| North Wiltshire | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Map1: | NorthWiltshire2007 |
| Map2: | EnglandWiltshire |
| Map Entity: | Wiltshire |
| Map Year: | 2010 |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Abolished: | 2024 |
| Type: | County |
| Year2: | 1832 |
| Abolished2: | 1885 |
| Electorate: | 67,154 (December 2010)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| European: | South West England |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
North Wiltshire was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented since its 1983 recreation by the Conservative Party. In the period 1832–1983, North Wiltshire 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.
The seat was abolished for the 2024 general election and replaced by parts of three other constituencies.[2]
1832–1885: The Hundreds of Chippenham, North Damerham, Bradford, Melksham, Potterne and Cannings, Calne, Selkley, Ramsbury, Whorwelsdown, Swanborough, Highworth, Cricklade and Staple, Kingsbridge, and Malmesbury.[3]
1983–1997: The District of North Wiltshire.
1997–2010: The District of North Wiltshire wards of Allington, Ashton Keynes, Audley, Avon, Box, Bremhill, Brinkworth, Colerne, Corsham, Crudwell, Hill Rise, Hilmarton, Kington Langley, Kington St Michael, Lacock, Lyneham, Malmesbury, Malmesbury Road, Minety, Monkton Park, Neston and Gastard, Nettleton, Park, Pickwick, Purton, Queen's, Redland, St Paul Malmesbury Without, Sherston, Somerford, The Lydiards, Town, Westcroft, Wootton Bassett North, and Wootton Bassett South.
2010–2024: The District of North Wiltshire wards of Ashton Keynes and Minety, Box, Bremhill, Brinkworth and The Somerfords, Calne Abberd, Calne Chilvester, Calne Lickhill, Calne Marden, Calne Priestley, Calne Quemerford, Calne Without, Colerne, Cricklade, Hilmarton, Kington Langley, Kington St Michael, Lyneham, Malmesbury, Nettleton, Purton, St Paul Malmesbury Without and Sherston, The Lydiards and Broad Town, Wootton Bassett North, and Wootton Bassett South.
The constituency covered most of the northern third of Wiltshire. However, it excluded the eastern town of Swindon which was represented as North Swindon and South Swindon.
North Wiltshire constituency was formed by a renaming for the 1983 general election, with boundaries identical to the former Chippenham constituency (1885–1983).[4] The constituency sat between the Cotswolds and Swindon. Its main towns were Calne, Royal Wootton Bassett, Cricklade and Malmesbury, and it also contained villages, both small and large, spread over a large area of farming countryside, including the well-known (often-painted and photographed) village of Castle Combe.
For the 2010 general election the North Wiltshire constituency changed radically as a result of boundary change recommendations. The revised constituency covered a northern swathe of the previous version, retaining the towns of Malmesbury, Cricklade, Royal Wootton Bassett and Calne, while the largest southern town of Chippenham was given its own seat (which was previously abolished in 1983) that brought in the nearby market towns of Bradford on Avon and Melksham.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed three ways:
| Election | 1st member | 1st party | 2nd member | 2nd party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Paul Methuen < | -- 21 Jun 1779 to 14 Sep 1849 --> | Whig[5] | Whig | |||
| 1835 | Walter Long < | -- 10 Oct 1793 to 31 Jan 1867 --> | Whig | ||||
| 1837 | Francis Burdett < | -- 25 Jan 1770 to 23 Jan 1844 --> | Conservative | ||||
| 1841 | Conservative | ||||||
| February 1844 | T. H. S. Sotheron-Estcourt | Conservative | |||||
| March 1865 | Lord Charles Bruce < | -- 18 Jun 1834 to 16 Apr 1897 --> | Liberal | ||||
| 1865 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1868 | George Jenkinson < | -- 27 Sep 1817 to 19 Jan 1892 --> | Conservative | ||||
| 1874 | George Sotheron-Estcourt < | -- 21 Jan 1839 to 12 Jan 1915 --> | Conservative | ||||
| 1880 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1885 | Redistribution of Seats Act constituency abolished; see Chippenham constituency | ||||||
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Richard Needham | Conservative | ||
| 1997 | James Gray | Conservative | ||