Mid Oxfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Oxfordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Oxfordshire, returning one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unusually, its official name - Mid-Oxon - incorporated an abbreviation (Oxon, for Oxonia) but the full form of the county name was and is normally used in referring to the constituency.

Mid Oxfordshire
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
February 1974–1983
Seatsone
Created fromBanbury, Henley
Replaced byWitney, Oxford East, Henley and Banbury[1]

The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election from parts of the seats of Banbury and Henley, and abolished for the 1983 general election.

Throughout its existence, the seat was represented for the Conservatives by Douglas Hurd with comfortable majorities.

Boundaries

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  • The Urban District of Witney;
  • The Rural District of Witney; and
  • Parts of the Rural Districts of Bullingdon and Ploughley.

The constituency was formed largely from the constituency of Banbury, incorporating the Urban and Rural Districts of Witney and the parts of the Rural District of Ploughley in Banbury, including Kidlington.  It also included further parts of the Rural District of Ploughley (to the south of Bicester) and northernmost parts of the Rural District of Bullingdon (to the east of Oxford), transferred from Henley.

It was abolished in 1983, following the reform of local government districts which came into effect in 1974. The bulk of the constituency, including the areas constituting the former Urban and Rural Districts of Witney, together with the town of Kidlington, formed the new constituency of Witney. Eastern rural areas were transferred to Banbury and Henley, with the wards of Marston and Risinghurst being included in the new constituency of Oxford East.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party
Feb 1974 Douglas Hurd Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Elections

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General election February 1974: Mid Oxfordshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Douglas Hurd 22,148 45.23
Labour Eric Parsloe 14,175 28.95
Liberal Robert Sparrow 12,160 24.83
Ind. Conservative John Playford Myhill 488 1.00
Majority 7,973 16.28
Turnout 48,951 82.73
Conservative win (new seat)
General election October 1974: Mid Oxfordshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Douglas Hurd 20,944 45.94 +0.71
Labour Malcolm John Saunders 13,641 29.92 +0.97
Liberal Muriel Eda Burton 11,006 24.14 −0.69
Majority 7,303 16.02 −0.26
Turnout 45,591 76.37 −6.36
Conservative hold Swing -0.13
General election 1979: Mid Oxfordshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Douglas Hurd 28,465 56.92 +10.98
Labour John Hedge 13,004 26.00 −3.92
Liberal Muriel Eda Burton 8,367 16.73 −7.41
Independent P Madden 174 0.35 New
Majority 15,461 30.92 +14.90
Turnout 50,010 79.11 +2.74
Conservative hold Swing +7.45

References

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  1. ^ "'Oxfordshire Mid', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.