The seat has throughout its history consisted of the town of Henley, a part of the Chiltern Hills AONB interspersed by the larger settlements of Thame and Chinnor, and a narrow, more developed area adjoining the Thames on one bank. The local economy, interconnected with London, Oxford and in the far south Reading, ensures a high rate of employment and its natural environment attracts retirees and high income owners.[3] The seat has good rail connections to Central London.[4] As of 2021, the largest town in the constituency is Thame.
An unbroken succession of Conservative candidates have won the seat since 1910. The 2008 by-election was closer than general elections since 2001 and won by the Conservative candidate, John Howell. Howell was re-elected at the 2010 general election and again in 2015, when Labour finished second for the first time since 1970 in Henley. The 2015 GE result made the seat the twelfth safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.[6]
Other parties
All five parties' candidates achieved more than deposit-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote in 2015, reflecting frequent such results for the Green Party and UKIP in that election. Liberal Democrat or predecessor-party Liberal candidates were second-placed between February 1974 and 2010 (inclusive). The closest contest for Henley was in 1966, when Labour's George Cunningham took 44.6% of the vote in a two-candidate contest.
Turnout
At general elections, turnout in the constituency has ranged between 52.9% in the "khaki election" of 1918 to 81.7% in 1950.
The part of the Municipal Borough of Abingdon in the county of Oxfordshire.[7]
1918–1950
The Municipal Borough of Henley-on-Thames;
The Urban Districts of Bicester, Thame, and Wheatley; and
The Rural Districts of Bicester, Crowmarsh, Culham, Goring, Headington, Henley, and Thame.[8]
Expanded to include eastern half of the abolished Woodstock Division, including Bicester. Caversham, which had been absorbed by the County Borough of Reading, was transferred to the Parliamentary Borough of Reading in Berkshire.
1950–1974
The Municipal Borough of Henley-on-Thames;
The Urban Districts of Bicester and Thame;
The Rural Districts of Bullingdon and Henley; and
Part of the Rural District of Ploughley.[8]
Change to contents due to reorganisation of urban and rural districts. Minor losses to the Oxford constituency, including Cowley and Headington, as a result of the expansion of the County Borough of Oxford.
The District of South Oxfordshire wards of Aston Rowant, Benson, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Chinnor, Clifton Hampden, Crowmarsh, Dorchester, Forest Hill, Garsington, Goring, Goring Heath, Great Milton, Henley, Kidmore End, Nettlebed, Rotherfield Peppard, Shiplake, Sonning Common, Thame North, Thame South, Watlington, Wheatley, and Woodcote.[9]
Gained the rural area to the east of Oxford from the abolished County Constituency of Mid-Oxon. The Littlemore ward to the south of Oxford was included in the new Borough Constituency of Oxford East.
1997–2010
As above plus Horspath ward which was added following a change to local authority boundaries.[10]
Minor gain from Oxford East.
2010–2024
Map of boundaries 2010-2024
The District of South Oxfordshire wards of Aston Rowant, Benson, Berinsfield, Chalgrove, Chilton Woods, Chinnor, Clifton Hampden, Crowmarsh, Forest Hill, Garsington, Goring, Great Milton, Henley North, Henley South, Stoke Row, Kidmore End, Nettlebed, Rotherfield Peppard, Shiplake, Sonning Common, Thame North, Thame South, Watlington, Wheatley, and Woodcote; and
The District of Cherwell wards of Fringford & Heyfords and Launton & Otmoor.[11]
The constituency covered most of the local government district of South Oxfordshire, excluding Wallingford, Didcot and surrounding areas in the west. Main settlements include Henley-on-Thames itself, Thame, Chinnor and Sonning Common. The two wards of Cherwell are to the north, close to Oxford; they are predominantly rural.
^Johnson returned to Parliament in 2015, as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and was in 2016 appointed Foreign Secretary in the May Ministry.
References
^"Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume three: Maps | Boundary Commission for England | Page 7". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^UK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/henley/ Archived 1 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
^"Let's move to Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: it's enemy territory". the Guardian. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
^"HM Treasury". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
^"Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
^Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
^ a b cS., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178094. OCLC 539011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)
^"Oops – we can't find that page" (PDF).
^"Declaration of Results of Poll - South Oxfordshire Election of a Member of Parliament for Henley" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2018.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"UK ELECTION RESULTS: HENLEY 2015".
^http://www.samjuthaniforhenley.org.uk Archived 2015-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
^"Sue Cooper PPC page". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
^"constituencies". UKIP South East. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
^"Mark Stevenson is the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Henley". Oxfordshire Green Party.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Henley". BBC News.
^"UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010 » Henley". Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
