History
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. On that occasion the seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by Dr Evan Harris, who held the seat until the 2010 General Election, when it was regained by Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood.
Read more about this topic: Oxford West And Abingdon (UK Parliament Constituency)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)