United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies | |
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Category | Electoral district |
Location | United Kingdom |
Number | 650 (as of 2023) |
Populations | 20,887 (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) - 113,021 (Isle of Wight) |
Government |
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The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), each electing a single member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons by the plurality (first past the post) voting system, ordinarily every five years. Voting last took place in all 650 of those constituencies at the United Kingdom general election on 12 December 2019.
The number of seats rose from 646 to 650 at the 2010 general election after proposals made by the boundary commissions for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) were adopted through statutory instruments. [1] [2] [3] [4] Constituencies in Scotland remained unchanged, as the Boundary Commission for Scotland had completed a review just before the 2005 general election, which had resulted in a reduction of 13 seats.
Primary legislation provides for the independence of the boundary commissions for each of the four parts of the UK, the number of seats for each of the countries, permissible factors to use in departing from any old boundaries, and a strong duty to consult. The Fifth Review was governed by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act of 1986. Under the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, as amended by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, the number of MPs is now fixed at 650. The Sainte-Laguë formula method is used to form groups of seats split between the four parts of the United Kingdom and the English regions (as defined by the NUTS 1 statistical regions of England). [5]
The table below gives the number of eligible voters broken down by constituent country, including the average constituency size in each country.
Year | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 [6] | 2019 [7] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Numbers | % | Numbers | % | Numbers | % | Numbers | % | Numbers | % | |
Total electorate for each constituent country | ||||||||||
England | 36,994,681 | 83.47% | 38,432,802 | 83.81% | 38,736,146 | 83.57% | 38,693,900 | 83.85% | 39,901,035 | 83.88% |
Scotland | 3,995,489 | 9.02% | 3,929,956 | 8.57% | 4,099,532 | 8.84% | 3,950,600 | 8.56% | 4,053,056 | 8.52% |
Wales | 2,225,689 | 5.02% | 2,302,300 | 5.02% | 2,281,754 | 4.92% | 2,261,200 | 4.90% | 2,319,690 | 4.88% |
Northern Ireland | 1,103,670 | 2.49% | 1,190,635 | 2.60% | 1,236,765 | 2.67% | 1,242,300 | 2.69% | 1,293,971 | 2.72% |
UK total | 44,319,529 | — | 45,855,693 | — | 46,354,197 | — | 46,148,000 | — | 47,567,752 | — |
Average electorate per constituency for each constituent country | ||||||||||
England | 69,408 | 101.80% | 72,107 | 102.21% | 72,676 | 101.91% | 72,596 | 102.25% | 74,861 | 102.30% |
Scotland | 67,720 | 99.32% | 66,609 | 94.42% | 69,484 | 97.43% | 66,959 | 94.31% | 68,696 | 93.87% |
Wales | 55,642 | 81.61% | 57,558 | 81.59% | 57,044 | 79.99% | 56,530 | 79.62% | 57,992 | 79.24% |
Northern Ireland | 61,315 | 89.93% | 66,146 | 93.76% | 68,709 | 96.35% | 69,017 | 97.21% | 71,887 | 98.23% |
Overall UK average | 68,184 | — | 70,547 | — | 71,314 | — | 70,997 | — | 73,181 | — |
As of 2023, every recommended constituency must have an electorate as at 2 March 2020 that is no smaller than 69,724 and no larger than 77,062. [8] The exceptions to this rule are five 'protected' constituencies for island areas: Orkney and Shetland, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Ynys Mon, and two constituencies on the Isle of Wight. [9] These consequently have smaller electorates than the lower limit for other constituencies.
As the number of electors in each constituency is similar, the constituencies themselves vary considerably in area, ranging from Ross, Skye and Lochaber, which occupies a sixth of Scotland, to the densely-populated London constituency of Islington North.
Largest | Smallest | |
---|---|---|
England | Penrith and The Border 3,135 square kilometres (1,210 sq mi) | Islington North 7.38 square kilometres (2.85 sq mi) |
Scotland | Ross, Skye and Lochaber 12,768 square kilometres (4,930 sq mi) | Glasgow North 16.86 square kilometres (6.51 sq mi) |
Wales | Brecon and Radnorshire 3,015 square kilometres (1,164 sq mi) | Cardiff Central 16.83 square kilometres (6.50 sq mi) |
Northern Ireland | Fermanagh and South Tyrone 2,512 square kilometres (970 sq mi) | Belfast North 50.34 square kilometres (19.44 sq mi) |
The "Region" of the table refers to the NUTS 1 statistical region of England, which coincides with the former European Parliament constituency in which the constituency was included until 31 January 2020.
As of the 2019 election there are 533 constituencies in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland and 18 in Northern Ireland.
Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commissions formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021 and published their final proposals on 28 June 2023. [11]
See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
In the United Kingdom, the boundary commissions are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Over the history of the House of Commons, the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) has varied for assorted reasons, with increases in recent years due to increases in the population of the United Kingdom. There are currently 650 constituencies, each sending one MP to the House of Commons, corresponding to approximately one for every 92,000 people, or one for every 68,000 parliamentary electors.
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Scottish Westminster constituencies were Scottish constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain, normally at the Palace of Westminster, from 1708 to 1801, and have been constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, also at Westminster, since 1801. Constituency boundaries have changed on various occasions, and are now subject to both periodical and ad hoc reviews of the Boundary Commission for Scotland.
The Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 2000 and 2007 by the four boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the UK Parliament. The changes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland took effect at the 2010 United Kingdom general election; that for Scotland took effect at the 2005 election. All of the recommendations were approved.
The House of Commons Act 1949 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the periodic review of the number and boundaries of parliamentary constituencies.
The House of Commons Act 1944 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established permanent boundary commissions for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and provided for the periodic review of the number and boundaries of parliamentary constituencies.
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011(c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provision for the holding of a referendum on whether to introduce the Alternative Vote system in all future general elections to the UK Parliament and also made provision on the number and size of parliamentary constituencies. The Bill for the Act was introduced to the House of Commons on 22 July 2010 and passed third reading on 2 November by 321 votes to 264. The House of Lords passed the Bill, with amendments, on 14 February 2011, and after some compromises between the two Houses on amendments, it received Royal Assent on 16 February 2011.
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The Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 1965 and 1969 by the four Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom Parliament as provided by the House of Commons Act 1949 and amended by House of Commons Act 1958. The changes to the constituencies were approved in 1970 and took effect at the February 1974 United Kingdom general election.
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is governed by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and subsequently by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020. This review was the successor to the 2018 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was ultimately abandoned after it failed to pass into law. Considering the abandonment of the previous reviews since 2015, the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is set to be the first successful review based on electoral registers drawn up using the Individual Electoral Registration model introduced from 2014–15, which has drawn criticism regarding being a measure to influence future boundary reviews in the Conservatives' favour.
The Fourth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 1995 by the four Boundary Commissions. As well as changes to constituency boundaries, the Reviews recommended an increase of five seats in England, two in Wales and one in Northern Ireland, with Scotland continuing to have 72 seats. The number of MPs in the House of Commons therefore increased from 651 to 659. 144 new constituencies were created, offset by 136 which were abolished. The new boundaries were first used for the 1997 general election.
The 2018 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was an ultimately unfruitful cycle of the process by which constituencies of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom are reviewed and redistributed. The four UK boundary commissions carried out their reviews between 2016 and 2018, but their recommendations were not taken up by the government and were formally laid aside in 2020.
This article covers the timeline of the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons, namely the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. For a summary of the outcome of the review, see 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.