Wokingham (UK Parliament constituency)

Wokingham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wokingham in Berkshire
Location of Berkshire within England
County	Berkshire
Electorate	78,846 (2018) [1]
Major settlements	Winnersh, Wokingham
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	John Redwood (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Newbury and Windsor
1885–1918
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Berkshire
Replaced by	Newbury and Windsor

Wokingham is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1987 by John Redwood, a Conservative.

Constituency profile

The seat covers the prosperous town of Wokingham, the southern suburbs of Reading, and a rural area to the west. Residents are significantly wealthier than the UK average, reflected in high property prices. ^[2]

History

Originally, Wokingham was part of a larger constituency of Berkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), increased to three in the Reform Act of 1832. In the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 Berkshire was divided into three county constituencies, Northern (Abingdon), Southern (Newbury), and Eastern (Wokingham), and two borough constituencies, Reading and New Windsor, each returning one member. The constituency was abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1918 being largely replaced by the newly created Windsor Division, with the town of Wokingham itself being added to the Newbury Division.

The second version of the seat was created for the 1950 general election. From 1983, its borders have gradually been moved westwards as new constituencies were created in the east of the county.

The constituency has been represented since 1987 by the high-profile Conservative John Redwood, having continuously elected Conservative MPs with comfortable majorities throughout its history. However, in 2019, the majority was drastically reduced to 11.9% from 31.5% in 2017 (and 43.2% in 2015) when Redwood was challenged by the Liberal Democrat candidate, Philip Lee, who had been the Conservative MP for the neighbouring constituency of Bracknell.

In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable. ^[3]

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918

• The Sessional Divisions of Maidenhead and Windsor;
• Part of the Sessional Division of Wokingham; and
• In the Sessional Division of Reading, the parishes of East Swallowfield and West Swallowfield. ^[4]

1950–1955

• The Borough of Wokingham; and
• The Rural Districts of Easthampstead and Wokingham. ^[5]

1955–1974

• The Borough of Wokingham;
• The Rural Districts of Easthampstead and Wokingham; and
• The East ward of the County Borough of Reading. ^[5]

The East ward of Reading was transferred from the abolished constituency of Reading South. From the 1964 general election, the Park ward replaced the East ward following a revision to the local authority wards. ^[5]

1974–1983

• The Borough of Wokingham;
• The Rural District of Easthampstead; and
• The Rural District of Wokingham parishes of Remenham, Ruscombe, St Nicholas Hurst, Twyford, Wargrave, and Wokingham Without. ^[6]

The Park ward of the County Borough of Reading was transferred to the re-established constituency of Reading South, along with western parts of the Rural District of Wokingham.

1983–1997

• The District of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe, California, Charvil, Coronation, Emmbrook, Evendons, Hurst, Little Hungerford, Loddon, Norreys, Redhatch, Remenham and Wargrave, St Sebastian's, Sonning, South Lake, Twyford and Ruscombe, Wescott, Whitegates, and Winnersh. ^[7]

The seat regained north-western parts of Reading South (abolished once again). Eastern areas, comprising the District of Bracknell (formerly the Rural District of Easthampstead) formed the bulk of the new constituency of East Berkshire.

1997–2010

• The District of Wokingham wards of Arborfield, Barkham, Emmbrook, Evendons, Little Hungerford, Norreys, Redhatch, Shinfield, Swallowfield, Wescott, and Winnersh; and
• The District of Newbury wards of Burghfield and Mortimer. ^[8]

The boundaries moved westwards, gaining parts of Reading East (including Shinfield) and Newbury. The seat lost northern areas to Reading East and the new constituency of Maidenhead, as well as the ward of Wokingham Without in the south to the new constituency of Bracknell.

2010–present

Map of current boundaries

• The District of Wokingham wards of Arborfield, Barkham, Emmbrook, Evendons, Hawkedon, Hillside, Maiden Erlegh, Norreys, Shinfield North, Shinfield South, Swallowfield, Wescott, and Winnersh; and
• The District of West Berkshire wards of Burghfield, Mortimer, and Sulhamstead. ^[9]

This change saw a further minor gain from Newbury.

The seat is currently centred on the southern part of Wokingham district, including a small part of the east of West Berkshire. It is in the South East region of England.

The neighbouring constituencies (clockwise from north) are: Reading West, Reading East, Maidenhead, Bracknell, North East Hampshire, Basingstoke, North West Hampshire and Newbury.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Wokingham wards of: Arborfield; Barkham; Charvil; Emmbrook; Evendons; Finchampstead North; Finchampstead South; Hurst; Norreys; Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe; Swallowfield; Twyford; Wescott; Winnersh; Wokingham Without. ^[10]

The seat will undergo major changes, with about half the electorate being transferred out - the parts in the District of West Berkshire to the newly named constituency of Reading West and Mid Berkshire; and north-western parts of the District of Wokingham, including Earley and Shinfield, to the newly created constituency of Earley and Woodley. To compensate, the boundaries will be extended southwards to include the Wokingham Without ward and the community of Finchampstead, transferred from Bracknell; and northwards to include the parts of Wokingham Borough currently in Maidenhead, including Twyford.

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member [11]	Party
	1885	Sir George Russell, Bt.	Conservative
	1898 by-election	Oliver Young	Conservative
	1901 by-election	Ernest Gardner	Conservative
	1918	Constituency abolished

MPs since 1950

Election		Member [11]	Party
	1950	Peter Remnant	Conservative
	1959	Sir William van Straubenzee	Conservative
	1987	Sir John Redwood	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Jones [12]
	Conservative	John Redwood [13]
	Reform UK	Colin Wright [14]
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wokingham ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	30,734	49.6	−7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Phillip Lee	23,351	37.7	+21.8
	Labour	Annette Medhurst	6,450	10.4	−14.7
	Green	Kizzi Johannessen	1,382	2.2	−0.1
	Advance	Annabel Mullin	80	0.1	New
Majority			7,383	11.9	−19.6
Turnout			61,997	73.8	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.4

General election 2017: Wokingham ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	33,806	56.6	−1.1
	Labour	Andy Croy	15,008	25.1	+10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Jones	9,512	15.9	+2.4
	Green	Russell Seymour	1,364	2.3	−1.4
Majority			18,798	31.5	−11.7
Turnout			59,690	75.1	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.85

General election 2015: Wokingham ^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	32,329	57.7	+5.0
	Labour	Andy Croy	8,132	14.5	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Jones	7,572	13.5	−14.5
	UKIP	Philip Cunnington [19]	5,516	9.9	+6.8
	Green	Adrian Windisch	2,092	3.7	+2.7
	Independent	Kaz Lokuciewski	358	0.6	New
Majority			24,197	43.2	+19.5
Turnout			55,999	71.9	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

General election 2010: Wokingham ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	28,754	52.7	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Prue Bray	15,262	28.0	−4.7
	Labour	George Davidson	5,516	10.1	−4.9
	Independent	Mark Ashwell	2,340	4.3	New
	UKIP	Ann Zebedee	1,664	3.1	+0.9
	Green	Marjory Bisset	567	1.0	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter "Top Cat Bananaman" Owen	329	0.6	−0.6
	Independent	Robin Smith	96	0.2	New
Majority			13,492	24.7	+9.0
Turnout			54,528	71.5	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wokingham ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	22,174	48.1	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Prue Bray	14,934	32.4	0.0
	Labour	David Black	6,991	15.2	−2.2
	UKIP	Frank Carstairs	994	2.2	+0.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter "Top Cat Bananaman" Owen	569	1.2	−0.8
	BNP	Richard Colborne	376	0.8	New
	Telepathic Partnership	Michael Hall	34	0.1	New
Majority			7,240	15.7	+2.0
Turnout			46,072	67.1	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 2001: Wokingham ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	20,216	46.1	−4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Royce Longton	14,222	32.4	+1.0
	Labour	Matthew Syed	7,633	17.4	+0.6
	UKIP	Franklin Carstairs	897	2.0	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter "Top Cat Bananaman" Owen	880	2.0	+0.2
Majority			5,994	13.7	-5.0
Turnout			43,848	64.1	−11.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wokingham ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	25,086	50.1	-11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Royce Longton	15,721	31.4	+5.7
	Labour	Patricia Colling	8,424	16.8	+5.5
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter "Top Cat Bananaman" Owen	877	1.8	+1.1
Majority			9,365	18.7	-17.6
Turnout			50,108	75.0	-6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.7

General election 1992: Wokingham ^{[25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	43,497	61.4	0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Paul G.T. Simon	17,788	25.1	−4.8
	Labour	Nelson T.G. Bland	8,846	12.5	+3.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Peter "Top Cat Bananaman" Owen	531	0.7	New
	Independent	Philip Harriss	148	0.2	New
Majority			25,709	36.3	+4.8
Turnout			70,810	81.8	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wokingham ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Redwood	39,808	61.4	+1.0
	Liberal	John Leston	19,421	29.9	−1.7
	Labour	Peter Morgan	5,622	8.7	+0.7
Majority			20,387	31.5	+2.7
Turnout			64,851	78.1	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

General election 1983: Wokingham ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	32,925	60.4	+6.0
	Liberal	John Leston	17,227	31.6	+13.4
	Labour	Michael Orton	4,362	8.0	-18.2
Majority			15,698	28.8	+0.6
Turnout			54,514	76.0	-2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.7

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	36,194	54.44	+11.29
	Labour	AE Furley	17,448	26.24	-3.06
	Liberal	P Mullarky	12,120	18.23	-9.32
	National Front	G Sanders	722	1.09	New
Majority			18,746	28.20	+14.35
Turnout			65,762	78.22	+2.62
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.18

General election October 1974: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	24,009	43.15	-2.01
	Labour	RW Crew	16,304	29.30	+2.31
	Liberal	T Blyth	15,329	27.55	-0.30
Majority			7,705	13.85	-3.46
Turnout			55,642	75.60	-7.24
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	27,223	45.16	-9.84
	Liberal	SMM Cuff	16,791	27.85	+11.67
	Labour	RW Crew	16,269	26.99	-1.83
Majority			10,432	17.31	-8.87
Turnout			60,283	82.84	+10.63
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	43,183	55.00	+7.11
	Labour	Christopher AR Helm	22,630	28.82	-5.59
	Liberal	Denis HV Case	12,704	16.18	-1.51
Majority			20,553	26.18	+12.70
Turnout			78,517	72.21	-7.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	34,011	47.89
	Labour	Raymond Carter	24,437	34.41
	Liberal	Margaret Wingfield	12,564	17.69
Majority			9,574	13.48
Turnout			71,012	79.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	32,777	50.23	-7.30
	Labour	John Ellis	17,954	27.52	-0.24
	Liberal	Margaret Wingfield	13,875	21.26
	Ind. Conservative	Charles Ford	645	0.99	New
Majority			14,823	22.71
Turnout			65,251	79.21
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William van Straubenzee	30,896	57.53	-1.99
	Labour	Terence Boston	14,905	27.76	-1.94
	Liberal	Claud William J Rout	7,899	14.71	+3.93
Majority			15,991	29.77
Turnout			53,700	79.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Remnant	25,843	59.52
	Labour	Terence Boston	12,895	29.70	-0.18
	Liberal	John Patrick McQuade	4,679	10.78	+1.67
Majority			12,948	29.82
Turnout			43,417	76.63
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Remnant	21,652	61.01
	Labour	Eric A Hubble	10,606	29.88
	Liberal	John Patrick McQuade	3,233	9.11
Majority			11,046	31.13
Turnout			35,491	78.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Wokingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Remnant	20,612	57.7
	Labour	Eric A Hubble	10,296	28.8
	Liberal	John Patrick McQuade	4,793	13.4
Majority			10,316	28.9
Turnout			35,701	81.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1910s

General election December 1910: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Gardner	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election January 1910: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Gardner	8,132	66.5	+10.4
	Liberal	Holford Knight	4,095	33.5	−10.4
Majority			4,037	33.0	+20.8
Turnout			12,227	85.3	+2.2
Registered electors			14,327
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.4

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Gardner	6,075	56.1	N/A
	Liberal	George Gordon	4,750	43.9	New
Majority			1,325	12.2	N/A
Turnout			10,825	83.1	N/A
Registered electors			13,033
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 1901: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Gardner	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1900: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Young	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

By-election, 30 Mar 1898: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Young	4,726	56.2	N/A
	Liberal	George William Palmer	3,690	43.8	New
Majority			1,036	12.4	N/A
Turnout			8,416	75.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,189
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Russell's death.

General election 1895: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Russell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1892: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Russell	4,986	64.6	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick Joseph Patton [30]	2,738	35.4	New
Majority			2,248	29.2	N/A
Turnout			7,724	76.2	N/A
Registered electors			10,142
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Wokingham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Russell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1885: Wokingham ^{[29] [31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Russell	4,710	60.6
	Liberal	Edwin Lawrence	3,062	39.4
Majority			1,648	21.2
Turnout			7,772	83.9
Registered electors			9,258
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Wokingham
3. Belger, Tom (8 December 2023). "Labour selections: Full list of 211 'non-battleground' seats now open to applications". labourlist.org. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
4. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
5. S., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0900178094. OCLC   539011.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
10. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
11. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
12. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
13. Cllr Simon Rouse [@CllrSimonRouse] (25 February 2023). "Delighted to chair @Wokyca constituency selection meeting last night. Many congratulations to @johnredwood on being re-adopted as the Conservative candidate for Wokingham for the next general election!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "Wokingham Constituency". Reform UK . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
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19. "Meet the Wokingham UKIP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate - UK Independence Party". www.wokinghamukip.org.uk.
20. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Wokingham". bbc.co.uk.
22. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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28. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
30. "Notices: Parliamentary Election, 1892. Eastern or Wokingham Division of the County of Berks". Reading Mercury. 20 August 1892. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
31. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
32. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886