Newbury is a UK parliamentary constituency consisting of Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and a large part of the surrounding area of West Berkshire. It is currently represented by David Rendel, Liberal Democrat, who first won the seat in the by-election of 1993 after the sitting MP, Judith Chaplin, Conservative, died.

One issue which may play a part in the 2005 general election is fox hunting, which David Rendel opposed, and voted to ban, and could be an issue in the constituency given it's more rural location.

Newbury's unemployment rate is lower than average at 3.2%, whilst it has 0.8% Job Seeker's Allowance claimants. House prices are (according to the BBC) the 6th highest in the country.

Members of Parliament

• Anthony Hurd , Conservative (1945 - ?)
• Michael McNair-Wilson , Conservative (1974 - 1992)
• Judith Chaplin, Conservative (1992 - 1993)
• David Rendel, Liberal Democrat (1993 - )

Elections

UK general election, 2005

With a reduced majority of 4.8% the battle between the liberal democrats and conservatives to win Newbury will be intense. According to many sources, such as the BBC and The Guardian, Newbury is 30th on the Conservative Party's target list.

The following have declared their intention to stand:

• Richard Benyon (Conservative Party)
• Nick Cornish (Independent)
• David McMahon (UK Independence Party)
• David Rendel (Liberal Democrats)
• Barrie Singleton (Independent)
• Oscar Van Nooijen (Labour Party)

UK general election, 2001

The 2001 election saw David Rendel returned with a smaller majority of 2 415. Turnout was above average at 67.3%.

UK general election, 1997

In the 1997 election, contary to many expectations, David Rendel managed to keep a hold of his seat.

Turnout: 76.7%

Newbury by-election, 1993

The Newbury by-election of 1993 was held after Judith Chaplin died. It was won by David Rendel with an impressive swing of 28.4%. However, turnout was down on the previous year at 71.3%. The by-election in Newbury was the first in a string of by-election losses for the Conservative Party. Many independent candidates, or candidates from newly formed or minor parties stood in the by-election, with three candidates standing on an anti-Maastricht Treaty platform. Andrew Bannon, a Labour member from Slough stood as a Conservative Candidate in protest at a Conservative member standing as a Labour Candidate in the 1992 general election in Slough.

All candidates which polled less than 5% of the vote lose the deposit they have to pay to stand for election. Therefore every candidate except David Rendel and Julian Davidson but including Labour's Steve Billcliffe failed to poll enough support to regain their deposit.

UK general election, 1992

In the 1992 election the new Conservative Party candidate won the seat with an absolute majority. The turnout was 81.9%, higher than the nationwide average. Labour acheived their ffith worst result of the 1992 election in Newbury with only a 6.0% share of the vote.

Previous elections

All elections from 1945 until 1993 were won by the Conservative Party.

External links

• Independent story on the 2005 campaign
• West Berkshire Conservative Association
• David Rendel's Official Homepage
• Labour South East