Oxford West and Abingdon
Encyclopedia
Oxford West and Abingdon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. It elects one Member of Parliament
(MP) by the first past the post system of election. Its best-known MP was John Patten
. The current MP is Nicola Blackwood
of the Conservative Party
, first elected at the 2010 general election.
. Abingdon had its own seat
prior to 1983.
The former Conservative
Minister John Patten
, MP for Oxford from 1979, won the West seat on its creation and remained the MP until he retired in 1997. On that occasion the seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats
by Dr Evan Harris
, who held the seat until the 2010 General Election, when it was regained by Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood
.
, the village of Kidlington
, and the western and northern parts of the city of Oxford
, as well as a minority of the colleges of the University of Oxford
. From 1983 to 2010 it included Oxford city centre and most of the Oxford Colleges, but the 2010 boundary changes transferred these to Oxford East.
This revision removed most of the colleges of the University of Oxford
from the constituency, leaving only Worcester
, St Hugh's
, Lady Margaret Hall
, St Anne's, St Antony's
, Somerville
, Green Templeton
, St Cross
and Wolfson
.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It elects one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) by the first past the post system of election. Its best-known MP was John Patten
John Patten, Baron Patten
John Haggitt Charles Patten, Baron Patten, PC is a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons...
. The current MP is Nicola Blackwood
Nicola Blackwood
Nicola Claire Blackwood is a Conservative Party politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon in the 2010 election.-Political career:...
of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, first elected at the 2010 general election.
History
The constituency was created in 1983 by the division of the former constituency of OxfordOxford (UK Parliament constituency)
Oxford was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. It comprised the city of Oxford in the county of Oxfordshire, and elected two Members of Parliament from its creation in 1295 until 1881...
. Abingdon had its own seat
Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...
prior to 1983.
The former Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Minister John Patten
John Patten, Baron Patten
John Haggitt Charles Patten, Baron Patten, PC is a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons...
, MP for Oxford from 1979, won the West seat on its creation and remained the MP until he retired in 1997. On that occasion the seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
by Dr Evan Harris
Evan Harris
Evan Leslie Harris is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative Nicola Blackwood....
, who held the seat until the 2010 General Election, when it was regained by Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood
Nicola Blackwood
Nicola Claire Blackwood is a Conservative Party politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon in the 2010 election.-Political career:...
.
Boundaries
The constituency includes the town of AbingdonAbingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
, the village of Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
, and the western and northern parts of the city of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, as well as a minority of the colleges of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. From 1983 to 2010 it included Oxford city centre and most of the Oxford Colleges, but the 2010 boundary changes transferred these to Oxford East.
Boundary review
The Boundary Commission review of constituencies prior to the 2010 general election changed the boundaries of this constituency. It is now made up of these district council wards:- In the district of Vale of White HorseVale of White HorseThe Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
– Abingdon Abbey and Barton, Abingdon Caldecott, Abingdon Dunmore, Abingdon Fitzharris, Abingdon Northcourt, Abingdon Ock Meadow, Abingdon Peachcroft, Appleton and Cumnor, Kennington and South Hinksey, North Hinksey and Wytham, RadleyRadleyRadley is a village and civil parish about northwest of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire....
, and Sunningwell and Wootton. - In the city of OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
– Jericho and Osney, North, St Margaret’s, Summertown, and Wolvercote. - In the district of CherwellCherwell (district)Cherwell is a local government district in northern Oxfordshire, England. The district takes its name from the River Cherwell, which drains south through the region to flow into the River Thames at Oxford....
– Kidlington North, Kidlington South and YarntonYarntonYarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southwest of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford and southeast of Woodstock.-Archaeology:Early Bronze Age decorated beakers have been found in the parish...
, Gosford and Water EatonGosford and Water EatonGosford and Water Eaton is a civil parish in the Cherwell district of the English county of Oxfordshire.It is north of the city of Oxford and is crossed nearby by two major roads for, or by-passing, the city....
.
This revision removed most of the colleges of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from the constituency, leaving only Worcester
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, St Hugh's
St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986...
, Lady Margaret Hall
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
, St Anne's, St Antony's
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, Somerville
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...
, Green Templeton
Green Templeton College, Oxford
Green Templeton College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is the university's newest college having come into existence on 1 October 2008 from the merger of Green College and Templeton College...
, St Cross
St Cross College, Oxford
St Cross College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college, sharing attractive, traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street...
and Wolfson
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
.
Members of Parliament
- Constituency created (1983)
Election Member Party 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...John Patten John PattenJohn Patten is the name of:*John Patten , American soldier and politician from Delaware*John Patten , British Conservative politician*Jack Patten, Australian Aboriginal leader-See also:...Conservative Conservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...Evan Harris Evan HarrisEvan Leslie Harris is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative Nicola Blackwood....Liberal Democrat 2010 Nicola Blackwood Nicola BlackwoodNicola Claire Blackwood is a Conservative Party politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon in the 2010 election.-Political career:...Conservative Conservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
See also
Sources
- Election result, 2010 (BBC)
- Election result, 2005 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997–2001 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997–2001 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1983–1997 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1992–2005 (The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
)