Jump to content

List of parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The location of Wiltshire in England

The ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England, which includes the Borough of Swindon, is divided into eight Parliamentary constituencies. They are all county constituencies.[nb 1]

Constituencies

[edit]

  † Conservative   ‡ Labour   ¤ Liberal Democrat

Constituency Electorate[1] Majority[2] Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Map
Chippenham CC 72,492 8,138   Sarah Gibson¤   Nic Puntis†
East Wiltshire CC 72,409 4,716   Danny Kruger   Rob Newman‡
Melksham and Devizes CC 71,999 2,401   Brian Mathew¤   Michelle Donelan
Salisbury CC 70,281 3,807   John Glen   Matt Aldridge‡
South Cotswolds CC (part) 71,490 4,973   Roz Savage¤   James Gray
South West Wiltshire CC 71,574 3,243   Andrew Murrison   Evelyn Akoto†
Swindon North CC 73,238 4,103   Will Stone   Justin Tomlinson
Swindon South CC 72,596 9,606   Heidi Alexander   Robert Buckland

Boundary changes

[edit]

2024

[edit]

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Former name Boundaries 2010–2024 Current name Boundaries 2024–present
  1. Chippenham CC
  2. Devizes CC
  3. North Swindon CC
  4. North Wiltshire CC
  5. Salisbury CC
  6. South Swindon CC
  7. South West Wiltshire CC
2010–2024 boundaries
2010–2024 boundaries
  1. Chippenham CC
  2. East Wiltshire CC
  3. Melksham and Devizes CC
  4. Salisbury CC
  5. South Cotswolds CC
  6. South West Wiltshire CC
  7. Swindon North CC
  8. Swindon South CC
Post-2024 boundaries
Post-2024 boundaries

For the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 general election, the Boundary Commission for England opted to combine Wiltshire with Gloucestershire as a sub-region of the South West Region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of South Cotswolds, resulting in a major reconfiguration of Chippenham. Devizes and North Wiltshire were abolished and new constituencies named East Wiltshire, and Melksham and Devizes, created.[3][4] These changes came into effect for the 2024 general election.

The following seats resulted from the review:

Containing electoral wards in the Borough of Swindon

Containing electoral wards in the Wiltshire unitary authority district

2010

[edit]

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to increase the number of seats in Wiltshire from 6 to 7, with the re-establishment of Chippenham, which affected neighbouring constituencies. An adjusted Westbury constituency was renamed South West Wiltshire.

Former name Boundaries 1997–2010 Current name Boundaries 2010–2024
  1. Devizes CC
  2. North Swindon CC
  3. North Wiltshire CC
  4. Salisbury CC
  5. South Swindon CC
  6. Westbury CC
Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire
Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire
  1. Chippenham CC
  2. Devizes CC
  3. North Swindon CC
  4. North Wiltshire CC
  5. Salisbury CC
  6. South Swindon CC
  7. South West Wiltshire CC
Proposed Revision
Proposed Revision

Results history

[edit]

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019[5]

2024

[edit]

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Wiltshire in the 2024 general election were as follows:[nb 2][2]

Party Votes % Change from 2019 Seats Change from 2019
Conservative 125,505 32.6% Decrease25.2% 3 Decrease4
Liberal Democrats 96,677 25.1% Increase6.5% 3 Increase3
Labour 89,880 23.3% Increase3.2% 2 Increase2
Reform 52,755 13.7% New 0 New
Greens 16,864 4.4% Increase1.1% 0 0
Others 3,849 1.0% Increase0.4% 0 0
Total 385,530 100.0 8

2019

[edit]

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Wiltshire in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 217,955 57.8% Increase1.0% 7 0
Labour 77,343 20.1% Decrease6.9% 0 0
Liberal Democrats 69,876 18.6% Increase6.7% 0 0
Greens 11,378 3.3% Increase1.2% 0 0
Others 745 0.6% Decrease2.0% 0 0
Total 377,297 100.0 7

Percentage votes

[edit]
Election year 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024
Conservative 52.8 50.0 45.7 53.9 43.2 60.7 56.2 41.6 41.0 50.1 49.6 49.3 43.2 43.8 51.0 41.9 40.3 47.4 50.3 51.9 50.9 40.2 42.1 44.3 47.7 52.4 56.8 57.8 32.6
Liberal Democrat1 30.1 34.6 42.9 30.4 34.8 19.1 19.8 18.4 19.6 3.7 8.7 10.7 18.9 15.2 11.7 29.8 30.2 27.5 34.2 31.2 28.7 26.2 25.0 26.9 30.4 11.8 11.8 18.5 25.1
Labour 17.1 15.4 11.4 15.7 21.9 20.2 24.0 39.9 39.2 46.2 41.7 38.7 37.5 40.6 37.2 28.1 29.3 22.8 14.9 16.7 18.3 28.0 29.0 24.3 15.3 17.3 27.4 20.5 23.3
Reform 13.7
Green Party * * * * * 1.0 4.7 1.8 3.0 4.4
UKIP * * * 4.0 13.5 1.8 *
Other 0.1 1.3 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 2.2 0.7 0.1 2.2 5.6 3.9 4.5 1.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 1.0

1pre-1979 – Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats

[edit]
Election year 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024
Conservative 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 4 6 7 7 7 3
Liberal Democrat1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
Labour 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 2
Total 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8

11974 & 1979 – Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

[edit]

1885–1910

[edit]

1918–1945

[edit]

1950–1979

[edit]

1983–2019

[edit]

2024–present

[edit]

Historical representation by party

[edit]

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1918 (6 seats)

[edit]

  Conservative   Liberal   Liberal Unionist

Constituency 1885 1886 1892 1895 97 98 00 1900 05 1906 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 11 18
Cricklade Maskelyne Husband Hopkinson FitzMaurice Massie Calley Lambert
Chippenham Fletcher Bruce Dickson-Poynder Terrell
Devizes Long Hobhouse Goulding Rogers Peto
Salisbury Grenfell Hulse Allhusen Palmer Tennant Locker-Lampson
Westbury Fuller Chaloner Fuller Howard
Wilton Grove Pleydell-Bouverie J. Morrison Morse Bathurst H. Morrison

1918 to 1974 (5 seats)

[edit]

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal

Constituency 1918 1922 1923 1924 27 1929 31 1931 34 1935 42 43 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 62 64 1964 65 1966 69 1970
Chippenham Terrell Bonwick Cazalet Eccles Awdry
Westbury Palmer Darbishire Shaw Long Grimston Walters
Devizes Bell Macfadyen Hurd Hollis Pott C. Morrison
Salisbury H. Morrison Moulton H. Morrison Despencer-Robertson J. Morrison Hamilton
Swindon Young Banks Addison Banks Addison Wakefield Reid Noel-Baker Ward Stoddart

1974 to 2010 (5, then 6 seats)

[edit]

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal Democrats

Constituency Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005
Chippenham / N Wiltshire (1983) Awdry Needham Gray
Devizes Morrison Ancram
Salisbury Hamilton Key
Westbury Walters Faber Murrison
Swindon / South Swindon (1997) Stoddart Coombs Drown Snelgrove
North Swindon Wills

2010 to present (7, then 7.5 seats)

[edit]

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal Democrats

Constituency 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024
Chippenham Hames Donelan Gibson
Devizes / East Wiltshire (2024) Perry Kruger
North Wiltshire / Melksham and Devizes (2024) Gray Mathew
Salisbury Glen
South West Wiltshire Murrison
Swindon North Tomlinson Stone
Swindon South Buckland Alexander

From 2024, part of northern Wiltshire was included in the South Cotswolds constituency, slightly more than half of which lies in Gloucestershire. Its representation is covered at List of parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ South Cotswolds is a cross-county boundary constituency between Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
  2. ^ It should be acknowledged that South Cotswolds is a cross-county constituency between Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. As the results of UK general elections are not disclosed on a sub-constituency level, the following vote shares contain parts of the electorate in the Cotswold and Stroud districts.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "UK Election A-Z Constituencies 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Drastic election boundary changes proposed for Wiltshire". Wiltshire Times. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  4. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. paras 1084–1126. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  5. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019". Retrieved 27 September 2024.