Henley

[Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Apr 14, 2020 19:13:50 GMT @abiezercoppe said:

After the Liberal landslide of 1906, Valentine Fleming – father of the James Bond author, Ian Fleming – won the seat of Henley back for the Conservative Party in 1910. Since that election, the seat has continuously returned Conservative MPs. A number of prominent Conservative politicians have represented Henley, including the former cabinet minister, Michael Heseltine, and the current prime minister, Boris Johnson. The latter, however, resigned from the House of Commons to run for Mayor of London in 2008. After returning to the Commons in 2015, the Prime Minister now represents the seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Henley is currently represented by John Howell.

The seat was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, as one of three seats which covered the county of Oxfordshire. The ceremonial county is now represented by six constituencies. Throughout its existence the boundaries of the Henley seat have changed considerably, particularly in recent years. In the early twentieth century, areas of the seat were transferred to the seats of Oxford and Reading. More recently, the seat has gained wards in the north of the county, which were transferred from Banbury, and it now stretches north of the county town. This has led to suggestions of renaming the seat to ‘Henley and Thame’ or ‘East Oxfordshire’.

As well as dominating national elections in Henley, the Conservatives have also controlled South Oxfordshire District Council for much of its existence. It should be noted, however, that the council also covers parts (Didcot and Wallingford) of the neighbouring Wantage seat. Prior to 2019, at local level, the Conservative’s main opposition were the Liberal Democrats in Wheatley and other villages on the eastern outskirts of Oxford, and a residents group in Henley. Nevertheless, at the 2019 local election there was a dramatic change in the political landscape of the council: the Conservatives lost 23 seats, and the Liberal Democrats and Greens gained 12 and 5 seats, respectively. This, in turn, led to the creation of a ‘rainbow coalition’, with the Liberal Democrats and Greens now running the district council. Whilst normality resumed at the 2019 general election, where the Conservative, John Howell, was easily reelected, the Liberal Democrats did achieve their best ever result in the seat. The Remain-nature of the seat is a likely explainer for this.

In the east of the seat are the rolling Chiltern Hills, and running along the western and southern border is the River Thames. Located on the Thames, is the market town which gives name to the seat, Henley. The town is famous for its rowing regatta, and is a byword for middle class. Other significant settlements in the seat are the small towns of Thame and Chinnor. Many of the towns and villages in the seat are filming locations for the TV series ‘Midsomer Murders’. The show offers a watercolour of ‘middle England', with fetes, village greens, and characterful pubs. Minus the murders, the show provides a glimpse (if not a slightly romanticized one) of what life is like in the villages that make up this seat.

Like Henley itself, the rest of the constituency is relatively affluent, particularly the villages close to Reading. The constituency’s high-speed connections to Paddington and Marylebone make it a popular place for commuters to live. Average incomes in the seat are way above national and regional averages. Nevertheless, there are small pockets of deprivation. In the large post-war village of Berinsfield, for example, 19% of children are living in poverty compared with 7% across South Oxfordshire.

It is hard to imagine a situation where Henley would not return a Conservative candidate at a general election. However, the inroads made by opposition parties at local level offer a possible route to a more competitive seat in the future. 

As my second home and college is in this seat(indeed in Henley itself),maybe I can offer some insight into why the 2019 local election was so bad for the Tories. The Tory administration on SODC proposed a really unpopular local plan which would mean building on large swathes of green belt in the district. The Lib Dems,HRG(Henley Residents Group)and Greens ran on a ticket of opposition to this and,in conjunction with other factors like the high Remain vote you mentioned,the bounce back for the Lib Dems who were already relatively popular in the parts of the district which aren't really actually Oxon at all like Didcot and Wallingford and the alternative culture in some of the more rural parts of the district like the Hardwick Estate in Whitchurch-on-Thames,which has organic allotments and a green 24hr organic veg shop just outside the gates.Local factors in Henley include the anger over the education funding gaps which are severely affecting the oversubscribed local secondary school Gillots,where money for repairs have fallen so short that they've had to fence off a classroom because the mould issue is now affecting pupils' learning and Henley faced losing it's well used local bus services very recently which are important for a sparsely populated town with a very high 65+ segment,luckily the Town Council stepped in to provide funding.

[gerrardwinstanley]

Under a different username, I originally posted this profile. However, I nitpick over my own writing, so I've edited it slightly. Please find the revised version below:

After the Liberal landslide of 1906, Valentine Fleming – father of the James Bond author Ian Fleming – won the seat of Henley back for the Conservative Party in 1910. Since that election, the seat has continuously returned Conservative MPs. A number of prominent Conservative politicians have represented Henley, including the former cabinet minister, Michael Heseltine, and the current prime minister, Boris Johnson. The latter, however, resigned from the House of Commons to run for Mayor of London in 2008. After returning to the Commons in 2015, the Prime Minister now represents the seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Henley is currently represented by John Howell.

The seat was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, as one of three seats which covered the county of Oxfordshire. The ceremonial county is now represented by six constituencies. Throughout its existence the boundaries of the Henley seat have changed considerably, particularly in recent years. In the early twentieth century, areas from the constituency were transferred to the seats of Oxford and Reading. More recently, the seat has gained wards in the north of the county, having been transferred from Banbury; thus it now stretches north of the county town. This has led to suggestions of renaming the seat to ‘Henley and Thame’ or ‘East Oxfordshire’.

As well as dominating national elections in Henley, the Conservatives have also controlled South Oxfordshire District Council for much of its existence. It should be noted that the council also covers parts (Didcot and Wallingford) of the neighbouring Wantage seat. Prior to 2019, at local level, the Conservative’s main opposition were the Liberal Democrats in Wheatley and other villages on the eastern outskirts of Oxford. Nevertheless, at the 2019 local election there was a dramatic change in the political landscape of the council: the Conservatives lost 23 seats, and the Liberal Democrats and Greens gained 12 and 5 seats respectively. All three wards in the the town of Henley itself were won by a residents group. Following the election, a ‘rainbow coalition’ was formed, with the Liberal Democrats and Greens taking control of the administration. Whilst normality resumed at the 2019 general election, where the Conservative, John Howell, was easily reelected, the Liberal Democrats did achieve their best ever result in the seat. The Remain-nature of the seat is a likely explainer for this.

In the east of the seat are the rolling Chiltern Hills, and running along the western and southern border is the River Thames. Located on the Thames is the market town which gives name to the seat, Henley. The town is famous for its annual rowing regatta, and is a byword for middle class. Other significant settlements in the seat are the small towns of Thame and Chinnor. Many of the towns and villages in the seat are filming locations for the TV series ‘Midsomer Murders’. The show offers a watercolour of ‘middle England', with fetes, village greens, and characterful pubs. Minus the murders, the show provides a glimpse (if not a slightly romanticized one) of what life is like in the villages that make up this seat.

Like Henley itself, the rest of the constituency is relatively affluent, particularly the villages close to Reading. The constituency’s high-speed connections to Paddington and Marylebone make it a popular place for commuters to live. Average incomes in the seat are way above national and regional averages. Nevertheless, there are small pockets of deprivation. In the large post-war village of Berinsfield, for example, 19% of children are living in poverty compared with 7% across South Oxfordshire.

It is hard to imagine a situation where Henley would not return a Conservative candidate at a general election. However, the inroads made by opposition parties at local level offer a possible route to a more competitive seat in the future.

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2021 18:50:02 GMT gerrardwinstanley said:

Under a different username, I originally posted this profile. However, I nitpick over my own writing, so I've edited it slightly. Please find the revised version below:

After the Liberal landslide of 1906, Valentine Fleming – father of the James Bond author Ian Fleming – won the seat of Henley back for the Conservative Party in 1910. Since that election, the seat has continuously returned Conservative MPs. A number of prominent Conservative politicians have represented Henley, including the former cabinet minister, Michael Heseltine, and the current prime minister, Boris Johnson. The latter, however, resigned from the House of Commons to run for Mayor of London in 2008. After returning to the Commons in 2015, the Prime Minister now represents the seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Henley is currently represented by John Howell.

The seat was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, as one of three seats which covered the county of Oxfordshire. The ceremonial county is now represented by six constituencies. Throughout its existence the boundaries of the Henley seat have changed considerably, particularly in recent years. In the early twentieth century, areas from the constituency were transferred to the seats of Oxford and Reading. More recently, the seat has gained wards in the north of the county, having been transferred from Banbury; thus it now stretches north of the county town. This has led to suggestions of renaming the seat to ‘Henley and Thame’ or ‘East Oxfordshire’.

As well as dominating national elections in Henley, the Conservatives have also controlled South Oxfordshire District Council for much of its existence. It should be noted that the council also covers parts (Didcot and Wallingford) of the neighbouring Wantage seat. Prior to 2019, at local level, the Conservative’s main opposition were the Liberal Democrats in Wheatley and other villages on the eastern outskirts of Oxford. Nevertheless, at the 2019 local election there was a dramatic change in the political landscape of the council: the Conservatives lost 23 seats, and the Liberal Democrats and Greens gained 12 and 5 seats respectively. All three wards in the the town of Henley itself were won by a residents group. Following the election, a ‘rainbow coalition’ was formed, with the Liberal Democrats and Greens taking control of the administration. Whilst normality resumed at the 2019 general election, where the Conservative, John Howell, was easily reelected, the Liberal Democrats did achieve their best ever result in the seat. The Remain-nature of the seat is a likely explainer for this.

In the east of the seat are the rolling Chiltern Hills, and running along the western and southern border is the River Thames. Located on the Thames is the market town which gives name to the seat, Henley. The town is famous for its annual rowing regatta, and is a byword for middle class. Other significant settlements in the seat are the small towns of Thame and Chinnor. Many of the towns and villages in the seat are filming locations for the TV series ‘Midsomer Murders’. The show offers a watercolour of ‘middle England', with fetes, village greens, and characterful pubs. Minus the murders, the show provides a glimpse (if not a slightly romanticized one) of what life is like in the villages that make up this seat.

Like Henley itself, the rest of the constituency is relatively affluent, particularly the villages close to Reading. The constituency’s high-speed connections to Paddington and Marylebone make it a popular place for commuters to live. Average incomes in the seat are way above national and regional averages. Nevertheless, there are small pockets of deprivation. In the large post-war village of Berinsfield, for example, 19% of children are living in poverty compared with 7% across South Oxfordshire.

It is hard to imagine a situation where Henley would not return a Conservative candidate at a general election. However, the inroads made by opposition parties at local level offer a possible route to a more competitive seat in the future.

Good to have you back on the forum 

[gerrardwinstanley]

Thank you, European Lefty. To ensure that I don't leave the forum again, I'm saying clear of the "Discussion" pages - this time I'm sticking to boundaries and psephology.

[Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Stats update:
Owner-occupied - 74.3%, 84/650
Private rented - 13.2%, 388/650
Social rented - 10.0%, 580/650
White - 96.4%, 277/650
Black - 0.5%, 376/650
Asian - 1.6%, 396/650
Managerial & professional - 44.5%
Routine & Semi-routine - 17.2%
Degree level - 38.7%, 57/650
No qualifications - 15.8%,591/650
Students - 5.7%, 534/650
Age 65+ - 19.7%, 150/650

[Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Jan 21, 2021 22:25:54 GMT gerrardwinstanley said:

Thank you, European Lefty. To ensure that I don't leave the forum again, I'm saying clear of the "Discussion" pages - this time I'm sticking to boundaries and psephology.

I did think I'd not seen you for a while, it's nice to see you back.

[Robert Waller]

Yes it is, gerrardwinstanley !
And if you happened to do any other profiles, and they disappeared, I for one would be very grateful if you post them again!

[Robert Waller]

2011 Stats update:
Owner-occupied - 74.3%, 84/650
Private rented - 13.2%, 388/650
Social rented - 10.0%, 580/650
White - 96.4%, 277/650
Black - 0.5%, 376/650
Asian - 1.6%, 396/650
Managerial & professional - 44.5%
Routine & Semi-routine - 17.2%
Degree level - 38.7%, 57/650
No qualifications - 15.8%,591/650
Students - 5.7%, 534/650
Age 65+ - 19.7%, 150/650

2021 Census

Owner occupied 73.9% 73/573
Private rented 15.4% 421/573
Social rented 10.7% 494/573
White 94.1%
Black 0.7%
Asian 2.2%
Managerial & professional 46.0% 28/573
Routine & Semi-routine 15.3% 517/573
Degree level 45.0% 61/573
No qualifications 12.2% 537/573

[YL]

Oxfordshire gets an extra constituency in the Boundary Commission proposals, and the county's current seats, which were all oversized, are all adjusted. In the case of Henley, it loses its rural northern end in Cherwell district, which goes to the new Bicester & Woodstock constituency, and also loses its part of the cross-Thames ward of Sandford & the Wittenhams.

These changes will not make much difference to the constituency's status as one which in most circumstances is safe Conservative, but which could just be vulnerable to the Lib Dems in a Conservative collapse scenario.

There were some suggestions to change the name, as Henley itself remains on the edge of the constituency. However, at least so far, the Commission have retained the existing name.