Banbury has achieved a place in most people’s minds from the nursery rhyme ‘ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross’.
The opening of the Oxford Canal in 1790 connecting Banbury with the Midlands bought new industries and growth which continued with the arrival of the railways. Today Banbury is an expanding market and industrial town experiencing growth as a direct benefit of its proximity to the M40 motorway linking London to Birmingham via Oxford. As a result, the constituency has attracted some major industries to the area, such as Alcan Booth Industries (aluminium products), and Kraft Jacobs Suchard (coffee and custard manufacturers), the racing car industry and Vodafone.
The main issues in the constituency seem to concern development and house-building. As part of government plans to increase housing in the south east, Banbury has been one of the areas to be allocated large quotas for house building. Local constituency members oppose these plans on the grounds that they are unhappy with the quotas being dictated by central government rather than determined locally.
In 1997 Labour cut the Conservative majority to just 4,737 votes when the constituency experienced a swing of 10%.