Cotswold_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
The Cotswolds (UK Parliament constituency)
Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997 onwards
The Cotswolds is a constituency[n 1] in Gloucestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative, since its 1997 creation.[n 2]
| The Cotswolds | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of The Cotswolds in Gloucestershire for the 2010 general election | |
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) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Cirencester and Tewkesbury |
For the next general election, the seat will be abolished and split into two smaller constituencies: North Cotswolds and South Cotswolds, in order to even up voter numbers relative to other constituencies[2][3]
| Election | Member[4] | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | Conservative | 1992–1997: represented Cirencester and Tewkesbury. | |
The Cotswolds is a safe Conservative seat.[5][6]
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.[7]
This was also the constituency that, when declared during the 2015 UK general election, saw the Conservatives win a surprise majority, in which David Cameron was re-elected as prime minister; a hung parliament had been widely expected.
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 commonly used name of the area.
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.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be abolished for the next general election, with its contents distributed to two new constituencies:[2][3]
- The towns of Chipping Campden, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water and Minchinhampton to North Cotswolds
- The towns of Cirencester and Tetbury to South Cotswolds
Wotton-under-Edge will be transferred to Stroud.
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 35,484 | 58.0 | -2.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Liz Webster | 15,270 | 25.0 | +8.7 | |
| Labour | Alan MacKenzie | 7,110 | 11.6 | -6.3 | |
| Green | Sabrina Poole | 3,312 | 5.4 | +2.5 | |
| Majority | 20,214 | 33.0 | -9.3 | ||
| Turnout | 61,176 | 74.7 | +0.4 | ||
| Registered electors | 81,939 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −5.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 36,201 | 60.1 | +4.1 | |
| Labour | Mark Huband | 10,702 | 17.9 | +8.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andrew Gant | 9,748 | 16.3 | −2.3 | |
| Green | Sabrina Poole | 1,747 | 2.9 | −1.7 | |
| UKIP | Chris Harlow | 1,197 | 2.0 | −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 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 32,045 | 56.5 | +3.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Paul Hodgkinson[13] | 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 | +2.0 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +7.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 29,075 | 53.0 | +3.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | +2.3 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.1 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,326 | 49.3 | −1.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | +4.2 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −2.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,133 | 50.3 | +4.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | +1.2 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.3 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,698 | 46.4 | −8.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | +5.9 | |||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
- A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- 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.
- "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.
- "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- "Cotswolds constituency split will create a 'mish-mash'". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics. Taylor & Francis. pp. 320–321. ISBN 9780415378246.
- Port, Samuel (13 December 2019). "The priorities for newly re-elected Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- "Declaration-of-result" (PDF). 9 June 2017.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Declaration of result" (PDF). Cotswold District Council. 19 June 2015.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Cotswolds, The". news.bbc.co.uk.
- 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.
- "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- 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)