This article is part of a series on |
Politics of the United Kingdom |
---|
United Kingdomportal |
The first periodic review of Westminster constituencies was a review of constituency boundaries for the Westminster Parliament in the United Kingdom carried out by the boundary commissions created by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. The commissions reported in 1954 and their recommendations took effect for the 1955 general election. Legal action over the procedure for such reviews resulted in the passage of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958. [1]
Although the review was carried out only 5 years after the major overhaul of constituency boundaries enacted by the Representation of the People Act 1948 (taking effect for the 1950 general election), there were a number of significant changes, with the total number of seats increasing from 625 to 630. There were 36 new constituencies created and 31 abolished, resulting in a net increase of 5 constituencies which were all in England (506 to 511), with the number of constituencies in Wales (36), Scotland (71) and Northern Ireland (12) remaining the same.
There were changes to a further 137 constituencies involving the transfer of local authorities or wards/parishes therein. There were also minor changes to 42 constituencies which involved bringing the constituency boundaries in line with local authority boundaries which had been altered. The bulk of the changes affected the large cities outside London (Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield). There were only a few marginal changes in Wales and no changes in Northern Ireland.
During the period 1951 to 1953, 29 Statutory Instruments, affecting 66 constituencies, had been passed under the provisions of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 to bring boundaries in line with those of local authorities. [2]
There was a considerable delay before the second periodic review was completed and approved by Parliament and this did not come into effect until the February 1974 general election. The boundaries and constituencies introduced by the First Review were therefore in use for the general elections of 1955, 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970.
Source: Craig, F. W. S. (1972). Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 . Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. Pages 49 to 116.
BC denotes a Borough Constituency; CC denotes a County Constituency.
County | Seats 1950-55 | Created | Abolished | Major changes | Minor changes | Seats 1955-74 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bedfordshire | 4 | Bedford CC | 4 | |||
Berkshire | 6 | Reading BC | Reading North BC | Newbury CC | 5 | |
Buckinghamshire | 5 | 5 | ||||
Cambridgeshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Cheshire | 15 | Nantwich CC | Crewe CC | 16 | ||
Cornwall | 5 | 5 | ||||
Cumberland | 4 | 4 | ||||
Derbyshire | 10 | South East Derbyshire CC | 10 | |||
Devon | 10 | Plymouth, Devonport BC | 10 | |||
Dorset | 4 | 4 | ||||
Durham | 18 | Jarrow CC (redesignated as a BC) | 18 | |||
Essex | 24 | Chigwell CC | Billericay CC | 26 | ||
Gloucestershire | 12 | Stroud CC | Stroud and Thornbury CC | Cirencester and Tewksbury CC | Gloucester BC | 12 |
Hampshire | 13 | Eastleigh CC | Basingstoke CC | Portsmouth, Langstone BC | 14 | |
Herefordshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Hertfordshire | 7 | East Hertfordshire CC | Barnet CC | 8 | ||
Huntingdonshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Isle of Ely | 1 | 1 | ||||
Isle of Wight | 1 | 1 | ||||
Kent | 18 | Erith and Crayford BC | Chislehurst CC (redesignated as a CC) | Rochester and Chatham BC | 19 | |
Lancashire | 64 | Blackburn BC | Blackburn East BC | Chorley CC | Huyton CC | 62 |
Leicestershire | 8 | Harborough CC | Bosworth CC | 8 | ||
Lincolnshire (Parts of Holland) | 1 | 1 | ||||
Lincolnshire (Parts of Kesteven) and Rutlandshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Lincolnshire (Parts of Lindsey) | 6 | 6 | ||||
London | 43 | Barons Court BC | Fulham East BC | Bethnal Green BC | Woolwich East BC | 42 |
Middlesex | 28 | Feltham BC | Spelthorne CC Heston and Isleworth BC | 29 | ||
Norfolk | 8 | 8 | ||||
Northamptonshire | 5 | 5 | ||||
Northumberland | 10 | Newcastle upon Tyne Central BC | 10 | |||
Nottinghamshire | 10 | Ashfield CC | Broxtowe CC | Bassetlaw CC | 10 | |
Oxfordshire | 3 | 3 | ||||
Shropshire | 4 | 4 | ||||
Somerset | 7 | 7 | ||||
Staffordshire | 18 | Walsall North BC | Walsall BC | Cannock CC | Brierley Hill CC | 19 |
Suffolk | 5 | 5 | ||||
Surrey | 19 | Croydon North East BC | Croydon East BC | Kingston upon Thames BC | 20 | |
Sussex (East) | 7 | Rye CC | Eastbourne CC | Brighton, Kemptown BC | 8 | |
Sussex (West) | 4 | 4 | ||||
Warwickshire | 22 | Meriden CC | Birmingham, Erdington BC | Nuneaton CC Sutton Coldfield CC (redesignated as a BC) | 23 | |
Westmorland | 1 | 1 | ||||
Wiltshire | 5 | 5 | ||||
Worcestershire | 6 | Dudley BC | 6 | |||
Yorkshire (East Riding) | 6 | Haltemprice CC | Beverley CC | Bridlington BC | 6 | |
Yorkshire (North Riding) | 6 | 6 | ||||
Yorkshire (West Riding) | 46 | Bradford West BC | Bradford Central BC | Colne Valley CC | 44 |
County | Seats 1950-55 | Created | Abolished | Major changes | Minor changes | Seats 1955-74 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anglesey | 1 | 1 | ||||
Breconshire and Radnorshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Caernarvonshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Cardiganshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Carmarthenshire | 2 | Carmarthen CC | 2 | |||
Denbighshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Flintshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Glamorganshire | 16 | Swansea East BC | 16 | |||
Merionethshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Monmouthshire | 6 | Monmouth CC | 6 | |||
Montgomeryshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Pembrokeshire | 1 | 1 |
County | Seats 1950-55 | Created | Abolished | Major changes | Minor changes | Seats 1955-74 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeenshire | 4 | Aberdeenshire East CC | Aberdeen North BC | 4 | ||
Angus and Kincardineshire | 4 | 4 | ||||
Argyll | 1 | 1 | ||||
Ayrshire and Bute | 5 | Bute and North Ayrshire CC | 5 | |||
Banffshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Berwickshire and East Lothian | 1 | 1 | ||||
Caithness and Sutherland | 1 | 1 | ||||
Dumfriesshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Dunbartonshire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Fife | 4 | 4 | ||||
Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty | 3 | 3 | ||||
Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Lanarkshire | 22 | Glasgow, Craigton BC | Glasgow, Camlachie BC | Glasgow, Bridgeton BC | 22 | |
Midlothian | 7 | Midlothian CC | Edinburgh Central BC | Edinburgh East BC | 8 | |
Midlothian and Peeblesshire | 1 | Midlothian and Peebles CC | - | |||
Moray and Nairnshire | 1 | 1 | ||||
Orkney and Shetland | 1 | 1 | ||||
Perthshire and Kinross-shire | 2 | 2 | ||||
Renfrewshire | 4 | 4 | ||||
Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire | 1 | Roxburgh and Selkirk CC | - | |||
Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Peebleshire | - | Roxburgh, Selkirk and | 1 | |||
Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire | 3 | West Stirlingshire CC | 3 | |||
West Lothian | 1 | 1 |
County | Seats 1950-55 | Created | Abolished | Major changes | Minor changes | Seats 1955-74 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim | 6 | 6 | ||||
Armagh | 1 | 1 | ||||
Down | 2 | 2 | ||||
Fermanagh and Tyrone | 2 | 2 | ||||
Londonderry | 1 | 1 |
Abbreviations
BC denotes a Borough Constituency; CC denotes a County Constituency.
CB - County borough; MB - Metropolitan borough; UD - Urban district; RD - Rural district
The parishes of Chaddesden and Littleover in Shardlow RD were transferred from South-East Derbyshire CC to Derby North BC and Derby South BC respectively.
The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield.
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of December 2023, it was the busiest station in West Yorkshire, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the entirety of Northern England. It is the second busiest station in the UK outside of London, after Birmingham New Street.
Reading East was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. In the 2019–2024 Parliament, it was one of two Labour seats from a total of eight seats in Berkshire.
Croydon Central was a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Labour MP Sarah Jones. The seat bucked the trend in national results in 2019, with Labour holding the seat with a slightly increased majority.
Bradford East is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Imran Hussain of the Labour Party, until his suspension and the withdrawal of the whip on 23 July 2024, as a result of his voting to scrap the two child benefit cap. He now sits as an independent MP until the whip is re-established.
The following list shows all Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), affiliated trades unions and socialist societies that nominated a candidate in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.
The following list shows all Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), affiliated trades unions and socialist societies that nominated a candidate in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership 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 new constituency boundaries were approved by the Privy Council on 15 November 2023 and came into law on 29 November.
The third periodic review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken in the United Kingdom between 1976 and 1983 by the four boundary commissions. The reviews took account of the major local government reorganisations that had become effective in 1974, and resulted in significant changes to the electoral map. The previous 635 seats were replaced with 650 constituencies, of which 90% were newly created or significantly revised. The new boundaries were first used for the 1983 general election.
The ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear was created under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, comprising the urban areas around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear, previously parts of the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham. It returned 12 MPs to the UK Parliament from 2010 to 2024. Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, coming into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundary commission proposed two cross-county boundary seats with Northumberland and one with Durham, in addition to 10 constituencies wholly within the county boundaries,.