Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°48′58″N 0°49′01″W / 51.816°N 0.817°W / 51.816; -0.817

Aylesbury
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
Location of Buckinghamshire within England.
County	Buckinghamshire
Population	108,027 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	79,664 (April 2015)[2]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	David Lidington (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1553–1885
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Aylesbury is a constituency created in 1553 — created as a single-member seat in 1885 — represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 1992 by David Lidington, of the Conservative Party.^{[n 1]}

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Aylesbury, Chesham, and Linslade, and parts of the second Sessional Division of Desborough and the Sessional Division of Winslow.

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, 1918–44

1918-1950: The Borough of Aylesbury, the Urban Districts of Beaconsfield and Chesham, the Rural District of Amersham, part of the Rural District of Aylesbury, in the Rural District of Long Crendon the parish of Towersey, and in the Rural District of Wycombe the parishes of Bledlow, Bradenham, Ellesborough, Great and Little Hampden, Great and Little Kimble, Horsenden, Hughenden, Ilmer, Monks Risborough, Princes Risborough, Radnage, Saunderton, and Wendover.

1950–1974: The Borough of Aylesbury, the Urban District of Chesham, the Rural District of Aylesbury, and in the Rural District of Amersham the parishes of Ashley Green, Chartridge, Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards, Great Missenden, Latimer, Lee, and Little Missenden.

1974–1983: The Borough of Aylesbury, the Rural District of Aylesbury, and in the Rural District of Wycombe the parishes of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton, Bradenham, Ellesborough, Great and Little Hampden, Great and Little Kimble, Ibstone, Lacey Green, Longwick-cum-Ilmer, Princes Risborough, Radnage, and Stokenchurch.

1983–1997: The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Aston Clinton, Aylesbury Central, Bedgrove, Elmhurst, Gatehouse, Grange, Mandeville, Meadowcroft, Oakfield, Southcourt, Wendover, and Weston Turville, the District of Chiltern wards of Ballinger and South Heath, Great Missenden, and Prestwood and Heath End, and the District of Wycombe wards of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton, Icknield, Lacey Green and Hampden, Naphill-cum-Bradenham, Princes Risborough, and Stokenchurch.

1997–2010: The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Aylesbury Central, Bedgrove, Elmhurst, Gatehouse, Grange, Mandeville, Meadowcroft, Oakfield, Southcourt, Wendover, and Weston Turville, the District of Chiltern wards of Ballinger and South Heath, Great Missenden, and Prestwood and Heath End, and the District of Wycombe wards of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton, Icknield, Lacey Green and Hampden, Naphill-cum-Bradenham, Princes Risborough, and Stokenchurch.

2010–present: The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Aston Clinton, Aylesbury Central, Bedgrove, Coldharbour, Elmhurst and Watermead, Gatehouse, Mandeville and Elm Farm, Oakfield, Quarrendon, Southcourt, Walton Court and Hawkslade, and Wendover, and the District of Wycombe wards of Bledlow and Bradenham, Greater Hughenden, Lacey Green, Speen and the Hampdens, Stokenchurch, and Radnage.

The constituency is based on the large town of Aylesbury and its suburbs as well as a small swathe of villages broken up by woods and cultivated land in the centre of the Chilterns which cover most of Buckinghamshire and parts of three other counties.

History

Early form

The seat was a much narrower, generally urban borough with a two-member status at Westminster from its grant of a limited franchise in 1553 until the passing of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 when it transformed into a large county division which has seen on national boundary reviews a gradual reduction in physical size as its population has grown.

Political history

The Conservative Party has held the seat since 1924, and held it at the 2015 general election with a 50.7% share of the vote. The result made the seat the 133rd safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.^[3] The closest result since 1929 was in 1966 when the Labour Party candidate fell 7.4% short of a majority.

Frontbenchers

David Lidington, the current incumbent, was the Secretary of State for Justice in Theresa May's cabinet since succeeding Elizabeth Truss in the 2017 cabinet reshuffle, before becoming the effective First Secretary of State in the place of Damian Green in 2018's new year's reshuffle. During the premiership of David Cameron he served as Minister for Europe, campaigning unsuccessfully (in the constituency as well as the whole country) to remain in the EU. From 2007 to 2010 he had been his party's Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

MPs who have received honours

Sir Stanley Reed edited The Times of India from 1907 until 1924 and received correspondence from the major figures of India such as Mahatma Gandhi. In all he lived in India for fifty years. He was respected in the United Kingdom as an expert on Indian current affairs. He devised the sobriquet for Jaipur, 'the Pink City of India'.

Constituency profile

Aylesbury expanded significantly after World War II, in a diverse way with a similar proportion of this recent development being social housing estates as private estates.

Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the regional average of 2.4% and national average of 3.8%, at 2.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[4]

Whereas the average house price is higher than the national average, in the Aylesbury Vale authority (which largely overlaps) this in the first quarter of 2013 was £262,769, the lowest of the four authorities in Buckinghamshire and this compares to the highest county average of £549,046 in South Bucks District.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: Aylesbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Lidington	32,313	55.0	4.3
	Labour	Mark Bateman	17,617	30.0	14.8
	Liberal Democrat	Steven Lambert	5,660	9.6	1.0
	UKIP	Vijay Singh Srao	1,296	2.2	17.5
	Green	Coral Simpson	1,237	2.1	1.7
	Independent	Kyle Michael	620	1.1	1.1
Majority			14,696	25.0	6.0
Turnout			58,743	71.4	2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.25

General Election 2015: Aylesbury^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Lidington	28,083	50.7	-1.5
	UKIP	Chris Adams	10,925	19.7	+12.9
	Labour	William Cass	8,391	15.1	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Steven Lambert	5,885	10.6	-17.8
	Green	David Lyons	2,135	3.9	+3.9
Majority			17,158	31.0	+7.3
Turnout			55,419	69.0	+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.2

General Election 2010: Aylesbury^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David Lidington	27,736	52.2	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Steven Lambert	15,118	28.4	+0.8
	Labour	Kathryn White	6,695	12.6	-5.9
	UKIP	Chris Adams	3,613	6.8	+2.0
Majority			12,618	23.7	+2.2
Turnout			53,162	68.2	+5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1930s

Aylesbury by-election, 1938

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stanley Reed	21,695	54.1
	Liberal	Thomas Atholl Robertson	10,751	26.8
	Labour	Reginald Groves	7,666	19.1
Majority			10,994	27.3
Turnout				63.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wintringham

General Election 1935: Aylesbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Beaumont	24,728	57.42
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	13,622	31.63
	Labour	Eric W. Shearer	4,716	10.95
Majority			11,106	25.79
Turnout				70.24
	Conservative hold		Swing

C.B. Dallow

General Election 1931: Aylesbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Beaumont	29,368	68.34
	Liberal	Cyril Berkeley Dallow	8,927	20.77
	Labour	Dorothy Woodman	4,677	10.88
Majority			20,441	47.57
Turnout				75.61
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Aylesbury ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Ferdinand de Rothschild	4,723	73.8	+42.5
	Liberal	Charles Durant Hodgson[20]	1,680	26.2	−39.0
Majority			3,043	47.6	N/A
Turnout			6,403	60.8	−18.9
Registered electors			10,535
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+40.8

Rothschild

General Election 1885: Aylesbury ^[19][21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Ferdinand de Rothschild	5,476	65.2	−7.5
	Conservative	Frederick Charsley	2,624	31.3	+4.0
	Independent Liberal	Charles James Clarke	296	3.5	N/A
Majority			2,852	33.9	+26.5
Turnout			8,396	79.7	+14.1 (est)
Registered electors			10,535
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.8

By-election, 18 Jul 1885: Aylesbury ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Ferdinand de Rothschild	2,353	62.4	−10.3
	Conservative	William Graham[24]	1,416	37.6	+10.3
Majority			937	24.9	+17.5
Turnout			3,769	84.3	+18.7 (est)
Registered electors			4,473
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.3

• Caused by Rothschild's elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord Rothschild.

General Election 1880: Aylesbury (Two seats)^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Nathan Rothschild	2,111	38.1	−0.8
	Liberal	George W. E. Russell	1,919	34.6	+9.3
	Conservative	Samuel George Smith	1,511	27.3	−8.6
Majority			408	7.4	+4.4
Turnout			2,771 (est)	65.6 (est)	+9.9
Registered electors			4,228
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.8

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Buckinghamshire

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

• Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X.
• The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times. 1945.
• The Times House of Commons 1950. The Times. 1950.
• The Times House of Commons 1955. The Times. 1955.
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)