Oxford West and Abingdon

Oxford West and Abingdon
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Oxford West and Abingdon in Oxfordshire.
Location of Oxfordshire within England.
County	Oxfordshire
Electorate	78,404 (December 2014)
Major settlements	Abingdon, Kidlington, Oxford (5 wards), Radley
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Vacant
Number of members	One
Created from	Oxford, Abingdon
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency. It was most recently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament between 2010 and the 2017 general election by Nicola Blackwood, a Conservative.

The constituency includes the town of Abingdon, the village of Kidlington, and the western and northern parts of the city of Oxford, as well as a minority of the colleges of the University of Oxford – the constituency covering the rest of the city being Oxford East. At the end of 2010 unemployment was the fifth lowest of the 84 South East constituencies (measure used: claimant count), at 1.2% compared to a mean of 2.45%.

The constituency was created in 1983 by the division of the former constituency of Oxford. Abingdon had its own seat prior to 1983.

The former Conservative Minister John Patten, MP for Oxford from 1979, won the West seat on its creation and remained the MP until he retired in 1997 when the seat was gained by a Liberal Democrat, Dr Evan Harris, who held the seat until the 2010 General Election, when it was gained by Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood in the one of the most marginal results of that election.