South Swindon (UK Parliament constituency)

South Swindon
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Swindon in Wiltshire.
Location of Wiltshire within England.
County	Wiltshire
Electorate	73,449 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Robert Buckland (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Swindon and Devizes
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

South Swindon 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.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the seats of Swindon and Devizes. This seat with a population of around 93,000 incorporates the southern half of the town as well as the rural areas and villages to the south and east of Swindon. It used slightly amended boundaries for the 2010 election, which saw it lose South Marston to North Swindon. The border now runs from Dorcan across to Bishopstone and then down to Russley Park before running west to Barbury Castle. From there it runs north to the Roughmoor area and loops back down to incorporate West Swindon, before following the railway line east through the town and back to Dorcan. In addition to Swindon it includes several other population centres such as Wroughton, Chiseldon, Wanborough and Liddington.

Constituency history

Swindon is a railway town historically and until the latter part of the 20th century the railway works were a major employer in the town. These days Swindon is the home of a number of major companies who provide employment for the residents. Some major employers located in South Swindon include Intel's European headquarters, Nationwide's headquarters and Zurich Financial Services' UK headquarters. Created in 1997, the South Swindon constituency was originally a fairly safe Labour seat. They originally had a lead of more than 5,000 which was extended in 2001 to more than 7,000 but then dropped dramatically to just 1,353 in 2005, making it a highly marginal seat. In 2010, the Conservatives gained South Swindon from Labour at the general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Julia Drown	Labour
	2005	Anne Snelgrove	Labour
	2010	Robert Buckland	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: South Swindon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	19,687	41.8%	+4.9
	Labour	Anne Snelgrove	16,143	34.3%	-6.2
	Liberal Democrat	Damon Hooton	8,305	17.6%	+0.6
	UKIP	Robert Tingley	2,029	4.3%	+2.1
	Green	Jenni Miles	619	1.3%	-1.6
	Christian	Alistair Kirk	176	0.4%	+0.4
	Independent	Karsten Evans	160	0.3%	+0.3
Majority			3,544	7.5%
Turnout			47,119	64.9%	+5.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	5.51%

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: South Swindon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Snelgrove	17,534	40.3	−11.0
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	16,181	37.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Sue Stebbing	7,322	16.8	+4.9
	Green	Bill Hughes	1,234	2.8	N/A
	UKIP	Stephen Halden	955	2.2	+0.6
	Independent	Alan Hayward	193	0.4	N/A
	Independent	John Williams	53	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,353	3.1
Turnout			43,472	60.2	−0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.9

General Election 2001: South Swindon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Drown	22,260	51.3	+4.5
	Conservative	Simon Coombs	14,919	34.4	-1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Geoff Brewer	5,165	11.9	-2.5
	UKIP	Vicki Sharp	713	1.6	N/A
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Roly Gillard	327	0.8	N/A
Majority			7,341	16.9
Turnout			43,384	61.0	-11.8
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire