Earley and Woodley (UK Parliament constituency)

Earley and Woodley
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Map of constituency
Boundary of Earley and Woodley in South East England
CountyBerkshire
Electorate70,083 (2023)[1]
Major settlementsEarley, Woodley, Shinfield
Current constituency
Created2024
Member of ParliamentYuan Yang (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromReading West, Reading East, Maidenhead, and Wokingham

Earley and Woodley is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament.[2] Following the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is represented by Yuan Yang of the Labour Party.

History

At the time of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, there were eight constituencies in the county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (Reading East, Reading West, and Windsor) were within the permitted electorate range of no fewer than 69,724 electors and no more than 77,062. All of the remaining constituencies were above the upper limit. The Boundary Commission for England therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county.[3][4]

Whilst both Reading constituencies could have remained unchanged, the boundary commission instead proposed a reconfiguration to account for the increased electorates of the surrounding constituencies, and to better reflect local ties in the surrounding communities. This involved the creation of two new constituencies, Earley and Woodley and Mid Berkshire (renamed Reading West and Mid Berkshire in the final proposals), both with the bulk of their electorate outside the Borough of Reading but including outer wards of the borough, together with a new Reading Central constituency entirely within the borough.[3]

In June 2023, the Conservatives selected Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the opposition group on Wokingham Borough Council, as their prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat. In December 2023, the Labour Party selected Earley resident Yuan Yang, a Financial Times journalist and social campaigner, as their candidate. On 5th February 2024, the Liberal Democrats announced they had selected Tahir Maher, a former Mayor of Earley, as their candidate.[5][6][7]

Boundaries

The constituency is composed of the following wards (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

  • The Borough of Reading wards of Church; Whitley.
  • The Borough of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe and Whitegates; Coronation; Hawkedon; Hillside; Loddon; Maiden Erlegh; Shinfield North; Shinfield South; Sonning; South Lake.[8]

It covers:

The constituency is bordered by the seats of Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Reading Central, Henley and Thame, and Wokingham.[9][10]

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
Created from Maidenhead, Reading East, Reading West and Wokingham
2024 Yuan Yang Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Earley and Woodley (notional)[11]
Party Vote %
Conservative 24,922 48.8
Labour 13,629 26.7
Liberal Democrats 11,147 21.8
Green 1,134 2.2
Brexit Party 278 0.5
Turnout 51,110 72.9

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Earley and Woodley[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yuan Yang 18,209 39.7 +13.0
Conservative Pauline Jorgensen 17,361 37.8 −11.0
Liberal Democrats Tahir Maher 6,142 13.4 −8.4
Green Gary Shacklady 3,418 7.4 +5.2
SDP Alastair Hunter 784 1.7 N/A
Majority 848 1.9 New
Turnout 45,914 62.4 Decrease10.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing Increase12.0

See also

References

  1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  2. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituency boundaries in the South East region". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Background to the 2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ^ Atkinson, William (25 June 2023). "'Hard-working' Jorgensen selected in Earley and Woodley". Conservative Home. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Yuan Yang selected as Labour candidate for new Earley and Woodley MP seat". Reading Chronicle. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Liberal Democrats announce General Election candidates for Reading". Reading Liberal Democrats. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  8. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  9. ^ "Revised Proposals for the South East Region" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ "2023 Review final recommendations map". Boundary Commission for England. 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Earley and Woodley - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2024.

51°25′N 0°55′W / 51.42°N 0.92°W / 51.42; -0.92