Reading Central 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 ...

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 ...

. Created as a result of 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 ...

, it was first contested at 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 ...

. Since 2024, it has been represented by Labour's Matt Rodda, who was MP for

Reading East Reading East was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. In the 2019–2024 Parliament, it was one of two Labour seats from a total of eight seats in Berkshire. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Re ...

from 2017 to 2024. The seat subsumes parts of the former Reading West and

constituencies but, unlike them, the whole of the new constituency will be within the Borough of Reading.

History

At the time of the

, there were eight

constituencies 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 ...

in the county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (

, 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 In the United Kingdom, the boundary commissions are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: one each f ...

therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county. 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 constituency entirely within the borough. During the process of acceptance of these proposals, the name was changed from ''Reading'' to ''Reading Central''.

Boundaries

Local government

The constituency is defined as being composed of the following wards of the Borough of Reading as they existed on 1 December 2020: *

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

, Caversham, Katesgrove,

Mapledurham Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in southern Oxfordshire, England. The parish borders Caversham, the most northerly district of Reading, Berkshire. Historic buildings in the area include t ...

, Minster,

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, Peppard, Redlands, Southcote, and

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. The Battle, Minster and Southcote wards were previously in Reading West, with the remainder, comprising 73% of the new seat, in

. As a result of a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2022, the constituency now comprises the following current Borough of Reading wards: *

(most), Caversham,

Caversham Heights Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham in the borough of Reading in Berkshire, England, located to the east of the centre of Caversham. Until 1911, Caversham was part of Oxfordshire, and it remains a part of the historic cou ...

, Coley, Emmer Green, Katesgrove, Norcot (small part), Redlands (most), Southcote, and

Parliamentary

The constituency is bordered by the seats of

Reading West and Mid Berkshire Reading West and Mid Berkshire is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was formed as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and primarily replaced the former Reading West constituency, als ...

, Henley and Thame, and Earley and Woodley.

Constituency profile

Electoral Calculus Electoral Calculus is a political consultancy and pollster, known for its political forecasting website that attempts to predict future United Kingdom general election results. It uses MRP (Multi-level Regression and Post-stratification) to c ...

characterises the seat as "Progressive", with soft left or liberal views and high levels of university education.Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Reading+Central Incomes and house prices in the seat are slightly higher than UK averages.

Members of Parliament

and Reading West prior to 2024''

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Notes

References

External links

Reading Central UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{coord, 51.46, -0.97, region:GB, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2024 Politics of Reading, Berkshire