Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Newbury
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Newbury in Berkshire.
Location of Berkshire within England.
County	Berkshire
Electorate	77,898 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Richard Benyon (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Berkshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Newbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Richard Benyon, a Conservative.

The constituency consists of most of West Berkshire and includes Newbury, Thatcham and Hungerford. To the east, the rest of West Berkshire is incorporated into the Wokingham and Reading West constituencies.

Since its creation it has been a Conservative or Liberal/Liberal Democrat seat, sometimes seemingly marginal and sometimes seen as a safe seat, with a tendency towards being Conservative. West Berkshire which is similar to its neighbours has a rather thriving economy with the headquarters of the communications company Vodafone that has created a cluster of around 80 mobile phone related businesses in Newbury, while the Lambourn area is the second most important centre for the racehorse industry in Great Britain, employing over 800 people directly, and producing an annual income of £20 million.

West Berkshire is also home to Atomic Weapons Establishment, near Aldermaston, Wolseley plc, Bayer and Pepsico. There are high proportions of detached and semi-detached housing, and lower than average dependency on social housing. The seat includes the former family home of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in Bucklebury.