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, and 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, high incomes and favour the Conservatives. Workless claimants totalled 3.0% of the population in November 2012, lower than the national average of 3.8%.[2]
Since 1885, the seat has been held by the Conservative Party except for brief intervals for the Liberals (1906-1910 and 1923-1924) and Labour (1945-1951).
The seat bucked the trend in 2019 with a swing of 2.3% to the Labour Party in spite of their heavy general election defeat, and is now looked on as a key Blue Wall marginal constituency in the next general election.
Boundaries and boundary changesedit
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.[3]
Beaconsfield was transferred to Aylesbury. Gained Eton which had been part of the abolished Parliamentary Borough of New Windsor in Berkshire.
1945–1950
The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 set up Boundaries Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies in time for the 1945 election.[5] This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Buckinghamshire was allocated an additional seat. As a consequence, the new constituency of Eton and Slough was formed from the Wycombe constituency, comprising the Municipal Borough of Slough and the Urban and Rural Districts of Eton. In compensation, the parts of the (revised) Rural District of Wycombe in the Aylesbury Division, including Hughenden and Princes Risborough, were transferred to Wycombe.
The revised composition of the constituency, after taking account of changes to local authorities, was:
The Rural District of Wycombe parishes of Chepping Wycombe, Fawley, Fingest and Lane End, Great Marlow, Hambleden, Hughenden, Little Marlow, Medmenham, Turville, and West Wycombe Rural.[6]
Northern parts of the Rural District of Wycombe, including Princes Risborough, but excluding Hughenden, were transferred back to Aylesbury. Wooburn was included in the new constituency of Beaconsfield.
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.[7]
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.[8]
Minor changes.
Map of current boundaries
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.[9]
Hazlemere transferred back from Chesham and Amersham. Marlow transferred to Beaconsfield and Hughenden to Aylesbury.
In April 2020, the District of Wycombe, together with those of Aylesbury, Chiltern and South Bucks were merged into the new unitary authority of Buckinghamshire Council. Accordingly, the current contents of the constituency are:
The Buckinghamshire Council wards of Abbey, Booker, Cressex & Castlefield, Chiltern Villages, Downley, Hazlemere, Ryemead & Micklefield, Terriers & Amersham Hill, Totteridge & Bowerdean, Tylers Green & Loudwater, and West Wycombe (part).
The District of Buckinghamshire wards of: Abbey; Booker, Cressex and Castlefield; Chiltern Villages; Downley; Ryemead and Micklefield; Terriers and Amersham Hill; Totteridge and Bowerdean; Tylers Green and Loudwater; West Wycombe.[10]
The electorate will be reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring the Hazlemere ward to Chesham and Amersham.
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 2005 and 2010 general elections and thus calculation of change in vote share is not meaningful.
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1979 and 1983 general elections and thus calculation of change in vote share is not meaningful.
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1970 and February 1974 general elections and thus calculation of change in vote share is not meaningful.
A general election was expected 1939–40 and by 1939 the following had been adopted as candidates;
Conservative: 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.[43]
^"England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
^Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian.
^Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
^ abcS., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178094. OCLC 539011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Gay, Oonagh (28 July 2010). "The Rules for the Redistribution of Seats- history and reform". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
^"MARCHAUNT, William III, of Wycombe, Bucks. | History of Parliament Online".
^ abcLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
^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.
^Fisher, David R. "DASHWOOD KING, Sir John, 4th bt. (?1765-1849), of Halton and West Wycombe, Bucks". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
^ abcdefghijklmStooks Smith, Henry (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, FWS (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
^"Sir George Henry Dashwood 5th Bart". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
^"Ralph Bernal". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^Malcolmson, APW (2006). The Pursuit of the Heiress: Aristocratic Marriage in Ireland 1740-1840 (Illustrated ed.). Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 176. ISBN 9781903688656. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via Google Books.
^"The Brazil Controversy". The Spectator. 18 February 1865. p. 13. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^Rubinstein, William D; Jolles, Michael A; Rubinstein, Hilary L, eds. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4039-3910-4. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via Google Books.
^Hawkins, Angus (2015). Victorian Political Culture: 'Habits of Heart & Mind'. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-19-872848-1. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via Google Books.
^"Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^"Wycombe Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^"Labour's Emma Reynolds on High Wycombe's political future". Bucks Free Press. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^"'I can oust Steve Baker': Climate Party leader launches campaign to be MP for Wycombe". Bucks Free Press. 11 April 2024.
^"Wycombe Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
^"Wycombe parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election results for Wycombe, 7 May 2015". 7 May 2015.
^electorate 76371 provided by Wycombe Council elections office 22Jun2015.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ abcDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901.
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 344–345. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^"Wycombe Election". Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Brecon Gazette. 15 March 1862. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^The Spectator, Volume 18. F. C. Westley. 1845. p. 1006. Retrieved 28 July 2018 – via Google Books.
^ abc"Chipping Wycombe". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
Further readingedit
GENUKI
Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807
D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) titles A-Z
The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)