Rugby (UK Parliament constituency)

Rugby
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rugby in West Midlands region
County	Warwickshire
Electorate	72,603 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Rugby, Bulkington
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	John Slinger (Labour Party)
Seats	One
Created from	Rugby & Kenilworth
1885–1983
Seats	One
Created from	North Warwickshire
Replaced by	Rugby & Kenilworth and Nuneaton [2]

Rugby is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by John Slinger, of the Labour Party. ^{[n 2]}

History

Between 1950 and 1979, Rugby was a consistent Labour-Conservative marginal, often bucking the national swing (for example, William Price held the seat for Labour with an increased majority in 1970 while the Wilson government was defeated).

Since its recreation in 2010, the seat produced solid Conservative majorities for Mark Pawsey until 2024, when it was won for Labour by John Slinger.

Boundaries and boundary changes

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1885–1918: When first created in 1885, the Rugby division consisted of the Petty Sessional Divisions of Rugby, Southam, Burton Dassett and Kington, and Kenilworth except the parishes of Lillington and Milverton. The division as recommended by the Boundary Commissioners had a population of 49,291 in the 1881 Census. ^[3]

1918–1945: Boundary changes in 1918 expanded the constituency to the south, while removing some areas near Leamington Spa. The constituency was defined as consisting of the Urban District of Rugby, the Rural Districts of Farnborough, Monks Kirby, Rugby and Southam, together with the majority of Brailes Rural district (excepting only the two parishes of Ilmington and Stretton-on-Fosse which were in a detached part of Warwickshire). Finally, the division included several parishes which were in the east of Stratford-on-Avon Rural District: Charlcote, Combrook, Compton Verney, Eatington, Kineton, Loxley, Moreton Morrell, Newbold Pacey, Wellesbourne Hastings and Wellesbourne Mountford. ^[4]

1945–1950: When changes were made to constituency boundaries in 1945 to split up some extremely large constituencies, Rugby was affected by the recommendations made as a result of the growth in electorate in the Coventry constituency. It gained some areas to the east of Coventry which had already been added to Rugby Rural District but were previously part of Nuneaton division. This change added about 2,000 voters. ^[5]

1950–1983: The constituency was considerably reduced in area in boundary changes which came into effect in 1950, being reduced to simply the Municipal Borough of Rugby and the Rural District of Rugby. ^[6] No alteration in boundaries was made as part of the First Periodical Review of Boundaries in 1954, ^[7] and in the Second Periodical Review which came into effect in 1974, the definition remained the same although changes in local government boundaries under The West Midlands Order 1965 and The Coventry Order 1965 meant that a minor change was made. ^[8]

The Third Periodical Review of constituency boundaries expanded the Rugby constituency to the west. The constituency lost 6,545 of its 60,909 electors, in and around the villages of Ansty and Wolvey, to Nuneaton. It then gained 16,600 electors from Kenilworth, resulting in its renaming as Rugby and Kenilworth. ^[9]

2010–2024: Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the Boundary Commission re-established the constituency of Rugby for the 2010 general election as a consequence of the creation of the new constituency of Kenilworth and Southam and the abolition of Rugby and Kenilworth. It had similar boundaries to the 1950-1983 version, containing the following electoral wards:

• Admirals; Avon and Swift; Benn; Bilton; Brownsover North; Brownsover South; Caldecott; Earl Craven and Wolston; Eastlands; Fosse; Hillmorton; Lawford and King's Newnham; New Bilton; Newbold; Overslade; Paddox; Wolvey in Rugby Borough
• Bulkington in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth . ^{[10] [11]}

2024–present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into force for the 2024 general election, the constituency saw very small changes to align boundaries with those of revised wards in the Borough of Rugby; it is defined as being composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth ward of Bulkington.
• The Borough of Rugby wards of: Admirals and Cawston; Benn; Bilton; Clifton, Newton and Churchover; Coton and Boughton; Eastlands; Hillmorton; New Bilton; Newbold and Brownsover; Paddox; Revel and Binley Woods; Rokeby and Overslade; Wolston and the Lawfords; Wolvey and Shilton. ^[12]

Constituency profile

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics and that forming the bulk has a working population whose income is slightly above to the national average and lower than average reliance upon social housing. ^[13] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 2.3% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.4%. ^[14]

The borough contributing to the bulk of the seat has a quite low 17.5% of its population without a car, 19.6% of the population without qualifications contrasted with a high 28.2% with level 4 qualifications or above by way of illustration. In terms of tenure 69.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census across the district. ^[15]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1983

Event		Member [16]	Party
	1885	Henry Peyton Cobb	Liberal
	1895	Richard Verney [n 3]	Conservative
	1900	Corrie Grant	Liberal
	Jan 1910	John Baird	Conservative
	1922	Euan Wallace	Conservative
	1923	Ernest Brown	Liberal
	1924	David Margesson	Conservative
	1942 by-election	William Brown	Independent
	1950	James Johnson	Labour
	1959	Roy Wise	Conservative
	1966	William Price	Labour
	1979	Jim Pawsey	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished

MPs since 2010

Election		Member [16]	Party
	2010	Mark Pawsey	Conservative
	2024	John Slinger	Labour

Elections

Rugby election history

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Rugby ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Slinger	19,533	39.9	+8.8
	Conservative	Yousef Dahmash	15,105	30.8	−26.5
	Reform UK	Devenne Kedward	8,225	16.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Dickson	3,252	6.6	−1.7
	Green	Becca Stevenson	2,556	5.2	+1.9
	Independent	Mark Townsend	215	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Anand Swayamprakasam	118	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,428	9.1	N/A
Turnout			49,004	65.4	−4.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.6

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Rugby ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pawsey	29,255	57.6	+3.3
	Labour	Debbie Bannagan	15,808	31.1	−7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Rana Das-Gupta	4,207	8.3	+2.7
	Green	Rebecca Stevenson	1,544	3.0	+1.1
Majority			13,447	26.5	+10.5
Turnout			50,814	70.2	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.3

General election 2017: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pawsey	27,872	54.3	+5.2
	Labour	Claire Edwards	19,660	38.3	+10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jerry Roodhouse	2,851	5.6	−0.2
	Green	Graham Bliss	953	1.9	−1.0
Majority			8,212	16.0	−5.2
Turnout			51,336	71.1	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.6

General election 2015: Rugby ^{[19] [20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pawsey	24,040	49.1	+5.1
	Labour	Claire Edwards	13,695	27.9	−3.5
	UKIP	Gordon Davies	6,855	14.0	+13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Goncalves	2,776	5.8	−14.1
	Green	Terry White	1,415	2.9	+1.9
	TUSC	Peter McLaren	225	0.5	New
Majority			10,345	21.2	+8.6
Turnout			49,006	70.1	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.25

General election 2010: Rugby ^{[22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pawsey	20,901	44.0
	Labour	Andy King	14,901	31.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jerry Roodhouse	9,434	19.9
	BNP	Mark Badrick	1,375	2.9
	Green	Roy Sandison	451	1.0
	UKIP	Barry Milford	406	0.9
Majority			6,000	12.6
Turnout			47,468	68.9
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1885-1983

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Peyton Cobb	4,877	58.0
	Conservative	James Darlington [25]	3,533	42.0
Majority			1,344	16.0
Turnout			8,410	86.7
Registered electors			9,700
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Peyton Cobb	4,006	53.2	−4.8
	Liberal Unionist	Marston Clarke Buszard	3,528	46.8	+4.8
Majority			478	6.4	−9.6
Turnout			7,534	77.0	−9.0
Registered electors			9,700
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.8

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Peyton Cobb	4,519	54.1	+0.9
	Conservative	William Johnson Galloway	3,831	45.9	−0.9
Majority			688	8.2	+1.8
Turnout			8,350	85.3	+8.3
Registered electors			9,785
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.9

General election 1895: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Verney	4,354	51.7	+5.8
	Liberal	Corrie Grant	4,070	48.3	−5.8
Majority			284	3.4	N/A
Turnout			8,424	86.2	+0.9
Registered electors			9,777
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Corrie Grant	4,349	51.3	+3.0
	Conservative	F. E. Muntz	4,130	48.7	−3.0
Majority			219	2.6	N/A
Turnout			8,479	82.4	−3.8
Registered electors			10,284
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.0

General election 1906: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Corrie Grant	5,181	51.3	0.0
	Conservative	Arthur Steel-Maitland	4,909	48.7	0.0
Majority			272	2.6	0.0
Turnout			10,090	88.1	+5.7
Registered electors			11,451
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.0

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Baird	6,191	55.4	+6.7
	Liberal	Rupert Scott	4,986	44.6	−6.7
Majority			1,205	10.8	N/A
Turnout			11,177	91.1	+3.0
Registered electors			12,275
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.7

General election December 1910: Rugby ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Baird	5,712	53.6	−1.8
	Liberal	A. F. B. Williams	4,941	46.4	+1.8
Majority			771	7.2	−3.6
Turnout			10,653	86.8	−4.3
Registered electors			12,275
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.8

General election 1918: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	John Baird	11,325	60.5	+6.9
	Liberal	Oscar Frederick Maclagan	7,399	39.5	−6.9
Majority			3,926	21.0	+13.8
Turnout			18,724	59.0	−27.8
Registered electors			31,726
	Unionist hold		Swing	+6.9
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Euan Wallace	11,934	47.6	−12.9
	Liberal	George Peel	8,196	32.7	−6.8
	Labour	T H Holt-Hughes	4,940	19.7	New
Majority			3,738	14.9	−6.1
Turnout			25,070	76.9	+17.9
Registered electors			32,599
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.1

General election 1923: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ernest Brown	13,798	55.0	+22.3
	Unionist	Euan Wallace	11,286	45.0	−2.6
Majority			2,512	10.0	N/A
Turnout			25,084	75.2	−1.7
Registered electors			33,363
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+12.5

General election 1924: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	David Margesson	14,434	50.2	+5.2
	Liberal	Ernest Brown	10,524	36.6	−18.4
	Labour	H Yates	3,768	13.1	New
Majority			3,910	13.6	N/A
Turnout			28,726	84.7	+9.5
Registered electors			33,903
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.9

General election 1929: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	David Margesson	15,147	41.1	−9.1
	Labour	John Morgan	11,588	31.4	+18.3
	Liberal	Robert Bernays	10,158	27.5	−9.1
Majority			3,559	9.7	−4.0
Turnout			36,893	84.8	+0.1
Registered electors			43,515
	Unionist hold		Swing	−13.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Margesson	24,493	69.95
	Labour	E. J. Pay	10,523	30.05
Majority			13,970	39.90
Turnout			35,016	78.93
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Margesson	20,905	61.6	−8.3
	Labour	H William Fenner	13,061	38.5	+8.5
Majority			7,844	23.1	−16.8
Turnout			33,966	73.8	−5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1939–40:

Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: David Margesson
• Liberal: M E Avery
• Labour: A E Millett

Elections in the 1940s

1942 Rugby by-election ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Brown	9,824	51.8	New
	Conservative	Claude Vivian Holbrook	9,145	48.2	−13.4
Majority			679	3.6	N/A
Turnout			18,969	38.5	−35.3
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1945: Rugby ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Brown	18,615	40.4	N/A
	Conservative	John Lakin	17,049	37.0	−24.6
	Labour	Ronald Lewis	10,470	22.7	−15.8
Majority			1,566	3.4	N/A
Turnout			46,144	73.6	−0.2
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Rugby ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Johnson	15,983	41.0	+27.3
	Conservative	James Dance	14,947	38.3	+1.6
	Independent	William Brown	8,080	20.7	−19.7
Majority			1,036	2.7	N/A
Turnout			39,010	88.2	+14.6
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

General election 1951: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Johnson	19,995	50.3	+0.3
	Conservative	James Dance	19,796	49.7	+11.4
Majority			199	0.5	−2.2
Turnout			39,808	87.7	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Johnson	19,709	50.1	−0.2
	Conservative	Harold Soref	18,331	46.6	−3.1
	Independent	Eric H Shafer	1,274	3.2	New
Majority			1,378	3.5	+3.0
Turnout			39,293	85.4	−2.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roy Wise	17,429	42.6	−4.0
	Labour	James Johnson	16,959	41.4	−8.7
	Liberal	Simon Goldblatt	6,413	15.7	New
	Independent	Archie S Frost	142	0.4	New
Majority			470	1.2	−2.3
Turnout			40,924	85.6	+0.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roy Wise	19,221	45.1	+2.5
	Labour	D.H. Childs	17,532	41.2	−0.2
	Liberal	Simon Goldblatt	5,522	13.0	−2.7
	Social Credit	Archie S Frost	304	0.7	New
Majority			1,689	3.9	+2.7
Turnout			42,580	84.6	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Price	21,797	50.0	+8.8
	Conservative	Roy Wise	21,388	49.0	+3.9
	Social Credit	Archie S Frost	397	0.9	+0.2
Majority			409	1.0	N/A
Turnout			43,579	84.9	+0.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Price	25,041	52.8	+2.8
	Conservative	J.H.P. Griffith	22,086	46.6	−2.4
	Social Credit	Archie S Frost	254	0.5	−0.4
Majority			2,955	6.2	+5.2
Turnout			47,381	81.8	−3.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Price	25,176	49.5	−3.4
	Conservative	Tim Boswell	19,022	37.4	−9.2
	Liberal	J. Campbell	6,560	12.9	New
	Social Credit	Archie S Frost	106	0.2	−0.3
Majority			6,154	12.1	−5.9
Turnout			50,884	86.2	+4.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Price	22,926	48.2	−1.3
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	17,722	37.3	−0.1
	Liberal	A. Butcher	6,775	14.3	+1.4
	Social Credit	Archie S Frost	137	0.3	+0.1
Majority			5,204	10.9	−1.2
Turnout			47,560	79.8	−6.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Rugby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Pawsey	24,417	47.3	+10.0
	Labour	William Price	21,688	42.0	−6.2
	Liberal	B. Lomax	4,945	9.6	−4.7
	National Front	A. Gresham	551	1.0	New
Majority			2,729	5.3	N/A
Turnout			51,603	83.9	+4.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. Before birthright succession to the Lords as Baron Willoughby de Broke

References

Specific

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
2. "'Rugby', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
3. "County of Warwick" in "Report of the Boundary Commissioners for England Wales, 1885" (C.-4287), vol I p. 165-7.
4. "39. County of Warwick" in "Report of the Boundary Commission (England and Wales)", Cd. 8757, vol II.
5. "Report in regard to the division of abnormally large Constituencies named in the Second Schedule to the Act", Boundary Commission for England, Cmd. 6634, p. 35-37.
6. Initial Report of the Boundary Commission for England, Cmd. 7260, p. 48.
7. "First Periodical Report", Boundary Commission for England, Cmd. 9311, p. 37.
8. F. W. S. Craig, "Boundaries of British Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972", Political Reference Publications, Chichester, 1972, p. 144.
9. "The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", Parliamentary Research Services, 1983, pp. 114, 214.
10. Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", University of Plymouth, 2007, p. 139.
11. 2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
12. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
13. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
14. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
15. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
16. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
17. "Rugby". BBC News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
18. "Rugby Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
19. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 2015". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
21. "Rugby Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
22. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
23. "UK > England > West Midlands > Rugby". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
24. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
25. "Bedworth Conservative Association" . Birmingham Daily Post . 22 February 1886. p. 8. Retrieved 10 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
26. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
27. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

General

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.

External links

• Catalogue of the Rugby Constituency Labour Party archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
• Rugby UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Rugby UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

52°14′N1°59′W / 52.24°N 1.98°W / 52.24; -1.98