The Cotswolds (UK Parliament constituency)

The Cotswolds
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of The Cotswolds in Gloucestershire for the 2010 general election.
Outline map
Location of Gloucestershire within England.
County Gloucestershire
Electorate 78,439 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of parliament Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Cirencester and Tewkesbury
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South West England

The Cotswolds is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative.[n 2]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[2] Party
1997 Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Conservative 1992-1997: represented Cirencester and Tewkesbury.

Constituency profile

The Cotswolds is a safe Conservative seat in an area of natural beauty and heritage, with its market towns constructed of rare cream-to-yellow Cotswold stone. The area is welcoming to tourists and tourism has overtaken agriculture as the largest single employer in the area.

The largest town in the constituency is Cirencester, a compact traditional town. Other settlements include Andoversford, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Fairford, Lechlade, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury (and the neighbouring village of Doughton, location of Highgrove, the Prince of Wales's estate), and Wotton-under-Edge.

The seat has the highest number of listed buildings of any constituency in Britain. It also contains eight of the 20 most popular attractions in Gloucestershire, including Westonbirt Arboretum, Hidcote Manor, and Chedworth Roman Villa.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.6% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[3]

This was also the constituency, when declared during the 2015 UK General Election, saw the Conservatives gain a surprising majority that re-elected David Cameron as a hung parliament had been widely expected.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1997 as Cotswold, mostly from the former seat of Cirencester and Tewkesbury. In 2010 the name was changed to The Cotswolds to reflect the local district name.

2010-present: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud wards of Kingswood, Minchinhampton, and Wotton-under-Edge.

1997-2010: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud ward of Wotton and Kingswood.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: The Cotswolds[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 36,201 60.1 +4.1
Labour Mark Huband 10,702 17.9 +8.7
Liberal Democrat Andrew Gant 9,748 16.3 −2.3
Green Sabrina Poole 1,747 2.9 −1.7
UKIP Chris Harlow 1,197 2 −8.9
Independent Sandy Steel 107 0.2 N/A
Majority 25,499 42.3 +4.8
Turnout 59,702 74.2 +1.8
Registered electors 80,449
Conservative hold Swing −2.3
General Election 2015: The Cotswolds[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 32,045 56.5 +3.5
Liberal Democrat Paul Hodgkinson [8] 10,568 18.6 −10.9
UKIP Chris Harlow 6,188 10.9 +6.7
Labour Manjinder Kang 5,240 9.2 −1.5
Green Penny Burgess 2,626 4.6 +2.9
Majority 21,477 37.9 +14.4
Turnout 56,667 72.4 +0.9
Registered electors 78,292
Conservative hold Swing +7.2
General Election 2010: The Cotswolds[9][10] [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 29,075 53.0 +3.7
Liberal Democrat Mike Collins 16,211 29.6 +1.5
Labour Mark Dempsey 5,886 10.7 −7.9
UKIP Adrian Blake 2,292 4.2 +1.0
Green Kevin Lister 940 1.7 N/A
Independent Alex Steel 428 0.8 N/A
Majority 12,864 23.5 +2.2
Turnout 54,832 71.5 +4.2
Registered electors 76,728
Conservative hold Swing +1.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Cotswold[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 23,326 49.3 −1.0
Liberal Democrat Philip Beckerlegge 13,638 28.8 +4.6
Labour Mark Dempsey 8,457 17.9 −4.7
UKIP Richard Buckley 1,538 3.2 +0.3
Independent James Derieg 392 0.8 N/A
Majority 9,688 20.5 −5.6
Turnout 47,351 66.7 −0.8
Registered electors 71,039
Conservative hold Swing −2.8
General Election 2001: Cotswold[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 23,133 50.3 +4.0
Liberal Democrat Angela Lawrence 11,150 24.2 +1.3
Labour Richard Wilkins 10,383 22.6 −0.1
UKIP Jill Stopps 1,315 2.9 N/A
Majority 11,983 26.1 +2.7
Turnout 45,981 67.5 −8.5
Registered electors 68,157
Conservative hold Swing +1.3

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Cotswold[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 23,698 46.4 −8.0
Liberal Democrat David Gayler 11,733 22.9 −10.4
Labour David Elwell 11,608 22.7 +11.8
Referendum Rupert Lowe 3,393 6.6 -
Green Valerie Michael 560 1.1 -
Natural Law Henry Brighouse 129 0.3 -
Majority 11,965 23.4 +2.4
Turnout 51,121 75.9 −6.5
Registered electors 67,333
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ 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.
References
  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
  3. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  4. ↑ BBC - Election 2017 - Cotswolds, The
  5. ↑ http://www.cotswold.gov.uk/media/1510200/Declaration-of-result-Parliamentary-election-8-June-2017.pdf 9 June 2017
  6. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.cotswold.gov.uk/media/1178863/Declaration-of-result-PARLIAMENTARY-ELECTION-2015.pdf 19 June 2015
  8. ↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/cotswolds-2015.html
  9. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ↑ BBC - Election 2010 - Cotswolds, The
  11. ↑ Percentage change and swing for 2010 is calculated relative to the PA (Rallings and Thrasher) 2005 notional result, not actual 2005 result "Press Association Elections". Press Association. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Percentage change and swing for 1997 is calculated relative to the Rallings and Thrasher 1992 notional constituency result, not actual 1992 result. See C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
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