History
There has been a Buckingham constituency since 1542. In the twentieth century, the constituency was held by the Conservative Party for most of the time. However, the Labour Party held Buckingham from 1945 until 1951 and again from 1964 until 1970, when its MP was the controversial publisher Robert Maxwell.
Prior to 1983, the new town of Milton Keynes (created in 1967) was in the Buckingham constituency, until its population had expanded substantially enough to merit a seat of its own. The sitting Buckingham MP William Benyon moved to the new Milton Keynes constituency, and was succeeded in Buckingham by George Walden. Walden retired in 1997, and John Bercow has held the seat since then. In 2009, Bercow was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons following the resignation of Michael Martin.
At the 2005 general election, this constituency had the Conservatives' highest numerical majority, although the percentage majority was higher in Kensington and Chelsea in London and Richmond in North Yorkshire.
Read more about this topic: Buckingham (UK Parliament Constituency)
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