Chipping Barnet Parliamentary Constituency is one of three constituencies within the London Borough of Barnet.
The Chipping Barnet Constituency occupies the North-Eastern third of the borough and is bounded by the county of Hertfordshire to the North.
In 1945, the original 'Barnet' Constituency was carved out of the south eastern half of the then St Albans Division of Hertforshire. In those days it included Hatfield, Shenley, Cuffley, Elstree and Borehamwood. The first Member of Parliament was Dr S Taylor who was elected in the landslide post-war victory for the Labour Party.
In 1950, the seat was won by Reginald Maudling (Conservative) with a majority of over 10,000. Reggie, as he was known, retained the seat until his death in 1979. During his 29 years in Parliament, he held the offices of Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary.
Following boundary changes in 1974, the constituency lost Elstree and Borehamwood to the new Hertsmere Division of Hertfordshire, leaving just five council wards to form the new constituency of Chipping Barnet.
After Reggie's death in February 1979, the Association selected Sir Sydney Chapman to fight the by-election. However, in the meantime, the Labour Government suffered a vote of no confidence and a general election was called.
Sir Sydney retained the seat for six elections, retiring in 2005. During his time as MP, he spent a period as Vice Chancellor of the Queen's Household.
Upon announcing his intention to retire, Theresa Villiers was selected as the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in May 2003 at a meeting attended by over 200 members of the Association. After months of campaigning, she went onto fight the 2005 General Election and was elected with a majority of 5960.
In December 2005, after just 7 months in parliament, David Cameron appointed Theresa to his Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. As well as working alongside George Osborne on developing Conservative economic policy, Theresa led the Opposition scrutiny of the Finance Bills in 2006 and 2007. At David Cameron’s first reshuffle in July 2007, Theresa gained further promotion and was given her own portfolio – transport.
For many years, Theresa has been campaigning on important local issues for Barnet such as: putting more police on the beat; defending the suburbs; conserving the Green Belt and our local environment; working to reunite Cyprus; demanding a more reliable tube; and improving our local hospitals and schools.
At the 2010 General Election, Theresa was re-elected with an increased majority of 11927. Soon after, she was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a position she held until 2016.
Theresa was re-elected at the 2015 General Election and continues to campaign enthusiastically for local constituents. To find out more about Theresa's campaigns for Barnet, or to contact Theresa, click here.