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Henley Constituency

RESULT: Conservative retained

Andy Crick (Lib Dem) 13,466

Richard McKenzie (Lab) 5,835

Laurence Hughes (UKIP) 1,817

Mark Stevenson (Green) 1,328

John Bews (BNP) 1,020

Turnout: 73.3 per cent

2008: Conservative (retained)

2008 majority: 10,116

2008 turnout: 50.3%

THE voters of Henley chose their MP more recently than most, when Boris Johnson stood down after becoming Mayor of London.

His replacement John Howell romped home at the June 2008 by-election, right – Henley has been a Tory stronghold since the Second World War.

The biggest shock of the night was the Greens and British National Party beating Labour into a humiliating fifth place, prompting a fresh outbreak of Westminster plotting against Gordon Brown.

Two years on, and despite the efforts of five challengers, anything but a Tory victory on May 6 would be a cataclysmic shock.

Arriving in the House of Commons so recently, former county councillor Mr Howell survived the MPs’ expense scandal unscathed, and earlier this year drew up his party’s Green Paper on housing.

This pet project overlaps with one of the most pressing issues in Henley, which has long featured on lists of the most expensive towns in the UK.

Many constituency residents are worried that young people are unable to afford properties there, yet do not want major new development.

Despite being one of the most affluent towns in the country, there are pockets of deprivation.

Likewise in Thame, residents have objected to plans to build 850 new homes by 2026.

Meanwhile the Campaign to Protect Rural England has led attempts to stop 4,000 homes being built on Green Belt land south of Oxford’s Grenoble Road.

Most of the 230 square mile constituency, which stretches north of Oxford to the outskirts of Reading, is rural a large farming community living alongside London and Reading commuters.

It also includes RAF Benson, the home base of Merlin helicopter crews currently stationed in Afghanistan.

In the west of the constituency, the possibility of large-scale gravel extraction could prove controversial over the coming years, while a third runway at Heathrow could also blight parts of the constituency which lie underneath the main flight paths.

Buoyed by their performance in 2008, Henley’s election battle is the only one in Oxfordshire to feature a BNP candidate, John Bews, who says he is aiming to win the seat.

Labour candidate Richard McKenzie has returned to fight Henley again despite his drubbing two years ago, although he has a back-up plan – he is contesting a council seat in Reading.

Full candidate profiles