Post by andrewp on Mar 15, 2021 16:45:28 GMT
There was a member of parliament for a Chippenham constituency for nearly 700 years until the name of the seat containing the Wiltshire town was renamed as North Wiltshire in 1983. The seat that existed before 1983, contained the small Wiltshire towns of Calne, Cricklade, Malmesbury and Wootton Bassett in addition to Chippenham itself. In that year, whilst that constituency remained largely the same, its name was changed to Wiltshire North. When Wiltshire then became entitled to a seventh and extra parliamentary constituency in the fifth periodical review in the 2000’s, Chippenham was reintroduced as a constituency name, but the constituency with the best claim to be the extra seat was in fact this one. A minority of voters ( 34,000) from the town of Chippenham itself came from North Wiltshire and were joined by 18000 voters from the former Westbury seat ( around Bradford on Avon) and 14,000 from Devizes ( mostly in Melksham) in what was a new and compact constituency in the West of the County.
This is a slightly older than average constituency with 45.4% of people over the age of 45. It is 96.7% white and 71.7% of people are owner occupiers putting the constituency as the 156th most owner occupied. 29.9% of people are educated to degree level and above average percentage of people are employed in higher managerial occupations.
Chippenham is a comfortable middle class market town and is the largest town in the seat- it’s the third largest town in Wilshire. It’s a historic town on the River Avon with a population of 45,000 ( just under half of the constituency electorate) and was the headquarters of North Wiltshire district prior to the Unitarisation of the County in 2009. Historically Chippenham is quite strong for the Liberals and Liberal Democrats. In the 2013 county election, the Lib Dems won 6 of the towns 8 electoral divisions to the Conservatives 2. In the good Conservative year of 2017, the town was more evenly split.
Melksham has a population of some 20000 and is also situated on the River Avon. Melksham is the least affluent of the towns in the seat and in the past had some potential for Labour- 3 of the 5 wards elected Labour councillors in 1995. For most of the post war years the town was thought of as the second most industrial town in the county after Swindon and was the home to a large rubber plant. Although in recent years, the Liberal Democrats have dominated here at a local level, with the three wards covering the core of the town all electing Liberal Democrats in 2017
Corsham has a population of 13000 and lies between Bath and Chippenham. The three divisions covering Corsham town elected 2 Conservatives and 1 Liberal Democrat in 2017 and it is the most Conservative of the four towns in the constituency and the former home of the Duchess of Cornwall ( as Mrs Parker Bowles)
Bradford on Avon is the smallest of the four towns with a population of 10000 and sits astride an impressive bridge over the River Avon. Bradford on Avon is the nearest of the towns to Bath, being only 8 miles and 10 minutes by direct train link. This is making the town an attractive base for those who want to commute to Bath for work or pleasure but want to live in the country. Property prices here are higher than in the rest of the seat. Bradford on Avon would have voted remain and its two county divisions are held by the Liberal Democrats. In fact the Liberal Democrats have won every district, county and Unitary election in the town since 1991.
The old Chippenham constituency was the site of long term frustrations for the Liberal Party. In a by election in 1962, the same year as their famous win in Orpington, caused by the elevation of David Eccles to a Viscountcy, the Liberals came within 1,588 of victory. This began a series of close elections with the Conservatives beating the Liberals by less than 2000 votes three further times in 1964, 1966 and October 1974.
When this new Chippenham seat was first created it was estimated to have had a notional Liberal Democrat majority of 2,000 in 2005. The Conservatives made an unusual choice of candidate in 2010 when they selected Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, the black farmer. He was beaten in 2010 by 2,470 by local councillor Duncan Hames ( who went on to become Mr Jo Swinson). In 2015 Hames was swept away by Conservative Michelle Donelan by 10,000 votes. Donelan increased that majority to 16,500 in 2017, but then in 2019 the Lib Dems increased their share by 9% at the expense of Labour, whilst Donelan’s share remained steady, to cut the majority back to 11.288. This constituency is estimated to have voted in line with the national result 52/48 leave and the proximity to liberal Bath indicates that there may be a more feasible way back here for the Liberal Democrats than in many of their former seats.
This is a slightly older than average constituency with 45.4% of people over the age of 45. It is 96.7% white and 71.7% of people are owner occupiers putting the constituency as the 156th most owner occupied. 29.9% of people are educated to degree level and above average percentage of people are employed in higher managerial occupations.
Chippenham is a comfortable middle class market town and is the largest town in the seat- it’s the third largest town in Wilshire. It’s a historic town on the River Avon with a population of 45,000 ( just under half of the constituency electorate) and was the headquarters of North Wiltshire district prior to the Unitarisation of the County in 2009. Historically Chippenham is quite strong for the Liberals and Liberal Democrats. In the 2013 county election, the Lib Dems won 6 of the towns 8 electoral divisions to the Conservatives 2. In the good Conservative year of 2017, the town was more evenly split.
Melksham has a population of some 20000 and is also situated on the River Avon. Melksham is the least affluent of the towns in the seat and in the past had some potential for Labour- 3 of the 5 wards elected Labour councillors in 1995. For most of the post war years the town was thought of as the second most industrial town in the county after Swindon and was the home to a large rubber plant. Although in recent years, the Liberal Democrats have dominated here at a local level, with the three wards covering the core of the town all electing Liberal Democrats in 2017
Corsham has a population of 13000 and lies between Bath and Chippenham. The three divisions covering Corsham town elected 2 Conservatives and 1 Liberal Democrat in 2017 and it is the most Conservative of the four towns in the constituency and the former home of the Duchess of Cornwall ( as Mrs Parker Bowles)
Bradford on Avon is the smallest of the four towns with a population of 10000 and sits astride an impressive bridge over the River Avon. Bradford on Avon is the nearest of the towns to Bath, being only 8 miles and 10 minutes by direct train link. This is making the town an attractive base for those who want to commute to Bath for work or pleasure but want to live in the country. Property prices here are higher than in the rest of the seat. Bradford on Avon would have voted remain and its two county divisions are held by the Liberal Democrats. In fact the Liberal Democrats have won every district, county and Unitary election in the town since 1991.
The old Chippenham constituency was the site of long term frustrations for the Liberal Party. In a by election in 1962, the same year as their famous win in Orpington, caused by the elevation of David Eccles to a Viscountcy, the Liberals came within 1,588 of victory. This began a series of close elections with the Conservatives beating the Liberals by less than 2000 votes three further times in 1964, 1966 and October 1974.
When this new Chippenham seat was first created it was estimated to have had a notional Liberal Democrat majority of 2,000 in 2005. The Conservatives made an unusual choice of candidate in 2010 when they selected Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, the black farmer. He was beaten in 2010 by 2,470 by local councillor Duncan Hames ( who went on to become Mr Jo Swinson). In 2015 Hames was swept away by Conservative Michelle Donelan by 10,000 votes. Donelan increased that majority to 16,500 in 2017, but then in 2019 the Lib Dems increased their share by 9% at the expense of Labour, whilst Donelan’s share remained steady, to cut the majority back to 11.288. This constituency is estimated to have voted in line with the national result 52/48 leave and the proximity to liberal Bath indicates that there may be a more feasible way back here for the Liberal Democrats than in many of their former seats.
