The Cotswolds (UK Parliament constituency)

The Cotswolds
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of The Cotswolds in Gloucestershire for the 2010 general election.
Location of Gloucestershire within England.
County	Gloucestershire
Electorate	78,439 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Cirencester and Tewkesbury
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

The Cotswolds is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative.

1997-2010: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud ward of Wotton and Kingswood.

2010-present: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud wards of Kingswood, Minchinhampton, and Wotton-under-Edge.

The constituency was created in 1997 as Cotswold, mostly from the former seat of Cirencester and Tewkesbury. In 2010 the name was changed to The Cotswolds to reflect the local district name.

The Cotswolds is a safe Conservative seat in an area of natural beauty and heritage, with its market towns constructed of rare cream-to-yellow Cotswold stone. The area is welcoming to tourists and tourism has overtaken agriculture as the largest single employer in the area.

The largest town in the constituency is Cirencester, a compact traditional town. Other settlements include Andoversford, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Fairford, Lechlade, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury (and the neighbouring village of Doughton, location of Highgrove, the Prince of Wales's estate), and Wotton-under-Edge.