In the twentieth century, the constituency was held by theConservative Party for most of the time. However,Aidan Crawley, aLabour Party MP, served Buckingham from 1945 until 1951, and from 1964 until 1970, its Labour MP was the controversial publisherRobert Maxwell.
Before the periodic review effected in 1983, thenew town of Milton Keynes, including its older parts such asBletchley andFenny Stratford,[n 3] was in the constituency. The 1983 review followed the previous national review in 1974 and recognised the large increase in voters in the constituency. The sitting Buckingham MP,William Benyon, stood for the newly createdMilton Keynes constituency, where he was elected. The residual seat was won in 1983 by ConservativeGeorge Walden. Walden retired in 1997, andJohn Bercow won the following general elections in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2017. At the2005 general election, this constituency had the Conservatives' highest numerical majority, although a higher share of the vote was achieved inKensington and Chelsea inLondon, the constituency ofMalcolm Rifkind, andRichmond inNorth Yorkshire, the constituency ofWilliam Hague.
In 2009, Bercowwas elected asSpeaker of the House of Commons following the resignation ofMichael Martin. There is an inconsistently followed convention, which is mostly kept by the major parties, not to oppose a Speaker at election. Nonetheless, UKIP's leader,Nigel Farage, stood against Bercow in the 2010 election but finished third behind the Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy founder, who previously founded thePro-Euro Conservative Party.[4]
In both the2015 and2017 general elections, Bercow was challenged by onlyUKIP and theGreen Party, with the addition of the independent candidate Scott Raven in the latter election. In September 2019 theConservative Party announced their intention to stand a candidate against Bercow in the next election, breaking the convention of major parties not opposing aSpeaker, seemingly in response to Bercow's opposition toPrime MinisterBoris Johnson's handling ofBrexit. However, Bercow announced in September 2019 that he would stand down as Speaker on either October 31 or at the next election, whichever occurred first.[5]
The Urban Districts of Bletchley, Linslade, Newport Pagnell, and Wolverton; and
The Rural Districts of Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Wing, and Winslow.[7]
The Urban District of Wolverton had succeeded the Rural District of Stratford and Wolverton. The parts of the Rural District of Aylesbury and the (former) Rural District of Long Crendon were transferred to Aylesbury.
The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Bierton, Brill, Buckingham North, Buckingham South, Cheddington, Eddlesborough, Great Brickhill, Great Horwood, Grendon Underwood, Haddenham, Hogshaw, Long Crendon, Luffield Abbey, Marsh Gibbon, Newton Longville, Oakley, Pitstone, Quainton, Steeple Claydon, Stewkley, Stone, Tingewick, Waddesdon, Wing, Wingrave, and Winslow; and
The Borough of Milton Keynes wards of Stony Stratford, Wolverton, and Wolverton Stacey Bushes.[8]
Rural areas to the north and west of the town of Aylesbury transferred from the constituency thereof. The area comprising the new District of Milton Keynes, except forStony Stratford andWolverton, formed the new constituency ofMilton Keynes.
For the1992 general election, outside the normal cycle of periodic reviews by the Boundaries Commission, the Milton Keynes constituency was split in two, with Stony Stratford and Wolverton being included in the new Borough Constituency ofMilton Keynes South West.[9] No further changes.
The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Aston Clinton, Bierton, Brill, Buckingham North, Buckingham South, Cheddington, Eddlesborough, Great Brickhill, Great Horwood, Grendon Underwood, Haddenham, Hogshaw, Long Crendon, Luffield Abbey, Marsh Gibbon, Newton Longville, Oakley, Pitstone, Quainton, Steeple Claydon, Stewkley, Stone, Tingewick, Waddesdon, Wing, Wingrave, and Winslow.[10]
TheAston Clinton ward was transferred from Aylesbury.
The District of Aylesbury Vale wards of Buckingham North, Buckingham South, Eddlesborough, Gatehouse, Great Brickhill & Newton Longville, Great Horwood, Grendon Underwood & Brill, Haddenham & Stone, Long Crendon, Luffield Abbey, Marsh Gibbon, Oakfield & Bierton, Oakley, Pitstone & Cheddington, Quainton, Steeple Claydon, Stewkley, Tingewick, Waddesdon, Watermead, Weedon, Wing, Wingrave, and Winslow; and
The District of Wycombe wards of Icknield and The Risboroughs.[11]
The District of Wycombe wards, includingPrinces Risborough, were transferred from Aylesbury, offset by the return of Aston Clinton.
In April 2020, the Districts of Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe, as well as those of South Bucks and Chiltern were merged into the new unitary authority ofBuckinghamshire Council. Accordingly, the current contents of the constituency are:
The Buckinghamshire Council wards of Aston Clinton and Bierton (part), Bernwood, Buckingham East, Buckingham West, Great Brickhill, Grendon Underwood, Ivinghoe, Ridgeway East (part), Stone and Waddesdon (part), The Risboroughs, Wing (part), and Winslow.
^Acounty constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
^As with all current constituencies, the constituency elected oneMember of Parliament (MP) by thefirst past the post system of election at least every five years.
^Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
^abcS., Craig, Fred W. (1972).Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885–1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications.ISBN0900178094.OCLC539011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
