |
NHA | Helen Salisbury | 723 | 1.3 | New | |
Socialist (GB) | Mike Foster | 66 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 9,582 | 16.7 | 16.4 | ||
Turnout | 57,247 | 75.2 | 5.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | 8.2 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Nicola Blackwood | 23,906 | 42.3 | 9.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Evan Harris | 23,730 | 42.0 | 4.1 | |
Labour | Richard Stevens | 5,999 | 10.6 | 5.2 | |
UKIP | Paul Williams | 1,518 | 2.7 | 1.2 | |
Green | Chris Goodall | 1,184 | 2.1 | 1.7 | |
Animal Protection | Keith Mann | 143 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 176 | 0.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 56,480 | 70.2 | 3.0 | ||
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | 6.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Evan Harris | 24,336 | 46.3 | −1.5 | |
Conservative | Amanda McLean | 16,653 | 31.7 | +1.7 | |
Labour | Antonia Bance | 8,725 | 16.6 | −1.1 | |
Green | Tom Lines | 2,091 | 4.0 | +1.2 | |
UKIP | Marcus Watney | 795 | 1.5 | +0.6 | |
Majority | 7,683 | 14.6 | -3.2 | ||
Turnout | 52,600 | 65.6 | +1.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −1.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Evan Harris | 24,670 | 47.8 | +4.9 | |
Conservative | Ed Matts | 15,485 | 30.0 | −2.7 | |
Labour | Gillian Kirk | 9,114 | 17.7 | −2.5 | |
Green | Mike Woodin | 1,423 | 2.8 | +1.7 | |
UKIP | Marcus Watney | 451 | 0.9 | +0.5 | |
Independent | Sigrid Shreeve | 332 | 0.6 | New | |
Extinction Club | Robert Twigger | 93 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 9,185 | 17.8 | +7.6 | ||
Turnout | 51,568 | 64.5 | −13.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +3.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Evan Harris | 26,268 | 42.9 | +7.1 | |
Conservative | Laurence Harris | 19,983 | 32.7 | −13.6 | |
Labour | Susan Brown | 12,361 | 20.2 | +4.1 | |
Referendum | Gillian Eustace | 1,258 | 2.1 | New | |
Green | Mike Woodin | 691 | 1.1 | −0.1 | |
UKIP | Rodney Buckton | 258 | 0.4 | New | |
ProLife Alliance | Linda Hodge | 238 | 0.4 | New | |
Natural Law | Anne Wilson | 91 | 0.1 | 0.0 | |
Local Government | John Rose | 48 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 6,285 | 10.2 | +3.8 | ||
Turnout | 61,196 | 78.0 | +1.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +10.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Patten | 25,163 | 45.4 | −1.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | William Goodhart | 21,624 | 39.0 | +1.6 | |
Labour | Bruce Kent | 7,652 | 13.8 | −1.1 | |
Green | Mike Woodin | 660 | 1.2 | −0.1 | |
Liberal | Roger Jenking | 194 | 0.3 | New | |
Anti-Federalist League | Susan Nelson | 98 | 0.2 | New | |
Natural Law | Geoffrey Wells | 75 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 3,539 | 6.4 | -2.6 | ||
Turnout | 55,466 | 76.7 | −1.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −1.3 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Patten | 25,171 | 46.4 | −1.3 | |
SDP | Chris Huhne | 20,293 | 37.4 | +4.1 | |
Labour | John Power | 8,108 | 14.9 | −2.0 | |
Green | Donald Smith | 695 | 1.3 | +0.2 | |
Majority | 4,878 | 9.0 | -5.4 | ||
Turnout | 54,267 | 78.4 | +4.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −2.7 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Patten | 23,778 | 47.7 | ||
SDP | Evan Luard | 16,627 | 33.3 | ||
Labour | Julian Jacottet | 8,440 | 16.9 | ||
Ecology | Suzette Starmer | 544 | 1.1 | ||
Monster Raving Loony | Robert Jones | 267 | 0.5 | ||
Independent | Christopher Smith | 95 | 0.2 | ||
Independent | Peter Doubleday | 86 | 0.2 | ||
Independent | Ruth Pinder | 26 | 0.1 | ||
Majority | 7,151 | 14.4 | |||
Turnout | 49,863 | 74.0 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Leicester South is a constituency, recreated in 1974, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jonathan Ashworth of the Labour Co-op Party. A previous version of the seat existed between 1918 and 1950. Except for a 2004 by-election when it was won by the Liberal Democrats, Leicester South has been held by the Labour Party since 1987.
Oxford East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Anneliese Dodds of the Labour Party, who also serves as party chair.
Newbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2019 by Laura Farris, a Conservative. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and has been in continual existence since then.
Henley is a constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2008 by John Howell, a Member of Parliament from the Conservative Party.
Banbury is a constituency in Oxfordshire created in 1553 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Victoria Prentis of the Conservative Party. She currently serves as Attorney General for England and Wales.
Eddisbury is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Edward Timpson, a Conservative.
North Wiltshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by James Gray, a Conservative. In the period 1832–1983, this was an alternative name for Chippenham or the Northern Division of Wiltshire and as Chippenham dates to the original countrywide Parliament, the Model Parliament, this period is covered in more detail in that article.
Rochdale is a seat represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has elected one Member of Parliament (MP) since its 1832 creation.
Wellingborough is a constituency in Northamptonshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The seat is currently held by Labour MP Gen Kitchen, after the recall of MP Peter Bone in December 2023 which resulted in a by-election in February 2024.
Mid Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Alistair Strathern of the Labour Party since a 2023 by-election.
Winchester is a constituency in Hampshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Brine, a Conservative.
Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2016 by Robert Courts of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election.
Elections to the Vale of White Horse District Council, the local authority for the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England take place every four years.
The Cherwell Valley line is the railway line between Didcot and Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands. The line follows the River Cherwell for much of its route between Banbury and Oxford.
Abingdon was a rural district in the administrative county of Berkshire from 1894 to 1974.
Hormer was an ancient hundred of Berkshire, England. It consisted of the area immediately west of Oxford within the bend of the River Thames, all of which was transferred to Oxfordshire on 1 April 1974 in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972. It included the ancient parishes of