Swindon was a parliamentary constituency in the town of

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

from the 1918 general election until it was abolished for the 1997 general election. It was then replaced by the two new constituencies of North Swindon and South Swindon.

History

Swindon was a predominantly Conservative seat in its early history, though Labour first won the seat in 1929 and gained the seat in a 1934 by-election before losing it to the Conservatives in the general election the following year. From 1945 until 1983 however, Swindon became a increasingly safe seat for the Labour Party, one of the party's few electoral strongholds in Southern England, being one of the most important historic railway towns in the country regarding the production and manufacture related to the industry. In the 1840s a greenfield site near the market town was transformed by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

(GWR) with its large works factory. The scale of the GWR's influence on Swindon reached its peak in the second quarter of the 20th century, though production gradually wound down, the works closing in 1986. Swindon diversified its local economy, known for being a regional centre for business, and home to many technological and pharmaceutical companies, becoming more reliant on the service sector, gradually swinging more towards the Conservative Party in the 1980s. The Conservatives gained the seat in 1983 in their landslide victory, and held the seat until 1997 when Swindon was divided into two constituencies ( Swindon North, Swindon South), which were both gained by Labour in the general election of that year.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Swindon, and the part of the Rural District of Highworth which was not included in the Devizes constituency. 1950–1983: The Borough of Swindon. 1983–1997: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Central, Dorcan, Eastcott, Gorse Hill, Lawns, Moredon, Park, Toothill, Walcot, Western, and Whitworth.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Election in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swindon (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Politics of the Borough of Swindon