David Cameron is the Witney MP and leader of the Conservative Party

Witney Politics

David Cameron, Witney MP, became the leader of the Conservative Party on Tuesday December 6th when he won 134,446 of the 198.844 (67.6%) valid votes cast by Tory party members.

The Witney seat is comprised of some 82 villages and towns nestled in the idyllic Cotswolds countryside.

The main population centres are the market town of Witney, the old mill town of Chipping Norton, as well as Woodstock and Burford. Witney's economic history is based around the weaving and blanket trade.

The Witney Blanket Company was incorporated in 1710 - the secret of its high quality blankets was apparently the use of water from the River Windrush in the manufacturing process. The blanket industry has now declined, and the seat's economy is now largely based on industrial estates which are home to a variety of companies including Oxford Electrical Products Ltd and Windrush Technology Ltd.

The armed services are also a major source of employment for constituents, as RAF Brize Norton is based here. Winston Churchill was born in Bleinheim Palace, which was built for the first Duke of Marlborough.

This seat turned Labour against its will in the 1997 Parliament, when the incumbent Tory MP Shaun Woodward defected to Labour. When he then moved to represent St Helens South in 2001, Witney re-elected a Conservative in the form of David Cameron, on an increased majority.
Source : bbc.co.uk

David Cameron was re-elected in May 2005 with 49.3% of the votes (26,571 votes, a 14,156 majority over Liz Leffman the Liberal Democrat candidate). The swing being 0.8% from Liberal Democrat to Conservative.

The total turnout for the 2005 General Election was 53,869 (69% of the registered electors), a 3.1% increase from 2001.

For more information on David Cameron, visit the David Cameron page