Oxford East (UK Parliament constituency)

Oxford East
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Oxford East in Oxfordshire.
Location of Oxfordshire within England.
County	Oxfordshire
Electorate	81,644 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Andrew Smith (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Oxford
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Oxford East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is Andrew Smith of the Labour Party, first elected at the 1987 general election.

History

Until 1983, the whole of Oxford, including most of this seat, was part of the Oxford constituency.

The 1997 boundary changes moved two semi-rural Conservative-leaning wards out of the seat, and incorporated the urban Oxford South ward that was strong for the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

Boundaries

Oxford East parliamentary election 2010 candidates (Andrew Smith represented by a colleague) with hustings chair the Very Revd Bob Wilkes.

The constituency covers the eastern and southern parts of Oxford in Oxfordshire. It borders Oxford West and Abingdon to the West and Henley to the North, East and South.

The constituency includes Oxford city centre and the majority of the Oxford Colleges, Cowley (famous for its car factory) and the Blackbird Leys council estate, but there is a large percentage of student voters from both Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities (the latter being based in the seat, in leafy suburban Headington).

Due to the high student, and university-related, vote, Labour came within a thousand votes of losing the seat to the Lib Dems at the 2005 election with such issues as the Iraq War and top-up fees losing many votes for former Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith.

Boundary Review

Oxford East candidates in the 2010 general election at a climate change hustings.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Oxfordshire, the Boundary Commission for England has made minor changes to the existing arrangement as a consequence of population changes.

The modified Oxford East constituency consists of the following electoral wards from Oxford City Council:

• Barton and Sandhills; Blackbird Leys; Carfax; Churchill; Cowley; Cowley Marsh; Headington; Headington Hill and Northway; Hinksey Park; Holywell; Iffley Fields; Littlemore; Lye Valley; Marston; Northfield Brook; Quarry and Risinghurst; Rose Hill and Iffley; St Clement’s; St Mary’s.

These changes have the effect of moving the Carfax and Holywell wards into Oxford East from Oxford West and Abingdon. This means that Oxford city centre and the majority of Oxford Colleges now sit in Oxford East, whereas they had previously sat in Oxford West and Abingdon for the most part. It was expected that this would benefit the Liberal Democrats in this marginal constituency, however when the seat was first contested on its new boundaries in 2010, the Labour incumbent Andrew Smith managed to quadruple his majority.

In 2008 Labour won 11 of the wards, Lib Dems 4, the Greens 3 and the Independent Working Class Association 1.

Members of Parliament

When created in 1983, the seat was won by the Conservative Steve Norris. In 1987 he was defeated by the current Labour incumbent, former Cabinet minister, Andrew Smith.

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1983	Steve Norris	Conservative
	1987	Andrew Smith	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Oxford East parliamentary election 2010 candidates (Andrew Smith represented by a colleague) with hustings chair the Very Revd Bob Wilkes.

General Election 2010: Oxford East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	21,938	42.5	+6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Goddard	17,357	33.6	−1.6
	Conservative	Ed Argar	9,727	18.8	+1.5
	Green	Sushila Dhall[3]	1,238	2.4	−2.1
	UKIP	Julia Gasper	1,202	2.3	+0.6
	Socialist Equality	David O'Sullivan	116	0.2	N/A
	Equal Parenting Alliance	Roger Crawford	73	0.1	N/A
Majority			4,581	8.9
Turnout			51,651	63.1	+5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Oxford East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	15,405	36.9	−12.5
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Goddard	14,442	34.6	+11.2
	Conservative	Virginia Morris	6,992	16.7	−2.0
	Green	Jacob Sanders	1,813	4.3	+0.5
	Independent ('New Loony')	Honest Blair	1,485	3.6	N/A
	Independent Working Class	Maurice Leen	892	2.1	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Gardner	715	1.7	+0.3
	Independent	Pathmanathan Mylvaganam	46	0.1	-0.1
Majority			963	2.3
Turnout			41,790	57.9	+2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.8

General Election 2001: Oxford East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	19,681	49.4	-7.4
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Goddard	9,337	23.4	+8.7
	Conservative	Cheryl Potter	7,446	18.7	-3.3
	Green	Pritam Singh	1,501	3.8	+1.7
	Socialist Alliance	John Lister	708	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Gardner	570	1.4	+0.9
	Socialist Labour	Fahim Ahmed	274	0.7	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Linda Hodge	254	0.6	-0.1
	Independent	Pathmanathan Mylvaganam	77	0.2	0.0
Majority			10,344	26.0
Turnout			39,848	55.8	-12.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Oxford East[4][5][6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	27,205	56.8	+6.6
	Conservative	Jonathan Djanogly	10,540	22.0	−11.5
	Liberal Democrat	George Kershaw	7,038	14.7	+0.7
	Referendum Party	Martin Young	1,391	2.9	N/A
	Green	Craig Simmons	975	2.0	+0.0
	ProLife Alliance	William Harper-Jones	318	0.7	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Gardner	234	0.5	N/A
	Natural Law	John Thompson	108	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Pathmanathan Mylvaganam	68	0.2	N/A
Majority			16,665	34.8	+18.1
Turnout			47,877	68.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.1

General Election 1992: Oxford East[7][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	23,702	50.4	+7.4
	Conservative	Dr Mark Mayall	16,164	34.3	−6.1
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Horwood	6,105	13.0	−2.6
	Green	Caroline Lucas	933	2.0	+1.1
	Natural Law	Miss Ann M. Wilson	101	0.2	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	Keith Thompson	48	0.1	N/A
Majority			7,538	16.1	+13.5
Turnout			47,053	74.6	−4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Oxford East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Smith	21,103	43.0	+5.7
	Conservative	Stephen Norris	19,815	40.4	+0.4
	Liberal	M Godden	7,648	15.6	-7.1
	Green	D Dalton	441	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Pathmanathan Mylvaganam	60	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,288	2.6	−0.1
Turnout				78.9	+5.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.7

General Election 1983: Oxford East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Norris	18,808	40.0
	Labour	Andrew Smith	17,541	37.3
	Liberal	M Godden	10,690	22.7
Majority			1,267	2.7
Turnout				73.9

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire

Notes and references

1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
3. ^ Oxfordshire Green Party press release, 4 February 2010. Peter Tatchell was the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party until withdrawing in December 2009 due to health reasons.
4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/198.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-07. 
5. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.131 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
6. ^ The 1997 election result is calculated relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.
7. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
8. ^ This was an unusual election, where an incumbent was challenged by two people who later became MPs.

Sources

• Election result, 2010 (BBC)
• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997–2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997–2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983–1992 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992–2010 (The Guardian)

Coordinates: 51°45′N 1°12′W / 51.75°N 1.20°W / 51.75; -1.20