The constituency has relatively high economic dependence on agriculture, as well as modern industry (particularly motorsport), research and development, public services and, to a lesser extent, defence. It is centred on the large market town of Banbury. It is a partly rural seat, with the northwest of the constituency on the edge of the Cotswolds. The area has experienced significant urban growth and is popular with commuters who favour its fast transport links to Birmingham, Oxford and London by rail, or the M40.
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).
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.[3]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.
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.
1885–1918
The Borough of Banbury;and
The Sessional Divisions of Banbury and Bloxham, Chadlington, and Wootton North.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
The District of West Oxfordshire wards of: Chadlington and Churchill; Charlbury and Finstock; Chipping Norton; Kingham, Rollright and Enstone; The Bartons.[11]
Major changes, with the town of Bicester and surrounding areas, comprising 38.5% of the existing electorate[12], 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.
Banbury borough (until 1885)
MPs 1554–1640
Constituency created 1554. (Even before the Reform Act of 1832, Banbury only returned one member to Parliament)[13]
General Election 1939–40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
General Election 1914–15:
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;
Banbury is bordered to the northeast by Northamptonshire South, to the east by Buckingham, to the south by Witney and Henley constituencies, to the east by Stratford-upon-Avon, and to the northeast by Kenilworth and Southam.
Craig, Fred WS (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN0900178094. OCLC539011.
"Election Movements in England". Northern Standard. 19 June 1841. p.1. Retrieved 26 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required)
Tancred, Henry William (1969). Trinder, Barrie Stuart (ed.). A Victorian M.P. and his constituents: the correspondence of H. W. Tancred, 1841-1859 (Illustrateded.). Banbury Historical Society. p.105.
"Banbury". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 16 November 1868. pp.3–4. Retrieved 28 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required)
