The Cotswolds is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, since its 1997 creation.

Members of Parliament

Constituency profile

The Cotswolds is a safe Conservative seat. The largest town in the constituency is

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

, a compact traditional town. Other settlements include

Andoversford Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England, about east of Cheltenham. The village is on the River Coln, parallel to the A40.The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 555. In 2019 ...

, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Fairford, Lechlade, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury (and the neighbouring village of Doughton, location of Highgrove, the Prince of Wales's estate), and Wotton-under-Edge. The seat has the highest number of listed buildings of any constituency in Britain. It also contains eight of the 20 most popular attractions in Gloucestershire, including Westonbirt Arboretum,

Hidcote Manor Hidcote Manor Garden is a garden in the United Kingdom, located at the village of Hidcote Bartrim, near Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. It is one of the best-known and most influential Arts and Crafts gardens in Britain, with its linked "g ...

, and Chedworth Roman Villa. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.6% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. This was also the constituency that, when declared during the 2015 UK general election, saw the Conservatives win a surprise majority, in which

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

was re-elected as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

; a hung parliament had been widely expected.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1997 as Cotswold, mostly from the former seat of Cirencester and Tewkesbury. In 2010 the name was changed to The Cotswolds to reflect the commonly used name of the area. 2010–present: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud wards of Kingswood, Minchinhampton, and Wotton-under-Edge. 1997–2010: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud ward of Wotton and Kingswood. As of 2022, there are plans to split the constituency into two smaller constituencies: North Cotswolds and South Cotswolds, in the hope of evening up voter numbers relative to other constituencies.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotswolds, The (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in South West England Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997 Politics of Gloucestershire Cotswolds