The constituency consists primarily of agricultural land with relatively widely spaced rural villages which are now predominantly inhabited by commuters, [3] with its boundaries taking in the historic town of Stratford-on-Avon itself and the south and west of the Stratford-on-Avon local government district.
After Stratford itself the next largest settlements in the constituency are Studley and Alcester each with just under 5,000 electors.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.4% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4]
Boundariesedit
Map of current boundaries
2010–present: The District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of Alcester, Aston Cantlow, Bardon, Bidford and Salford, Brailes, Claverdon, Ettington, Henley, Kinwarton, Long Compton, Quinton, Sambourne, Shipston, Snitterfield, Stratford Alveston, Stratford Avenue and New Town, Stratford Guild and Hathaway, Stratford Mount Pleasant, Studley, Tanworth, Tredington, Vale of the Red Horse, and Welford.
1997–2010: All the wards of the District of Stratford-on-Avon except the wards of Henley, Tanworth, and Tanworth Earlswood.
1983–1997: The District of Stratford-on-Avon.
1974–1983: As 1950 but with redrawn boundaries.
1950–1974: The Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Rural Districts of Stratford-on-Avon, Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour, and Southam.
1885–1918: The Boroughs of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, and Leamington, the Sessional Divisions of Alcester, Brailes, Henley, Stratford, Snitterfield, and Warwick, and the part of the Sessional Division of Kenilworth in the Parliamentary Borough of Warwick and Leamington.
The District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of: Alcester & Rural; Alcester Town; Avenue; Bidford East; Bidford West & Salford; Bishopton; Brailes & Compton; Bridgetown; Clopton; Ettington; Guildhall; Hathaway; Henley-in-Arden; Kinwarton; Quinton; Shipston North; Shipston South; Shottery; Snitterfield; Studley with Mappleborough Green; Studley with Sambourne; Tanworth-in-Arden; Tiddington; Welcombe; Welford-on-Avon; Wotton Wawen.[5]
Minor changes to align boundaries with those of wards in the District of Stratford-on-Avon.
Following a further local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,[6][7] the constituency will now comprise the following wards of the District of Stratford-on-Avon from the next general election:
With the exception of a relatively close 1963 by-election, the constituency has always returned majorities of over 20% for the Conservatives. Up until 1970, Labour always came second and the Liberals (when they stood) third; and the Liberal/Liberal Democratic parties came second and Labour third in every subsequent general election until 2010. The only occasion on which any other party has been in the top three (or managed to save their deposit) was in 2015, when UKIP came second with just over 13% of the vote. Since then, Labour has come second in 2017, and the Liberal Democrats in 2019.
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
^"Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^ abLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
^"Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
^Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
^LGBCE. "Stratford-on-Avon | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
^"The Stratford-on-Avon (Electoral Changes) Order 2022".
^"New Seat Details - Stratford-on-Avon". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
^"Stratford-on-Avon Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^"Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^"Nadhim Zahawi re-selected as Stratford-on-Avon candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^"Stratford-on-Avon Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
^"Candidates confirmed for General Election". Stratford-upon-Avon Herald. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"UK > England > West Midlands > Stratford-on-Avon". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ abc"News > Politics > Constituency > Stratford-on-Avon". The Guardian. Elections. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^"Kentish Mail Greenwich And Deptford Observer Newspaper Archives". Kentish Mail, Greenwich and Deptford Observer. 7 August 1908. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886