Harborough, Oadby and Wigston () is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

covering the south east of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

since 2017 by

Neil O'Brien Neil John O'Brien (born 6 November 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, previously Harborough, since 2017. He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary ...

of the Conservative Party. It is considered a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

for the Conservative Party, as there has been a Conservative MP here since 1950. Before the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, the constituency was known as Harborough up until the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

Boundaries

Historic (Harborough)

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leicester, the Sessional Divisions of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is an historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwicks ...

and

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Leicester and

East Norton East Norton is a small village and parish located in the east of Leicestershire, adjoining the A47 Leicester to Uppingham road. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 94 in 37 households. The population remained less than 100 at t ...

. 1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough,

Oadby Oadby is a town in the borough of Oadby and Wigston in Leicestershire, England. Oadby is a district centre south-east of Leicester on the A6 road (England), A6 road. Leicester Racecourse is situated on the border between Oadby and Stoneygate. ...

, and

Wigston Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the cent ...

, and the

Rural Districts A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the adm ...

Blaby Blaby () is a town in the Blaby District in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre. At the time of the 2011 census, Blaby had a population of 6,194, falling slightly from 6,240 in 2001. Given Blaby's pr ...

Hallaton Hallaton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 523, which had increased to 594 at the 2011 census. History and description The village's ...

, and Market Harborough. 1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough, Oadby, and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Blaby, Lutterworth, and Market Harborough. 1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Blaby, Lutterworth, and Market Harborough. 1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough, Oadby, and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Billesdon and Market Harborough. 1983–1997: The District of Harborough wards of

Billesdon Billesdon is a village and civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of 745 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 901 at the 2011 census. It is just off the A47 road, A47, ...

, Bosworth, Easton,

Fleckney Fleckney is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between Market Harborough and Leicester. The village appeared in the Domesday Boo ...

, Glen, Houghton,

Kibworth Kibworth is an area of the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes in England, civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibwor ...

, Langton,

Lubenham Lubenham is a village and civil parish west of Market Harborough, in the Harborough district, in the south of Leicestershire, England. The first National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup was held in Lubenham, in the grounds of what is now Thorpe Lub ...

, Market Harborough Bowden, Market Harborough North, Market Harborough South, Market Harborough West,

Scraptoft Scraptoft is a village in Leicestershire, England. It has a population of about 1,500, measured at the 2011 census as 1,804. It lies north of the A47 road east of Leicester, and runs directly into the built up area of Thurnby and Bushby to t ...

Thurnby Thurnby is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thurnby and Bushby, in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is just east of Leicester's city boundaries. Thurnby village proper is set to th ...

, and Tilton, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston. 1997–2010: The District of Harborough wards of Bosworth,

, Glen, Kibworth, Langton, Lubenham, Market Harborough Bowden, Market Harborough North, Market Harborough South, and Market Harborough West, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston wards of All Saints, Bassett, Brocks Hill, Brookside, Central, Fairfield, Grange, St Peter's, St Wolstan's, and Westfield. 2010–2024: The District of Harborough wards of Bosworth, Fleckney, Glen, Kibworth, Lubenham, Market Harborough Great Bowden and Arden, Market Harborough Little Bowden, Market Harborough Logan, and Market Harborough Welland, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston wards of Oadby Brocks Hill, Oadby Grange, Oadby St Peter's, Oadby Uplands, Oadby Woodlands, South Wigston, Wigston All Saints, Wigston Fields, Wigston Meadowcourt, and Wigston St Wolstan's.

Current (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Further to the

, which came into effect for the

, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020): * The District of Harborough wards of: Glen; Kibworths; Lubenham; Market Harborough – Great Bowden & Arden; Market Harborough – Little Bowden; Market Harborough – Logan; Market Harborough – Welland. * The Borough of Oadby and Wigston. ''Minor adjustments to take account of ward boundary changes.'' The constituency takes its name from the town of

, seat of the Harborough local government district, combined with the Borough of Oadby and Wigston which adjoins Leicester.

Constituency profile

Harborough is one of the wealthier constituencies in the East Midlands. It is a safe seat for the Conservatives, who have held the seat for 70 years.

History

The seat was created in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

and in boundary changes in 1974 reflecting the growth in population and electorate of

lost a large amount of its territory to the new seat of

Members of Parliament

South Leicestershire South Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alberto Costa, a member of the Conservative Party. The current constituency has similar boundaries to the previous Blaby constitue ...

before 1885''

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

originally selected Clive Langley, who was replaced by Mark Hunt in March 2015.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940, however this did not happen due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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: Ronald Tree *Labour: A E Bennett

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915, however this was not held due to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected: *Liberal:

Percy Harris Percy Harris is the name of: *Percy Harris (lawyer) (1925–2022), British barrister *Percy Harris (politician) (1876–1952), British politician See also

*Percy Harris Bowers, Anglican priest *Percy Harrison (disambiguation) *Percy Wyn-Harris ...

Standard, 23 February 1914 *Conservative: Unknown

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Harborough Conservative Association
* *
Kevin McKeever (Labour Parliamentary Candidate - 2010)
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 52.5, -1.0, dim:20000_region:GB, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885