A 7.4% swing handed Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten a two-vote victory at the 1997 general election, but the Conservatives succeessfully challenged the result in the courts. At the resulting by-election there was a further 19.9% swing against the Conservatives to make this nominally the safest Liberal Democrat seat in the country.
Apart from Winchester itself, the seat covers the small and picturesque towns of Twyford, New Alresford, Bishop’s Waltham, Denmead and Wickham. Nevertheless Winchester is at the constituency’s centre, as it has always been. The city was important in Roman times, and was resuscitated under King Alfred in the ninth century to become the principal city of Wessex and later royal capital of England.
Tourism is a growing industry in a city with such a long history, but there is no great need for the extra income: the area is affluent and unemployment is low. During the 1980s Winchester was the richest city in England with the highest per capita income and one of the lowest levels of unemployment (just 2.2% in 1988).