Henley is a constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2008 by John Howell, a Member of Parliament from the Conservative Party. He was elected in a by-election following the resignation of future Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had taken office as Mayor of London. The constituency was established for the 1885 general election. Constituency profile The seat has throughout its history consisted of the town of Henley and a well-connected part of the Chiltern Hills AONB interspersed by the larger settlements of Thame and Chinnor and a narrow more developed area adjoining the Thames on one bank. The local economy, interconnected with London, Oxford and in the far south Reading, ensures a high rate of employment and its natural environment attracts retirees and high income owners. The seat has good rail connections to Central London. As of 2021, the largest town in the constituency is Thame. History Two prominent Cabinet ministers have been elected for Henley — Michael Heseltine who served as the MP for Henley from 1974–2001. Heseltine was succeeded by the future Mayor of London and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, rapidly made a shadow minister during the period of the Labour government. In May 2008, Johnson was elected as Mayor of London, and he subsequently resigned from the Commons on 4 June 2008, resulting in a by-election in the constituency. Political history An unbroken succession of Conservative candidates have won the seat since 1910. The 2008 by-election was closer than general elections since 2001 and won by the Conservative candidate, John Howell. Howell was re-elected at the 2010 general election and again in 2015. Labour finished second for the first time since 1970 in Henley. The 2015 GE result made the seat the twelfth safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. Other parties All five parties' candidates achieved more than deposit-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote in 2015, reflecting frequent such results for the Green Party and UKIP in that election. Liberal Democrat or predecessor-party Liberal candidates were second-placed between February 1974 and 2010 (inclusive). The closest contest for Henley was in 1966, when Labour's George Cunningham took 44.6% of the vote in a two-candidate contest. Turnout At general elections, turnout in the constituency has ranged between 52.9% in the "khaki election" of 1918 to 81.7% in 1950. Boundaries and boundary changes 1885–1918: The constituency