Banbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Banbury
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Banbury in Oxfordshire.
Location of Oxfordshire within England.
County	Oxfordshire
Population	117,928 (2011 census)
Electorate	84,063 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Banbury and Bicester
Current constituency
Created	1553
Member of parliament	Victoria Prentis (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Banbury is an Oxfordshire constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Victoria Prentis of the Conservative Party. The constituency is commonly, but erroneously, referred to as the North Oxfordshire constituency.

In terms of electorate, Banbury was the 13th largest constituency in the United Kingdom and the largest in Oxfordshire at the time of the 2010 general election.

The constituency was created January 26, 1554 through the efforts of Henry Stafford and Thomas Denton. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting only of the town of Banbury; since then it has been a county constituency, consisting of the northern part of Oxfordshire. It was the constituency represented by Lord North, the Prime Minister during the American War of Independence. Due to its nature as a safe Conservative seat, its MPs since 1922 have all served long terms in office. Every MP for Banbury since 1922 has been knighted. At the 2010 election, the constituency had the second largest population of any constituency in the United Kingdom after the Isle of Wight.

The constituency is still heavily involved in agriculture, as well as modern industry, Research and Development, public services and to a lesser extent Defence. Despite a close election in 1923, the largest vote since 1922 has at each election been for a Conservative Party candidate to serve it, so has been a safe seat for the party since that date. In 2010 Tony Baldry almost doubled his large majority as the second party became the Liberal Democrats. The Conservative vote share and majority were increased at the 2015 general election.