Politics in Luton

Luton Borough Council
Company type	Unitary authority
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Luton, Bedfordshire
Website	www.luton.gov.uk

Last updated May 23, 2024

Luton, England, is a unitary authority, and remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire. Luton is currently represented on three different tiers of Government.

History

Prior to the Local Government Act 1972, Luton had been a county borough, but still part of the county of Bedfordshire. However, with the abolition of the county boroughs, Luton was fully integrated into Bedfordshire and its county council. This wasn't to last however, as in 1992, the Local Government Commission for England, recommended that Luton be made into a unitary authority and be separate of the county council. The government agreed and this was enforced from 1997 onwards.

Luton remains part of Bedfordshire for ceremonial purposes and one Lord Lieutenant serves for the whole ceremonial county.

Luton Borough Council

The council is split and represented by 19 wards, with a total of 48 councillors. Following the 2019 Local election, 32 are Labour, 12 councillors are Liberal Democrats and 4 are Conservative.

The council offices are centred on the Town Hall on George Street, Luton.

Local election results

Luton Local Election Result 2015 ^[1]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Labour	35	0	1	-1	72.9
Liberal Democrats	8	0	0	0	16.7
Conservative	5	1	0	+1	10.5
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0

Luton Local Election Result 2011 ^[2]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Labour	36	11	0	+11	75.0
Liberal Democrats	8	0	9	-9	16.7
Conservative	4	0	2	-2	8.3
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0

Luton Local Election Result 2007 ^[3]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Labour	26	5	0	+5	54.2
Liberal Democrats	17	0	4	-4	35.4
Conservative	5	1	0	+1	10.4
Independent	0	0	2	-2	0.0

NB: The make up of the council changed between 2003 and 2007, hence the apparent inconsistencies between the councillors in 2003 and the changes recorded for 2007.

Luton Local Election Result 2003
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Labour	23	0	-13	-13	47.9
Liberal Democrats	21	11	0	11	43.8
Conservative	4	1	0	1	8.3
Independent	1	1	0	1	2.1

Luton Local Election Result 1999
	Seats	Gains	Seats %
Labour	36	0	75
Liberal Democrats	9		18.8
Conservative	3		6.3
Independent	0		0.0

East of England Regional Assembly

Whilst not a directly elected body, the East of England Regional Assembly is responsible for promoting the economic, environmental and social well-being of the East England region. It is made up of representatives from councils across the region, business organisations, public sector agencies, education and training bodies, trade unions and co-operatives and the voluntary and community sector.

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner is a Bedfordshire county wide post and is held for the Labour Party by John Tizard.

UK Parliament

In Luton, there are two constituencies, Luton North and Luton South. The current two members of parliament (MP) are Sarah Owen (Luton North – Labour) and Rachel Hopkins (Luton South – Labour).

From 1979 the MPs from Luton were Conservative, however in the 1997 General Election, both constituencies were won by the Labour party candidates, these were successfully held at the 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections.

The town of Luton had until 1885 been part of the Bedfordshire constituency which was created in 1290. Upon the abolition of this seat the constituency of Luton was created which remained the only seat in the town until 1974.

In 1974 the single Luton seat was divided into two, Luton West and Luton East. These two seats were fairly short lived and in 1983 the current Luton North and Luton South seats were created.

Over the years Luton has been represented by various political parties, and as can be seen below has often mirrored the Government of the day.

Members of Parliament for Luton constituency

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Cyril Flower	Liberal
	1892	Samuel Howard Whitbread
	1895	Thomas Gair Ashton	Liberal
	1911	Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth	Liberal
	1922	Sir John Prescott Hewett
	1923	Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	Liberal
	1924	Terence James O'Connor	Unionist
	1929	Edward Leslie Burgin	Liberal
	1931	Edward Leslie Burgin	National Liberal
	1945	William Warbey	Labour
	1950	Charles Hill	Conservative
	1963	William Howie	Labour
	1970	Charles Simeons	Conservative
Feb 1974		Constituency abolished: see Luton East and Luton West

Luton East

Constituency created (1974)

Election		Member	Party
	Feb. 1974	Ivor Clemitson	Labour
	1979	Graham Bright	Conservative

Constituency abolished (1983)

Luton West

Constituency created (1974)

Election		Member	Party
	Feb. 1974	Brian Sedgemore	Labour
	1979	John Russell Carlisle	Conservative

Constituency abolished (1983)

Luton North

Constituency created (1983)

	Member	Party
1983	John Russell Carlisle	Conservative
1987	John Russell Carlisle	Conservative
1992	John Russell Carlisle	Conservative
1997	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2001	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2005	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2010	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2015	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2017	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
2019	Sarah Owen	Labour

Luton South

Constituency created (1983)

	Member	Party
1983	Graham Bright	Conservative
1987	Graham Bright	Conservative
1992	Graham Bright	Conservative
1997	Margaret Moran	Labour
2001	Margaret Moran	Labour
2005	Margaret Moran	Labour
2010	Gavin Shuker	Labour
2015	Gavin Shuker	Labour
2017	Gavin Shuker	Labour
2019	Rachel Hopkins	Labour

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References

↑ "Councillors".
↑ "06/04/11 - 2011 Local election results - Luton BC". Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
↑ "Luton BC - Election results - May 2007". Archived from the original on 8 May 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2007. Luton Council Website with 2007 election results

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[1] "Councillors".

[2] "06/04/11 - 2011 Local election results - Luton BC". Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

[3] "Luton BC - Election results - May 2007". Archived from the original on 8 May 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2007. Luton Council Website with 2007 election results

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