North Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North Wiltshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Wiltshire in Wiltshire for the 2010 general election.
Location of Wiltshire within England.
County	Wiltshire
Electorate	67,154 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Calne, Royal Wootton Bassett, Cricklade and Malmesbury
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	James Gray (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Chippenham
1832 (1832)–1885 (1885)
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

North Wiltshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by James Gray, a Conservative. In the period 1832-1983, this 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.

Boundaries

This constituency covers most of the northern third of Wiltshire. However it excludes the eastern town of Swindon which is 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). The constituency sits between the Cotswolds and Swindon. Its main towns are Calne, Wootton Bassett, Cricklade and Malmesbury, and it also contains a number of villages, both small and large, spread over a large area of farming countryside, including the well-known (often-painted and photographed) village of Box.

An outline of Wiltshire shows the boundaries (4) for the 2010 general election

From the 2010 general election the North Wiltshire constituency changed radically as a result of boundary change recommendations. Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which slightly altered this constituency for General Election 2010 since which it has electoral wards:

• Ashton Keynes and Minety; Box; Bremhill; Brinkworth and The Somerfords; Calne: Abberd; Chilvester; Lickhill; Priestley; Quemerford; Without; Colerne; Cricklade; Hilmarton; Kington Langley; Kington St Michael; Lyneham; Malmesbury; Nettleton; Purton; St Paul's Malmesbury Without and Sherston; The Lydiards and Broad Town; Wootton Bassett North; Wootton Bassett Southin Wiltshire

The constituency from 2010 as such narrows in on 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 in 2010 was given its own seat (which was previously abolished in 1983) that brought in the nearby market towns of Bradford on Avon and Melksham including parts of other seats.

While North Wiltshire has a long history of returning Conservative candidates, its district council (created in 1973 and abolished in 2009) was closely contested between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats with many electoral wards being marginal.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885 - Summary, See Chippenham instead

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Paul Methuen			Sir John Astley, Bt
1835					Walter Long
1837		Sir Francis Burdett, Bt
Feb 1844		Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt	Conservative
Mar. 1865		Lord Charles Bruce
1865					Richard Penruddocke Long
1868					Sir George Jenkinson, Bt
1874		George Sotheron-Estcourt
1880					Walter Long
1885	Redistribution of Seats Act: constituency abolished

MPs since 1983

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Richard Needham	Conservative
	1997	James Gray	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gray	25,114	51.6	+1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Evemy	17,631	36.2	+1.8
	Labour	Jason Hughes	3,239	6.7	-5.3
	UKIP	Charles Bennett	1,908	3.9	+1.2
	Green	Philip Chamberlain	599	1.2	+1.2
	Independent	Philip Allnatt	208	0.4	+0.4
Majority			7,483	15.4	+5.9
Turnout			48,699	73.4	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	±

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gray	26,282	46.9	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Fox	20,979	37.4	−0.8
	Labour	David Nash	6,794	12.1	−2.2
	UKIP	Neil Dowdney	1,428	2.5	+0.4
	Independent (politician)	Philip Allnatt	578	1.0	N/A
Majority			5,303	9.5
Turnout			56,061	69.3	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General Election 2001: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gray	24,090	45.5	+1.7
	Liberal Democrat	Hugh Pym	20,212	38.2	+0.4
	Labour	Jo Garton	7,556	14.3	+0.1
	UKIP	Neil Dowdney	1,090	2.1	+1.4
Majority			3,878	7.3
Turnout			52,948	67.3	-7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gray	25,390	43.8
	Liberal Democrat	S Cordon	21,915	37.8
	Labour	N Knowles	8,261	14.2
	Referendum Party	M Purves	1,774	3.1
	UKIP	A Wood	410	0.7
	Natural Law	J Forsyth	263	0.4
Majority			3,475	6.0
Turnout			58,013	74.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.3

General Election 1992: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Needham	39,028	55.6	+0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs CR Napier	22,640	32.3	−5.8
	Labour	Mrs C Reid	6,945	9.9	+3.1
	Green	Ms. LH Howitt	850	1.2	+1.2
	Liberal	GFJ Hawkins	622	0.9	−37.2
	Independent	DS Martienssen	66	0.1	N/A
Majority			16,388	23.4	+6.3
Turnout			70,151	81.7	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R F Needham	35,309	55.15
	Liberal	Christopher Graham	24,370	38.07
	Labour	C Reid	4,343	6.78

General Election 1983: North Wiltshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R F Needham	30,924	53.05
	Liberal	Christopher Graham	23,692	40.64
	Labour	S Allsop	2,888	4.95
	Ecology	E Barham	678	1.16
	Justice for Divorced Fathers	H Baile de la Perriere	113	0.19

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire
• Chippenham

Notes and References

Notes

References