Luton South and South Bedfordshire 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 ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

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

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Rachel Hopkins Rachel Louise Hopkins (born 30 March 1972) is a British Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, formerly Luton South, since 2019. Hopkins was a Member of Luton Borough Council ...

, a member of the Labour Party. Prior to 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 Luton South. The constituency was contested under new name for the first time in

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 ...

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the southern and eastern areas of Luton, inclusive of the town centre and

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...

. It also comprises the rural country house estate of

Luton Hoo Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more comm ...

, in addition to the late medieval

Someries Castle Someries Castle (sometimes spelt Summeries castle) is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, in the Parish of Hyde, near the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. History It was built in the 15th century by Sir John Wenlock, whose ghost is reputed t ...

, and the villages/hamlets, extending south to the border of Hertfordshire and the town of

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

. The areas of Luton it spans include Stopsley, Wigmore, Butterfield Green, Hart Hill, Wardown Park, Bury Park, Dallow, Farley Hill, New Town, and Stockwood Park. Outside of the actual Borough of Luton, it also encompasses the small village of

East Hyde East Hyde is a village in the civil parish of Hyde, in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. East Hyde lies on the border with Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) ...

on the Hertfordshire border, as well as

Slip End Slip End is a village and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. The village is very close to Luton. As well as the village of Slip End, the parish contains the hamlets of Lower Woodside, Woodside and Pepperstock. In 2021 it had a pop ...

and Caddington, which are near the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. Demographically, the constituency is mixed, with large

southern Asian The United Nations geoscheme is a system that divides 248 countries and territories in the world into six continental regions, 22 geographical subregions, and two intermediary regions. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division ...

communities in the Bury Park and Farley Hill areas. The largest community is

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the White population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population was 49 ...

, though

Africans The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Sahara ...

and

Afro-Caribbeans Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Africans (primarily from West and Central Africa) ...

, as well as newer immigrant arrivals from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, form substantial parts of the population. The town centre features

The Mall Luton Luton Point is a shopping centre in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It was formerly an Arndale Centre, until it was purchased by Capital & Regional in January 2006. It was temporarily called ''The Mall Arndale'', but was later referred to as ''T ...

(the town's main shopping centre), the

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The university has roots in further and higher education from 1882: it gained university status in 19 ...

Luton campus, and various amenities such as The Galaxy entertainment complex, and

Luton railway station Luton railway station (formerly Luton Midland Road) is located in the town centre of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The station is about three minutes' walk from The Mall (Luton), The Mall Shopping Centre. It is situated on the Midland Main Line ...

on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

. Luton Town FC, currently of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, is within the constituency, as would be their intended new home stadium at Power Court (to the immediate east of The Mall Luton). The railway station serving London Luton Airport, Luton Airport Parkway, is also within the constituency. A new rail link was constructed between this station and the airport, which opened on 10 March 2023.

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

still makes vehicles in this area, although the operations have reduced greatly since a large part of the facility closed in the early 2000s.

History

This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton East. The constituency and its predecessors the Luton East and

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

constituencies were long considered a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

(they had elected an MP from the winning party in each election since the 1951 general election).

Margaret Moran Margaret Mary Moran (born 24 April 1955) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Moran was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from the 1997 general election to 2010. In November 2012, jurors at Southwark Crown ...

, who was the Labour MP from 1997, stood down at the 2010 general election after falsifying claims for her expenses. Bellwether status ended in the 2010 general election, when the constituency elected a Labour MP while the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

s were the largest party in the House of Commons. As a result, its new MP

Gavin Shuker Gavin Shuker (born 10 October 1981) is a British former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from 2010 to 2019. Shuker was a Labour and Co-operative Party MP before defecting to form Change UK. He then left C ...

became one of just two Labour MPs elected in 2010 in the East of England, alongside

Kelvin Hopkins Kelvin Peter Hopkins (born 22 August 1941) is a British politician. He was first elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Luton North in 1997. Hopkins was suspended by the Labour Party in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct wer ...

, the MP for the

Luton North Luton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sarah Owen, of the Labour Party. Constituency profile Luton North was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton West. It c ...

seat. Shuker and Hopkins served as MPs for the two divisions of Luton at the two subsequent elections with increasing majorities, although the majority in South has not been larger than that of North since

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. In the 2019 general election, Shuker stood as an independent but was defeated by the Labour Party candidate,

– the daughter of Kelvin, who did not stand in Luton North after losing the Labour whip in 2017.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

* The

Borough of Luton Luton () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to ...

wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, Saints, South, and Stopsley; and * The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End. ''This was a new constituency incorporating the abolished constituency of Luton East. It also included the southernmost parts of the abolished constituency of Luton West and a small part from the south-east of the abolished constituency of

South Bedfordshire South Bedfordshire was a local government district in Bedfordshire, in the East of England, from 1974 to 2009. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a ...

.''

1997–2010

* The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, South, and Stopsley; and * The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End. ''The Saints ward was transferred to

.''

2010–2024

* The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Round Green, South, Stopsley, and Wigmore; and * The District of South Bedfordshire ward of Caddington, Hyde and Slip End. ''Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.'' NB: Following the conversion to

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigr ...

councils in Bedfordshire in 2009, the wards of the district of

formed the majority of the

Caddington Caddington is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The western border of the parish is Watling Street, to the west of which is Kensworth. The northern and eastern border are generally for ...

ward of the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

unitary authority, the former wards having been abolished with effect from May 2011.

Current (Luton South and South Bedfordshire)

Further to the

, which came into effect for the

, the composition of the renamed constituency was defined as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020): * The District of Central Bedfordshire wards of Caddington; Eaton Bray. * The Borough of Luton wards of: Biscot; Crawley; Dallow; Farley; High Town; Round Green; South; Wigmore. ''The Luton Borough ward of Stopsley was transferred to

, partly offset by the addition of

Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2021 United Kingdom ...

and the remainder of the Caddington ward from the abolished constituency of South West Bedfordshire (renamed

Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It was first contested at the 2024 general election. The current MP is Alex Mayer of the Labour Party. History The seat is a successor to South West B ...

).'' Following local government boundary reviews in Central Bedfordshire and Luton which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election: * The District of Central Bedfordshire wards of Caddington; Eaton Bray. * The Borough of Luton wards of: Biscot; Beech Hill (majority); Central; Dallow; Farley; High Town; Round Green; South; Stopsley (part); Vauxhall; Wigmore; and very small parts of Barnfield, Challney and Saints wards.

Members of Parliament

'' Luton East, Luton West and Bedfordshire South prior to 1983''

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Incumbent MP

(formerly Labour) unsuccessfully sought reelection as an Independent candidate. On 2 November 2019, the Liberal Democrats decided not to stand a candidate and endorsed Shuker.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes

References

External links

Luton South UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

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

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Authority control Politics of Luton Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983