Wycombe has continuously returned MPs since the Model Parliament of 1295. As a parliamentary borough (often referred to as High Wycombe or Chepping Wycombe), it returned two MPs until 1868 and then one until its abolition in 1885. The name was then transferred to a new county division, formally known as the "Wycombe division of Buckinghamshire".
Constituency profile
The constituency shares similar borders with Wycombe local government district, although it covers a slightly smaller area. The main town within the constituency, High Wycombe contains many working/middle class voters and a sizeable ethnic minority population that totals around one quarter of the town's population, with some census output areas of town home to over 50% ethnic minorities, with a number of wards harbouring a considerable Labour vote. The surrounding villages which account for just under half of the electorate are some of the most wealthy areas in the country with extremely low unemployment, and high incomes and are very supportive of the Conservatives. Workless claimants totalled 3.0% of the population in November 2012, lower than the national average of 3.8%.[2]
Boundaries
1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Sessional Divisions of Burnham and Stoke, and parts of the first and second Sessional Divisions of Desborough.
1918-1945: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Urban Districts of Eton, Marlow, and Slough, the Rural Districts of Eton and Hambleden, and part of the Rural District of Wycombe.
1945-1950: The Municipal Borough of Chepping Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and the Rural District of Wycombe.
1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of High Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and the Rural District of Wycombe.
1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of High Wycombe, the Urban District of Marlow, and in the Rural District of Wycombe the parishes of Chepping Wycombe, Fawley, Fingest and Lane End, Great Marlow, Hambleden, Hughenden, Little Marlow, Medmenham, Turville, and West Wycombe Rural.
1983-1997: The District of Wycombe wards of Booker and Castlefield, Bowerdean and Daws Hill, Cressex and Frogmoor, Downley, Great Marlow, Green Hill and Totteridge, Hambleden Valley, Hughenden Valley, Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, Kingshill, Lane End and Piddington, Little Marlow, Marlow Bottom, Marlow North, Marlow South, Marsh and Micklefield, Oakridge and Tinkers Wood, and West Wycombe and Sands.
1997-2010: The District of Wycombe wards of Booker and Castlefield, Bowerdean and Daws Hill, Cressex and Frogmoor, Downley, Great Marlow, Green Hill and Totteridge, Hambleden Valley, Hughenden Valley, Keep Hill and Hicks Farm, Kingshill, Lane End and Piddington, Marlow Bottom, Marlow North, Marlow South, Marsh and Micklefield, Oakridge and Tinkers Wood, and West Wycombe and Sands.
2010-present: The District of Wycombe wards of Abbey, Booker and Cressex, Bowerdean, Chiltern Rise, Disraeli, Downley and Plomer Hill, Greater Marlow, Hambleden Valley, Hazlemere North, Hazlemere South, Micklefield, Oakridge and Castlefield, Ryemead, Sands, Terriers and Amersham Hill, Totteridge, and Tylers Green and Loudwater.
A general election was expected 1939/40 and by 1939 the following had been adopted as candidates;
Conservative: Sir Alfred Knox
Labour: Ernest Whitfield
Liberal: Vaughan Watkins
In 1938, the local Labour and Liberal parties had set up a formal organisation, 'The South Bucks Unity Committee' in support of a Popular Front and may well have agreed to support a joint candidate against the sitting Conservative.[28]
^Archdale, a Quaker, never took his seat as he was not prepared to take the prescribed oath
^On petition, Colyear's election was declared void and a by-election was called. He was re-elected at the by-election but once more voted by the committee not to have been duly returned, and his opponent, Waller, was seated instead.
^Waller was also elected for Marlow, which he chose to represent, and did not for Wycombe in this Parliament
^"Wycombe Election". Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Brecon Gazette. 15 March 1862. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)