The ceremonial county of Bedfordshire (which comprises Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton unitary authorities) is split into 6 seats – 3 borough and 3 county constituencies.

Constituencies

Further information: 2019 United Kingdom general election

  † Conservative †   ‡ Labour ‡

Name[nb 1] Electorate[1] Majority[2][nb 2] Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Electoral wards[3][4] Map
Bedford BC 71,581 145   Mohammad Yasin ‡   Ryan Henson † Bedford Borough Council: Brickhill, Castle, Cauldwell, De Parys, Goldington, Harpur, Kempston East, Kempston North, Kempston South, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Putnoe, Queen's Park.
A small constituency, located north of the centre of the county.
Luton North BC 68,185 9,247   Sarah Owen ‡   Jeet Bains † Luton Borough Council: Barnfield, Bramingham, Challney, Icknield, Leagrave, Lewsey, Limbury, Northwell, Saints, Sundon Park.
A small constituency south of the centre of the county.
Luton South BC 69,338 8,756   Rachel Hopkins ‡   Parvez Akhtar † Luton Borough Council: Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Round Green, South, Stopsley, Wigmore. Central Bedfordshire Council: Caddington, Hyde and Slip End.
A small constituency, located in the southwest of the county.
Mid Bedfordshire CC 40,720 (2023) 1,192 (2023)   Alistair Strathern ‡   Festus Akinbusoye † Bedford Borough Council: Turvey, Wilshamstead, Wootton. Central Bedfordshire Council: Ampthill, Aspley Guise, Clifton and Meppershall, Cranfield, Flitton, Greenfield and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, Houghton, Haynes, Southill and Old Warden, Marston, Maulden and Clophill, Shefford, Campton and Gravenhurst, Shillington, Stondon and Henlow Camp, Streatley, Silsoe, Toddington, Westoning and Tingrith.
A large constituency, occupying the centre of the county.
North East Bedfordshire CC 90,678 24,283   Richard Fuller †   Julian Vaughan ‡ Bedford Borough Council: Bromham, Carlton, Clapham, Eastcotts, Great Barford, Harrold, Oakley, Riseley, Roxton, Sharnbrook. Central Bedfordshire Council: Arlesey, Biggleswade Holme, Biggleswade Ivel, Biggleswade Stratton, Langford and Henlow Village, Northill and Blunham, Potton and Wensley, Sandy Ivel, Sandy Pinnacle, Stotfold.
A large constituency in the north of the county.
South West Bedfordshire CC 79,926 18,583   Andrew Selous †   Callum Anderson ‡ Central Bedfordshire Council: All Saints, Chiltern, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Grovebury, Heath and Reach, Houghton Hall, Icknield, Kensworth and Totternhoe, Linslade, Manshead, Northfields, Parkside, Planets, Plantation, Southcott, Stanbridge, Tithe Farm, Watling.
A medium constituency in the southwest of the county.

2010 boundary changes

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to retain Bedfordshire's constituencies for the 2010 election, making minor changes to realign constituency boundaries with the boundaries of current local government wards, and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies.

Name Boundaries 1997-2010 Boundaries 2010–present
  1. Bedford BC
  2. Luton North BC
  3. Luton South BC
  4. Mid Bedfordshire CC
  5. North East Bedfordshire CC
  6. South West Bedfordshire CC
Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire 1997 – 2005
Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire 1997 – 2005
Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire 2010–present
Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire 2010–present

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[5] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed that Bedfordshire be combined with Hertfordshire as a sub-region of the Eastern Region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of Hitchin. As a result of the changes, Luton South would be renamed Luton South and South Bedfordshire, North East Bedfordshire renamed North Bedfordshire, and South West Bedfordshire renamed Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.[6]

The following seats are proposed:

Containing electoral wards in Bedford

Containing electoral wards in Central Bedfordshire

Containing electoral wards in Luton

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019[7]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Bedfordshire in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 156,973 49.8% Decrease0.5% 3 0
Labour 107,591 34.2% Decrease7.8% 3 0
Liberal Democrats 28,276 9.0% Increase4.4% 0 0
Greens 9,126 2.9% Increase1.0% 0 0
Brexit 3,712 1.2% new 0 0
Others 9,318 3.0% Increase1.7% 0 0
Total 314,996 100.0 6

Percentage votes

Election year 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative1 44.5 49.7 53.5 49.9 47.8 43.8 50.5 39.7 40.4 51.3 51.0 54.2 53.2 38.6 39.4 40.6 44.7 47.2 50.3 49.8
Labour 42.4 45.3 44.7 38.8 43.9 45.6 40.9 34.0 37.3 32.9 22.6 24.2 30.3 44.0 42.8 34.2 27.1 29.5 42.0 34.2
Liberal Democrat2 13.0 4.9 1.8 11.2 8.0 10.3 8.4 26.2 22.2 14.8 26.3 21.1 14.8 12.8 14.8 20.3 20.3 5.6 4.6 9.0
Green Party – – – – – – – – – – – * * * * * 0.7 3.6 1.9 2.9
UKIP – – – – – – – – – – – – – * * * 3.8 13.5 0.8 *
Brexit Party – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1.2
Other 0.1 – – – 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.0 0.1 0.4 1.7 4.6 3.1 4.9 3.5 0.6 0.4 2.9

1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966

21950–1979 – Liberal; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats

Election year 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2023

(Oct)

Conservative1 3 4 4 4 3 1 4 3 3 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 2
Labour 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 4
Total 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966

Maps

1885-1910


1918-1945



1950-1979


1983-present


Timeline

  Former constituency   Current constituency

Constituency 1295–1885 1885–1918 1918–1950 1950–1974 1974–1983 1983–1997 1997–present
Bedfordshire 1295–1885
Bedford 1295–1983 1997–present
North Bedfordshire 1983–1997
North East Bedfordshire 1997–present
Biggleswade 1885–1918
Mid Bedfordshire 1918–present
South Bedfordshire 1950–1983
South West Bedfordshire 1983–present
Luton 1885–1974
Luton East 1974–1983
Luton West 1974–1983
Luton North 1983–present
Luton South 1983–present

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1802 to 1837

  Conservative   Tory   Whig

Constituency 1802 1806 1807 1812 15 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 34 1835
Bedford Antonie G. Russell Polhill Crawley
S. Whitbread Waldegrave W. Whitbread Polhill
Bedfordshire Osborn FitzPatrick F. Russell C. Russell
St John Pym Osborn Pym Macqueen Stuart Payne Stuart → Egerton

1837 to 1885

  Conservative   Liberal   Whig

Constituency 1837 38 1841 47 1847 51 1852 54 1857 1859 1865 1868 72 1874 75 1880
Bedford Stuart Crawley H. Stuart W. Stuart Barnard W. Stuart Howard Polhill-Turner Magniac
Polhill Verney Whitbread →
Bedfordshire C. Russell Astell C. Russell F. Russell → Bassett G. Russell
Egerton Gilpin Howard

1885 to 1918

  Conservative   Liberal   Liberal Unionist

Constituency 1885 1886 1892 92 1895 1900 1906 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 11
Bedford Whitbread Pym Barlow Attenborough Kellaway
Biggleswade Magniac Baring Russell Compton Black
Luton Flower Whitbread Ashton Harmsworth

1918 to 1974

  Coalition Liberal (1918–22) / National Liberal (1922–23)   Conservative   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931–68)

Constituency 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 31 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 60 63 1964 1966 1970
Bedford Kellaway Wells Skeffington-Lodge Soames Parkyn Skeet
Bedfordshire Mid Townley Linfield Warner Gray Lennox-Boyd Hastings
Bedfordshire South Moeran Cole → Roberts Madel
Luton Harmsworth Hewett Howard O'Connor Burgin → Warbey Hill Howie Simeons

1974 to present

  Change UK   Conservative   Independent   The Independents   Labour

Constituency Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 17 19 2019 23
Bedford (1974–83, 1997–present) / North Bedfordshire (1983–97) Skeet Hall Fuller Yasin
Bedfordshire Mid Hastings Lyell Sayeed Dorries Strathern
North East Bedfordshire Lyell Burt Fuller
Bedfordshire South / South West Bedfordshire (1983) Madel Selous
Luton East / Luton South (1983) Clemitson Bright Moran Shuker → → R. Hopkins
Luton West / Luton North (1983) Sedgemore Carlisle K. Hopkins → Owen

See also

Notes

  1. ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References

  1. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis". ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, page 4". Office of Public Sector Information. Crown copyright. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  4. ^ Boundary Commission for England pp. 1004–1007
  5. ^ "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  6. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". paras 193-206. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019". ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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