The Cotswolds (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:UK constituency infobox Cotswold is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is a solidly Conservative seat.

Following their review into parliamentary representation in Gloucestershire, the Boundary Commission for England have confirmed only minor alterations to the boundaries of this seat. The name of the seat will change to The Cotswolds at the next election, due in 2009 or 2010, to reflect the local district name, which is more commonly used.

Boundaries

The largest town in the constituency is Cirencester. Other settlements include Andoversford, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Fairford, Lechdale, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury and Wotton-under-Edge.

The area is enormously popular with tourists, who enjoy the market towns constructed of beautiful Cotswold stone. Tourism overtook agriculture as the largest single employer in the area several years ago.

The seat has the highest number of listed buildings of any constituency in the UK. It also contains eight of the 20 most popular attractions in Gloucestershire, including Westonbirt Arboretum, Hidcote Manor and Chedworth Roman Villa.

Boundary review

The Boundary Commission for England have made only minor alterations to the constituency of Cotswold, but have modified the name to The Cotswolds to reflect the local district name.

Members of Parliament

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown of the Conservative Party has represented this seat since its creation in 1997. Prior to that he represented the former constituency of Cirencester and Tewkesbury from 1992, which contained most of the present seat.

Election		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1997	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown	Conservative

Election results

General Election 2005: Cotswold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown	23,326	49.3	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Beckerlegge	13,638	28.8	+4.6
	Labour	Mark Dempsey	8,457	17.9	−4.7
	UKIP	Richard Buckley	1,538	3.2	+0.3
	Independent	James Derieg	392	0.8	N/A
Majority			9,688	20.5
Turnout			47,351	66.7	−0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.8

General Election 2001: Cotswold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown	23,133	50.3	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Lawrence	11,150	24.2	+1.3
	Labour	Richard Wilkins	10,383	22.6	−0.1
	UKIP	Jill Stopps	1,315	2.9	N/A
Majority			11,983	26.1
Turnout			45,981	67.5	−8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Cotswold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown	23,698	46.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Gayler	11,733	23.0	N/A
	Labour	David Elwell	11,608	22.7	N/A
	Green	V. Michael	560	1.1	N/A
	Natural Law	H. Brighouse	129	0.3	N/A
Majority			11,965		N/A
Turnout				75.9	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire