Salisbury is a constituency in Wiltshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by John Glen of the Conservative Party.
History
From the Model Parliament of 1295, a constituency with a much narrower area than that of today, the small parliamentary borough of Salisbury, returned two MPs to the House of Commons of England. Elections were held using the Plurality-at-large voting system, but with no secrecy of the ballot. From 1430, those with the right to vote in the borough elections were the "forty-shilling freeholders", meaning men who owned property rated for Land Tax at more than £2 () a year. The franchise (right to vote) was thus largely restricted to male tradesmen and gentlemen within the historic city. From 1290 to 1832, they could also vote in the elections for two "knights of the shire" to represent the whole county of Wiltshire, if they could get to the polling place at Wilton.
The Salisbury borough constituency co-existed with many others in Wiltshire, including the neighbouring minuscule-electorate seat of Old Sarum, described by the time of its abolition in the Great Reform Act as a rotten borough, which covered the mostly abandoned older settlement on high ground to the north-east.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the borough's representation was reduced to one member. The parliamentary borough of Salisbury was abolished for the 1918 general election, but the name was transferred immediately to a new county division covering most of the southern fifth of Wiltshire.
Boundaries
The constituency is based around the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire. A large portion of the former Salisbury district is included within the constituency. The small town of Downton was a borough constituency until abolished as a rotten borough, like Old Sarum, in 1832.
1918–1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Salisbury and Wilton, and the Rural Districts of Amesbury, Salisbury, Tisbury, and Wilton.
1950–1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Salisbury and Wilton, and the Rural Districts of Amesbury, and Salisbury and Wilton.
1983–2010: The District of Salisbury wards of Alderbury, Amesbury, Bemerton, Bishopdown, Bulford, Chalke Valley, Donhead, Downton, Durrington, Ebble, Fisherton and Bemerton Village, Fonthill, Fovant, Harnham, Idmiston, Laverstock, Milford, Nadder, Redlynch, St Edmund, St Mark, St Martin, St Paul, Stratford, Till Valley, Tisbury, Upper Bourne, Whiteparish, Wilton, Winterbourne, Winterslow, Woodford Valley, and Wylye.
2010–2024: The District of Salisbury wards of Alderbury and Whiteparish, Amesbury East, Amesbury West, Bemerton, Bishopdown, Chalke Valley, Downton and Redlynch, Ebble, Fisherton and Bemerton Village, Harnham East, Harnham West, Laverstock, Lower Wylye and Woodford Valley, St Edmund and Milford, St Francis and Stratford, St Martin and Milford, St Paul, Till Valley and Wylye, Upper Bourne, Idmiston and Winterbourne, Wilton, and Winterslow.
2024–present: Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 4 May 2021):
- The Wiltshire electoral divisions of: Alderbury & Whiteparish; Downton & Ebble Valley; Fovant & Chalke Valley; Laverstock; Nadder Valley; Old Sarum & Lower Bourne Valley; Redlynch & Landford; Salisbury Bemerton Heath; Salisbury Fisherton & Bemerton Village; Salisbury Harnham East; Salisbury Harnham West; Salisbury Milford; Salisbury St Edmund’s; Salisbury St Francis & Stratford; Salisbury St Paul’s; Tisbury; Wilton; Winterslow & Upper Bourne Valley.
Amesbury and the Till Valley were transferred to the new constituency of East Wiltshire. To partly compensate, Tisbury and the Nadder Valley were transferred from South West Wiltshire.
Traditions
According to a local tradition, the Member of Parliament for Salisbury sings the song The Vly be on the Turmut from the balcony of the White Hart Hotel in St John's Street after winning each Parliamentary election.
Constituency profile
The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of one local government district with a working population whose income is close to the national average and lower than average reliance upon social housing. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 1.6% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 2.5%.
The rural county as a whole has a low 14.8% of its population without a car, 18.6% of the population without qualifications and a high 29.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure across the whole county 67.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census.
Members of Parliament
- Constituency created 1295
MPs 1295–1660
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parliament!!First member!!Second member
|-
| 1386||Thomas Burford|| David White
|-
| 1388 (Feb)|| John Bitterley|| Thomas Burford
|-
| 1423|| William Alexander
|-
| 1425|| William Alexander
|-
| 1510||Thomas Coke I|| William Webbe alias Kellowe
|-
| 1512||Thomas Coke I|| Richard Bartholomew
|-
| 1562–3|| Anthony Weekes|| Giles Estcourt!!First party!!colspan="2"|Second member
|-
| 1776
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Hon. William Henry Bouverie
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1802
| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| rowspan="3" | Viscount Folkestone
| rowspan="3" | Whig
|-
| 1833
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Hon. Duncombe Pleydell-Bouverie
| Whig
|-
| Jul. 1847
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Charles Baring Wall
| Peelite
|-
| 1853 by-election
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"| Edward Pery Buckley
|rowspan="2"| Whig
|-
| 1857
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"| Matthew Henry Marsh
|Whig
|-
| 1859
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Liberal
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Liberal
|-
| 1865
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Edward Hamilton
|rowspan="2"| Liberal
|-
| 1868
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"| John Alfred Lush
|rowspan="3"| Liberal
|-
| 1869 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Alfred Seymour
| Liberal
|-
| 1874
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Granville Ryder
| Conservative
|-
| 1880
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| William Grenfell
| Liberal
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| John Passmore Edwards
|rowspan="2"| Liberal
|-
| 1882 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Coleridge Kennard
| Conservative
|-
| 1885
|colspan="6"| representation reduced to one member by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
|}
MPs since 1885
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
Elections in the 2010s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 29,138 ||align=right| 55.2
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 10,290 ||align=right| 19.5
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 9,884 ||align=right| 18.7
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 2,685 ||align=right| 5.1
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 745 ||align=right| 1.4
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|52,742
|align=right|75.1
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|70,242
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1860s
- Caused by Wall's death
Elections in the 1840s
- Caused by Brodie's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. Bouverie retired during polling.