Coventry East (UK Parliament constituency)

Coventry East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Coventry East in West Midlands region
County	West Midlands county
Electorate	73,389 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Coventry
Current constituency
Created	2024
Member of Parliament	Mary Creagh (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Coventry North East
1945–1974 (1974)
Seats	One
Created from	Coventry
Replaced by	Coventry North East, Coventry South East

Coventry East is a parliamentary constituency in the city of Coventry in the West Midlands. Having previously existed from 1945 to 1974, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election in the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, formed primarily from the abolished constituency of Coventry North East. ^[2] The current MP is Mary Creagh of the Labour Party; she previously represented Wakefield from 2005 to 2019.

Boundaries

1945–1974

1945–1950: The County Borough of Coventry wards of All Saints, Foleshill, Hernall, Hillfields, Longford, Lower Stoke, St Mary's, St Paul's, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

1950–1974: The County Borough of Coventry wards of Charterhouse and Binley, Longford, Lower Stoke, Upper Stoke, and Walsgrave.

2024–present

Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the re-established constituency is composed of the City of Coventry wards of:

• Binley and Willenhall, Foleshill, Henley, Longford, Upper Stoke, and Wyken. ^[3]

The seat comprises the previous Coventry North East seat, after transferring the Lower Stoke ward to Coventry South in exchange for the Binley and Willenhall ward.

History

Until 1945, the city of Coventry was represented by a single Member. Population growth meant that it had grown to 89,001 electors at the time of the 1935 general election, and in the 1939 electoral register it had 87,487 electors. ^[4] The County Borough of Coventry had also expanded its boundaries in the late 1930s, taking in an additional 66,425 electors. Two nearby divisions of Warwickshire had exceptionally large electorates: Nuneaton at 112,503 and Tamworth at 118,131. Accordingly, the area was included in the Schedule to the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 as abnormally large constituencies to be divided by the Boundary Commission before the first post-war general election.

The Boundary Commission proposed to create two divisions within the new boundaries of the County Borough, with Coventry East comprising ten wards and having a 1939 electorate of 76,860. ^[5] On the new electoral register compiled for the 1945 general election, the constituency had 74,676 electors on the civilian residence register, 67 on the Business Premises register, and 5,166 on the service register. ^[6]

A new Boundary Commission review began in 1965 by which time Coventry's electorate had increased and the city was allocated four seats; they were named after the ordinal points of the compass. The recommendations of the Commission came into effect at the February 1974 general election, at which point Coventry East ceased to exist as a Parliamentary constituency. This coincided with Richard Crossman's retirement from parliament; he died of liver cancer two months after the election.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1945–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Richard Crossman	Labour
Feb 1974		Constituency abolished

MPs since 2024

Coventry North East prior to 2024

Election		Member	Party
	2024	Mary Creagh	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Coventry East ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Creagh	18,308	49.5	−2.6
	Reform UK	Iddrisu Sufyan	6,685	18.1	+13.0
	Conservative	Sarah Lesadd	6,240	16.9	−18.1
	Green	Stephen Gray	2,730	7.4	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Massimi	1,227	3.3	−2.1
	Workers Party	Paul Bedson	1,027	2.8	N/A
	TUSC	Dave Nellist	797	2.2	N/A
Majority			11,623	31.3
Turnout			37,014	48.8
Registered electors			75,801
	Labour win (new seat)

Election results 1945–1974

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	34,379	60.51
	Conservative	Harry Weston	15,630	27.51
	Communist	William Alexander	3,986	7.02
	Liberal	Charles Payne	2,820	4.96
Majority			18,479	32.50
Turnout			56,815	71.15
Registered electors			79,853
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	30,456	59.29	−1.22
	Conservative	Timothy Berthier Meek	17,003	33.10	+5.59
	Liberal	Samuel Henry Davis	3,420	6.66	+1.70
	Communist	William Alexander	487	0.95	−6.07
Majority			13,453	26.19	−6.31
Turnout			51,366	88.18	+17.03
Registered electors			58,254
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.41

General election 1951: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	32,108	62.29	+3.00
	Conservative	Gavin Welby	19,437	37.71	+4.61
Majority			12,671	24.58	−1.61
Turnout			51,545	85.74	−2.44
Registered electors			60,115
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.81

General election 1955: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	27,712	56.19	−6.10
	Conservative	Michael Ayerst Hooker	21,608	43.81	+6.10
Majority			6,104	12.38	−12.20
Turnout			49,320	81.16	−4.58
Registered electors			60,769
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.10

General election 1959: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	32,744	56.72	+0.53
	Conservative	John Biffen	24,982	43.28	−0.53
Majority			7,762	13.44	+1.06
Turnout			57,726	81.66	+0.50
Registered electors			70,689
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.53

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,246	59.82	+3.10
	Conservative	Ian Gow	23,208	38.30	−4.98
	Communist	Harry Bourne	1,138	1.88	New
Majority			13,038	21.52	+8.08
Turnout			60,592	77.86	−3.80
Registered electors			77,821
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.04

General election 1966: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,757	60.83	+1.01
	Conservative	John Wakeham	18,061	29.89	−8.41
	Liberal	Jan Maria Mokrzycki	4,235	7.01	New
	Communist	Harry Bourne	1,368	2.26	+0.38
Majority			18,696	30.94	+9.42
Turnout			60,421	77.33	−0.53
Registered electors			78,131
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.71

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Coventry East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Crossman	36,275	59.34	−1.49
	Conservative	Maurice Edward Jones	24,010	39.27	+9.38
	Communist	John Hosey	841	1.38	−0.88
Majority			12,265	20.07	−10.87
Turnout			61,126	70.58	−6.75
Registered electors			86,603
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.44

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
2. "West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
4. "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 10 of session 1943–44, p. 3.
5. "Report of the Boundary Commission for England", Cmd. 6634, p. 36.
6. "Return showing, with regard to each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, the total number of Electors on the register now in force", HCP 107 of session 1944–45, p. 5.
7. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll – Coventry East". Coventry Council. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

External links

• Coventry East UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

52°25′30″N1°27′36″W / 52.425°N 1.46°W / 52.425; -1.46