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.
Following the UK's "Brexit" referendum result in June 2016, David Cameron announced his
intention to resign from the position of Prime Minister. He will remain MP for
Witney.
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
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
|