Oxford East (UK Parliament constituency)

Oxford East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Oxford East in Oxfordshire.
Location of Oxfordshire within England.
County	Oxfordshire
Electorate	81,644 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Oxford and Cowley
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Andrew Smith (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Oxford, Mid Oxfordshire and Henley
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Oxford East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Andrew Smith of the Labour Party.

Until 1983, the whole of Oxford, including most of this seat, was part of the Oxford constituency. For the first four years, the constituency was served by Steven Norris, a Conservative; since his defeat at the hands of the current MP the seat has seen the Conservative share of the vote plummet to 18.8% in 2010. The seat has been since 2001 a Labour–Lib Dem marginal in terms of the majorities received by Labour's Andrew Smith.

The 1997 boundary changes moved two semi-rural Conservative-leaning wards out of the seat, and incorporated the urban Oxford South ward that was strong for the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

The constituency covers the eastern and southern parts of Oxford in Oxfordshire. It borders Oxford West and Abingdon to the West and Henley to the North, East and South.

The constituency includes Oxford city centre and the majority of the Oxford Colleges, Cowley (famous for its car factory) and the Blackbird Leys council estate, but there is a large percentage of student voters from both Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities (the latter being based in the seat, in leafy suburban Headington).