| Witney | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | County |
| Electorate: | 70,042 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election.
Historically a safe Conservative Party seat for the most part of its existence, it has been represented since 2024 by Charles Maynard of the Liberal Democrats. Its most prominent MP, however, was David Cameron, who was the prime minister from 2010 until his resignation in 2016, and the Leader of the Conservative Party (2005–2016). He represented the constituency from 2001 to 2016.[2]
In the late 19th century, the Bampton East petty sessional division, with Witney at its heart, formed one part of the Woodstock constituency.[3]
Until 1974, much of the seat remained as part of the Woodstock and latterly Banbury constituency.[4] From 1974 to 1983, the area was included in the Mid Oxfordshire seat along with parts of Bullingdon and Ploughley. Since 1983, Witney has been a full parliamentary seat in its own right and comprises the whole of the District of West Oxfordshire with surrounding villages attached until 1997.
Carterton is the second-largest populated town with 14,000 and is situated alongside RAF Brize Norton which is vital to the local economy, being one of the largest and busiest Royal Air Force stations in the country.
The constituency's first MP was Douglas Hurd, who served as a cabinet minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and retired in 1997. Hurd was succeeded by Shaun Woodward at the 1997 general election. However, Woodward defected to the Labour Party in 1999,[5] and Witney unexpectedly had a Labour MP. Woodward chose not to stand in Witney as a Labour candidate at the next general election and moved to the Labour safe seat of St Helens South instead, following the practice of Alan Howarth in 1997.
At the 2001 general election, David Cameron was elected as MP for Witney. Cameron was re-elected to a fourth term as MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with a majority of 25,155, the highest in his political career; on that occasion, his Conservative Party won a surprise overall majority in the House of Commons, taking 330 seats to the opposition Labour Party's 232. However, on 24 June 2016, Cameron announced that he would resign as Prime Minister by that October due to the outcome of the EU Referendum the previous day, in which 51.9% of those who voted supported leaving the EU. Accordingly, Cameron stepped down as premier that July, on the election of Theresa May as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister. On 12 September 2016, it was announced that Cameron would resign as MP for Witney.[6] This triggered a by-election, which was won by Robert Courts, also a Conservative, albeit with a significantly reduced majority. His vote share subsequently rose to 55% at both the 2017 and 2019 general elections.
Before the 2019 general election, the Liberal Democrats and Green Party agreed not to run against each other as part of a "Unite to Remain" alliance.[7] This led to Andrew Prosser, who had been selected as the Green Party's prospective candidate [8] standing down.
The new constituency was largely formed from the majority of the abolished constituency of Mid-Oxon, including the settlements of Witney, Carterton, Woodstock and Kidlington. Chipping Norton and surrounding rural areas were transferred from the Banbury constituency.
The remaining two wards of the District of West Oxfordshire (Bartons, and Tackley and Wooton) were transferred from Banbury. Kidlington transferred to Oxford West and Abingdon.
Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the District of Cherwell ward of Yarnton was transferred to Oxford West and Abingdon.[11]
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Major changes with Chipping Norton and Charlbury to be transferred to Banbury, and Woodstock and surrounding areas to be included in the newly created constituency of Bicester and Woodstock. Partly offset by the transfer in of parts of the District of Vale of White Horse currently in the Wantage constituency, including the town of Faringdon.
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Douglas Hurd | Conservative | ||
| 1997 | Shaun Woodward | Conservative | ||
| 1999 | Labour | |||
| 2001 | David Cameron | Conservative | ||
| 2016 by-election | Robert Courts | Conservative | ||
| 2024 | Charles Maynard | Liberal Democrats | ||
| 2019 notional result[13] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 28,355 | 58.1 | ||
| 12,681 | 26.0 | ||
| 7,520 | 15.4 | ||
| Others | 274 | 0.6 | |
| 9 | <0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 48,839 | 69.7 | |
| Electorate | 70,042 | ||