Salisbury is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since 2010 by John Glen of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

History

From 1295, (the

Model Parliament The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to Frederic William Maitland, used for the 1295 Parliament of England of King Edward I. History This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the v ...

) a form of this constituency on a narrower area, the Parliamentary borough of Salisbury, returned two MPs to the House of Commons of England Elections were held using the bloc vote system. This afforded the ability for wealthy male townsfolk who owned property rated at more than £2 a year liability in Land Tax to vote in the county and borough (if they met the requirements of both systems). The franchise (right to vote) in the town was generally restricted to male tradespersons and professionals within the central town wards, however in medieval elections would have been the

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

. The borough constituency co-existed with a neighbouring minuscule-

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

seat described towards its

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

abolition as a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...

that covered the mostly abandoned Roman citadel to the northeast. Under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, the borough's representation was reduced to one member. The parliamentary borough of Salisbury was abolished for the 1918 general election however the name transferred immediately to a new county division.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Salisbury and Wilton, and the Rural Districts of Amesbury, Salisbury, Tisbury, and Wilton. 1950–1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Salisbury and Wilton, and the Rural Districts of Amesbury, and Salisbury and Wilton. 1983–2010: The District of Salisbury wards of Alderbury, Amesbury, Bemerton, Bishopdown, Bulford, Chalke Valley, Donhead, Downton, Durrington, Ebble, Fisherton and Bemerton Village, Fonthill, Fovant, Harnham, Idmiston, Laverstock, Milford, Nadder, Redlynch, St Edmund, St Mark, St Martin, St Paul, Stratford, Till Valley, Tisbury, Upper Bourne, Whiteparish, Wilton, Winterbourne, Winterslow, Woodford Valley, and Wylye. 2010–present: The District of Salisbury wards of Alderbury and Whiteparish, Amesbury East, Amesbury West, Bemerton, Bishopdown, Chalke Valley, Downton and Redlynch, Ebble, Fisherton and Bemerton Village, Harnham East, Harnham West, Laverstock, Lower Wylye and Woodford Valley, St Edmund and Milford, St Francis and Stratford, St Martin and Milford, St Paul, Till Valley and Wylye, Upper Bourne, Idmiston and Winterbourne, Wilton, and Winterslow. The constituency is based around the city of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. A large portion of the former

district, excluding a part to the west, is included within the constituency. Downton (listed above) was a former borough constituency until abolished as a rotten borough, like Old Sarum, in 1832.

Traditions

According to a local tradition, the Member of Parliament for Salisbury sings the song ''

The Vly be on the Turmut "The Vly be on the Turmut" (i.e., "The Fly Is on the Turnip") is the unofficial song of the English county of Wiltshire, sung in the Wiltshire dialect. The song is one of the regimental marching songs of the Wiltshire Regiment. According to a long ...

'' from the balcony of the White Hart Hotel in St John's Street after winning each Parliamentary election.

Constituency profile

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of one local government district with a working population whose income is close to the national average and lower than average reliance upon

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 1.6% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 2.5%. The rural county as a whole has a low 14.8% of its population without a car, 18.6% of the population without qualifications and a high 29.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure across the whole county 67.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census.

Members of Parliament

* ''Constituency created 1295''

MPs 1295–1660

MPs 1660–1885

MPs since 1885

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

* Caused by Hulse's resignation.

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by Grenfell's appointment as a

Groom in Waiting The office of Groom in Waiting (sometimes hyphenated as Groom-in-Waiting) was a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, which in earlier times was usually held by more than one person at a time – in the late Middle Ages there might be d ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1860s

* Caused by Hamilton's resignation.

Elections in the 1850s

* Caused by Wall's death

Elections in the 1840s

* Caused by Hussey's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds * Caused by Wyndham's death. * Caused by Brodie's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. Bouverie retired during polling.

Elections in the 1830s

* On petition, Wyndham was unseated in favour of Pleydell-Bouverie

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salisbury (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1295