Banbury is a constituency in Oxfordshire created in 1553 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Its current MP is Sean Woodcock of the Labour Party, who gained the seat at the 2024 general election.
Constituency profile The constituency is located in Oxfordshire and stretches over parts of the Cherwell and West Oxfordshire local government districts. It is largely rural and agricultural, with the western area forming part of the Cotswolds. The constituency includes the large market town of Banbury, the small towns of Chipping Norton and Charlbury, and many smaller villages.
Banbury is an important local centre for commerce and industry, especially in the motorsport sector. In 2016 the town had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Chipping Norton is known for the Chipping Norton set, a group of high-profile media and political personalities who live in the area. Residents of the constituency are wealthier than the national average and around 90% of the population are white.
At the most recent local elections in 2024, voters in Banbury elected mostly Labour councillors, whilst the seats in the rural parts of the constituency mostly went to the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The constituency is estimated to have voted marginally in favour of remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum.
History The constituency was created as a parliamentary borough, consisting of the town of Banbury, on 26 January 1554 through the efforts of Henry Stafford and Thomas Denton.Bindoff, p. 30 It was one of the few in England in the unreformed House of Commons to elect only one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 onwards. As such, it used the first past the post system.
It was the seat represented by Lord North, the prime minister during the American War of Independence.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the Parliamentary Borough was abolished and was reconstituted as the Northern or Banbury Division of Oxfordshire when the three-member Parliamentary County of Oxfordshire was divided into the three single-member seats: Banbury, Woodstock and Henley. It comprised the north-western part of Oxfordshire, including Chipping Norton as well as the abolished borough. Banbury has remained as such since then with varying boundaries (see below).
Political history Majority views Banbury had a post-World War I unbroken Conservative representation and significant local support for the party for more than a century, from 1922 to 2024; during that period, the largest vote had been for a Conservative. Since then, its representatives have all served long terms in office, and its MPs from 1922 to 2015 have all been knighted. Although the seat saw a very close election in 1923, the seat would turn out to be one of the Tories' safe seats in the succeeding elections: in 2010, Tony Baldry (Conservative) almost doubled his majority, while the 2015 result made the seat the 125th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. Victoria Prentis would hold the seat for the Conservatives for nine more years after 2015, until the 2024 general election saw the Labour candidate, Sean Woodcock, win the seat; consequently, this was the first time that the constituency elected a Labour Party MP.
In June 2016, an estimated 50.35% of local adults voting in the EU membership referendum chose to leave the European Union instead of to remain.
Other parties Four of the six parties' candidates achieved more than the deposit-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote in 2015. In 2001, the Labour Party candidate Lesley Silbey won the largest opposing-party share of the vote since 1974 — 35% of the vote. Prior to 1974, the highest percentage of votes for the second-placed candidate was in 1945 — 48% of the vote.
Boundaries and boundary changes
1885–1918
The Borough of Banbury;and The Sessional Divisions of Banbury and Bloxham, Chadlington, and Wootton North.
1918–1950
The Boroughs of Banbury, Chipping Norton, and Woodstock; The Urban District of Witney; and The Rural Districts of Banbury, Chipping Norton, Witney, and Woodstock.
The constituency was expanded to include the western half of the abolished Woodstock Division, including Witney and Woodstock.
1950–1974
The Boroughs of Banbury, Chipping Norton, and Woodstock; The Urban District of Witney; The Rural Districts of Banbury, Chipping Norton, and Witney; and The Rural District of Ploughley parishes of Begbroke, Gosford and Water Eaton, Hampton Gay and Poyle, Kidlington, Shipton on Cherwell, Thrupp, and Yarnton.
Change to contents due to reorganisation of rural districts. Marginal loss to the Oxford constituency as a result of the expansion of the County Borough of Oxford.
1974–1983
The Boroughs of Banbury, Chipping Norton, and Woodstock; The Urban District of Bicester; The Rural Districts of Banbury and Chipping Norton; and The Rural District of Ploughley parishes of Ardley, Bucknell, Caversfield, Chesterton, Cottisford, Finmere, Fringford, Fritwell, Godington, Hardwick with Tusmore, Hethe, Kirtlington, Launton, Lower Heyford, Middleton Stoney, Mixbury, Newton Purcell with Shelswell, Somerton, Souldern, Stoke Lyne, Stratton Audley, and Upper Heyford.
The Urban and Rural Districts of Witney and the parts of the Rural District of Ploughley, including Kidlington, formed the basis of the new constituency of Mid-Oxon. Bicester and northern parts of the Rural District of Ploughley transferred from Henley.
1983–1997
The District of Cherwell wards of Adderbury, Ambrosden, Ardley, Bicester East, Bicester South, Bicester West, Bloxham, Bodicote, Calthorpe, Chesterton, Cropredy, Deddington, Easington, Fringford, Grimsbury, Hardwick, Heyford, Hook Norton, Hornton, Kirtlington, Launton, Neithrop, Otmoor, Ruscote, Sibford, Steeple Aston, and Wroxton; and The District of West Oxfordshire wards of Bartons and Tackley, and Wootton.
Gained a small part of the abolished constituency of Mid-Oxon, to the south of Bicester. The bulk of the area comprising the former Urban and Rural Districts of Chipping Norton transferred to the new constituency of Witney.
1997–2010
The District of Cherwell wards of Adderbury, Ambrosden, Ardley, Bicester East, Bicester South, Bicester West, Bloxham, Bodicote, Calthorpe, Chesterton, Cropredy, Deddington, Easington, Fringford, Grimsbury, Hardwick, Heyford, Hook Norton, Hornton, Kirtlington, Launton, Neithrop, Otmoor, Ruscote, Sibford, Steeple Aston, and Wroxton.
Minor loss to Witney, comprising the two wards in the District of West Oxfordshire.
2010–2024
The District of Cherwell wards of Adderbury, Ambrosden and Chesterton, Banbury Calthorpe, Banbury Easington, Banbury Grimsbury and Castle, Banbury Hardwick, Banbury Neithrop, Banbury Ruscote, Bicester East, Bicester North, Bicester South, Bicester Town, Bicester West, Bloxham and Bodicote, Caversfield, Cropredy, Deddington, Fringford, Hook Norton, Launton, Sibford, The Astons and Heyfords, and Wroxton.
Two wards in the District of Cherwell to the south of Bicester (Kirtlington and Otmoor) transferred to Henley.
The 2010 constituency covered the north-east of Oxfordshire, around Banbury and Bicester and largely corresponded to the Cherwell local government district, with the principal exception of the large village of Kidlington on the outskirts of Oxford which lies in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, and some smaller villages to the north-east of Oxford that lie in the Henley constituency.
2024–present Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following electoral wards (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The District of Cherwell wards of: Adderbury, Bloxham & Bodicote; Banbury, Calthorpe & Easington; Banbury Cross & Neithrop; Banbury Grimsbury & Hightown; Banbury Hardwick; Banbury Ruscote; Cropredy, Sibfords & Wroxton; Deddington. The District of West Oxfordshire wards of: Chadlington and Churchill; Charlbury and Finstock; Chipping Norton; Kingham, Rollright and Enstone; The Bartons.
Major changes, with the town of Bicester and surrounding areas, comprising 38.5% of the existing electorate, being included in the newly created constituency of Bicester and Woodstock. This was partly offset by the transfer from Witney of north-western parts of the District of West Oxfordshire, including Chipping Norton and Charlbury.
Members of Parliament Banbury borough (until 1885) MPs 1554–1640 Constituency created 1554. (Even before the Reform Act 1832, Banbury only returned one member to Parliament)Banbury in 1835 Old Towns Books & Maps
ParliamentMemberParliament of 1554 (April)Thomas DentonParliament of 1554 (November)Edward Stafford, 3rd Baron StaffordParliament of 1555Not knownParliament of 1558John DentonParliament of 1559Thomas LeeParliament of 1563Francis Walsingham (sat for Lyme Regis, replaced by Owen Brereton)Parliament of 1571Anthony CopeParliament of 1572Parliament of 1584Richard FiennesParliament of 1586Anthony CopeParliament of 1588Parliament of 1593Parliament of 1597Parliament of 1601Parliament of 1604–1611Sir William CopeSucceeded as baronet, July 1615Addled Parliament (1614)Parliament of 1621–1622Happy Parliament (1624–1625)Sir Erasmus DrydenUseless Parliament (1625)Sir William Cope (Election declared void, replaced by James Fiennes)Parliament of 1626 Calcot ChambreParliament of 1628–1629John CrewNo Parliament summoned 1629–1640
MPs 1640–1885 YearMemberParty April 1640 Nathaniel Fiennes Parliamentarian 1648 Fiennes excluded in Pride's Purge – seat left vacant 1653Banbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate January 1659 Nathaniel Fiennes, the younger May 1659 Banbury was not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Sir Anthony Cope 1661 Sir John HolmanCreated a baronet, June 1663 1685 Sir Dudley North 1689 Sir Robert Dashwood 1698 James IsaacsonExpelled from the House of Commons 1699 Sir John Cope Whig 1700 Patrick Friel 1701 Charles North 1713 Sir Jonathan Cope Tory 1722 Monoux Cope Whig 1727 Hon. Francis North Whig 1730 Toby Chauncy 1733 William KnollysKnollys claimed and used the title Viscount Wallingford, but his claim was disallowed by the House of Lords 1740 William Moore 1746 John Willes 1754 Frederick North, Lord NorthTory 1790 George North, Lord North 1792 Hon. Frederick North 1794 William Holbech 1796 Dudley Long North 1806 William Praed 1808 Dudley Long North 1812 Frederick Sylvester North Douglas 1819 Hon. Heneage Legge 1826 Hon. Arthur Legge 1830 Henry Villiers-Stuart Tory 1831 John Easthope Radical 1832 Henry William Tancred Whig February 1859 Bernhard Samuelson WhigApril 1859 Sir Charles Eurwicke Douglas Ind. Liberal 1865 Sir Bernhard Samuelson, Bt Liberal1885 Borough abolished – name transferred to county division
Banbury division of Oxfordshire/Banbury County Constituency (since 1885) ElectionMemberParty 1885 Sir Bernhard Samuelson Liberal 1895 Albert Brassey Conservative 1906 Eustace Fiennes Liberal January 1910 Robert Brassey Conservative December 1910 Eustace FiennesCreated a baronet, June 1916 Liberal 1918 by-election Sir Rhys Rhys-Williams, 1st Baronet Liberal 1918 Coalition Liberal 1922 James Edmondson Conservative 1945 Douglas Dodds-Parker Conservative 1959 Neil Marten Conservative 1983 Tony Baldry Conservative 2015 Victoria Prentis Conservative 2024 Sean Woodcock Labour
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Conservative 26,397 52.0 Labour 12,598 24.8 Liberal Democrats 10,335 20.3 Green 1,480 2.9Turnout50,81072.6Electorate69,943
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s