Chesham and Amersham

Constituency profile

The Chesham and Amersham constituency is located in Buckinghamshire. It lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt, the protected rural area surrounding London, and also within the Chiltern Hills, a National Landscape. It is named after the neighbouring market towns of Chesham and Amersham, and also includes the smaller town of Gerrards Cross and the villages of Hazlemere, Little Chalfont, Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. The constituency is highly affluent and most areas within it form part of the 10% least-deprived areas in England. The average house price is more than double the national average. Chesham and Amersham are connected to London by the Metropolitan line, making them some of the most distant locations from central London served by the London Underground.

Compared to national averages, residents of the constituency are older, well-educated, considerably wealthier and much more likely to work in professional occupations. White people make up 82% of the population with Asians, mostly Indians, forming the largest ethnic minority group at 12%. At the local county council, Chesham and Amersham are represented by Liberal Democrat councillors whilst the southern parts of the constituency around Gerrards Cross elected Conservatives. Most voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 55% voted to remain compared to 48% nationally.

History

Creation

The seat was created for the general election in February 1974. It comprised the southern part of the former Rural District of Amersham, including Amersham and the Chalfonts, previously part of the abolished constituency of South Buckinghamshire; and Chesham and the northern part of the former Rural District of Amersham, transferred from Aylesbury.

Political history

Until the 2021 by-election was won by the Liberal Democrats candidate, the previous general election results in the seat since its creation had seen a Conservative winning margin of between 10,416 (Feb 1974) and 23,920 (2015) votes, in each case an absolute majority of the votes cast. In each of the general elections except two the Liberals, or subsequently Liberal Democrats, had come second, with results as high as 31.15 per cent of the votes cast. Labour came second only once, in 2017, when it achieved its best ever result of 20.6 per cent. UKIP came second in 2015, Labour in 2017 and the Liberal Democrats in 2019.

In June 2016, an estimated 55 per cent of adults voting in the EU referendum in the constituency voted to remain in the European Union, compared with 48% in the UK as a whole. The estimated turnout of 83.6 per cent was the highest in any constituency in the UK, the only higher turnout in the referendum being in Gibraltar. In the 2019 EU Parliament elections more than 50 per cent voted for parties supporting continued UK membership of the EU, although the turnout was only 42.8 per cent. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats were the most popular party with 31.9 per cent, with the pro-Leave Brexit Party in second place on 30 per cent. Despite the seat's support for remaining in the EU, its pro-Brexit MP, Dame Cheryl Gillan, was re-elected in both general elections held after the 2016 referendum (in the case of 2017 with her highest vote share since her first election in 1992), albeit with slightly reduced majorities.

Gillan died in office on 4 April 2021, and the seat was gained by the Liberal Democrats' pro-EU Sarah Green in the subsequent by-election on 17 June 2021 with a majority of 8,028 votes. The Liberal Democrat win in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election was seen as an upset in a historically safe Conservative seat, and party leader Ed Davey tweeted that the result had "sent a shockwave through British politics". It was the first in a series of likewise safe Conservative seats that were lost to the Liberal Democrats through by-elections in that Parliament.

In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable. Sarah Green retained the seat for the Liberal Democrats at the 2024 general election with a swing of 22.4%, giving her a majority of 5,451 (10.0%).

Boundaries

1974–1983: Chesham Urban District and Amersham Rural District.

1983–1997:

• The District of Chiltern wards of Amersham Common, Amersham-on-the-Hill, Amersham Town, Asheridge Vale, Ashley Green and Latimer, Austenwood, Chalfont Common, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter Central, Chartridge, Chenies, Chesham Bois and Weedon Hill, Cholesbury and The Lee, Coleshill and Penn Street, Gold Hill, Hilltop, Holmer Green, Little Chalfont, Little Missenden, Lowndes, Newtown, Penn, Pond Park, St Mary's, Seer Green and Jordans, Townsend, and Waterside; and
• The District of Wycombe wards of Hazlemere North and Hazlemere South. :Hazlemere was transferred from Wycombe. Great Missenden was transferred to Aylesbury.

1997–2010:

• The Chiltern District except the wards of Ballinger and South Heath, Great Missenden, and Prestwood and Heath End; and
• The Wycombe District wards of Hazlemere Central, Hazlemere East and Hazlemere West.

2010–2024: The Chiltern District. :Great Missenden transferred back from Aylesbury and Hazlemere returned to Wycombe.

2024–present: Further to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following:

• The District of Buckinghamshire wards of Amersham and Chesham Bois, Chalfont St. Giles & Little Chalfont, Chalfont St. Peter, Chesham North (part), Chesham South, Gerrards Cross & Denham (part), Hazlemere (part), Penn, Tylers Green & Loudwater (part) and The Missendens (part) :The boundaries are similar to those of 1983 to 2010, with Great Missenden and the nearby village of Chartridge now included in the new constituency of Mid Buckinghamshire, and Hazlemere returned from Wycombe. In addition, the town of Gerrards Cross was transferred in from Beaconsfield.

Members of Parliament

The present Member of Parliament for Chesham and Amersham is the Liberal Democrat Sarah Green MP who was elected at the 2021 by-election. Previous MPs were the Conservative Cheryl Gillan, who held the position from 1992 until her death in 2021, and Ian Gilmour, who served from 1974 to 1992.

South Buckinghamshire and Aylesbury prior to 1974

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

|reg. electors = 74,889

Vote share changes for the 2024 election are compared to the notional results from the 2019 election, not the 2021 by-election.

|reg. electors = 72,828 Cheryl Gillan died on 4 April 2021, triggering a by-election held on 17 June 2021.

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

References

References

1. "Chesham and Amersham: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Office for National Statistics.
2. Young, Richard. (5 May 2015). "The Chilterns' landscape landmark".
3. "Constituency data: Deprivation in England".
4. "Seat Details - Chesham and Amersham".
5. (4 July 2024). "2021 census results: Ethnic groups in your constituency".
6. "EU Referendum Results and Turnout".
7. "European Union Parliamentary Election Result".
8. (2021-06-18). "Chesham and Amersham by-election won by Lib Dems". BBC News.
9. Davey, Ed. "Ed Davey MP @EdwardJDavey Congratulations to @SarahGreenLD who has just sent a shockwave through British politics. If @libdems can beat the Tories here, we can beat them anywhere. The blue wall can be smashed by @libdems".
10. Belger, Tom. (8 December 2023). "Labour selections: Full list of 211 'non-battleground' seats now open to applications". [[LabourList.
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13. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995".
14. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007".
15. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023".
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22. Chris Chilton. "I am delighted to be selected as the Labour Party Candidate for Chesham and Amersham and look forward to being elected as the first ever Labour MP to represent the seat…".
23. "Our Candidates".
24. Muhammad Pervez Khan. "I am honoured to announce my candidacy for Member of Parliament in Chesham and Amersham for the Workers Party of Britain in the upcoming General Election…".
25. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001162 Chesham and Amersham]
26. (17 June 2021). "Election results for Chesham & Amersham, 17 June 2021 – Modern Council".
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