Rutland and Melton was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

spanning

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 ...

and

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom 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 ...

from 1983 to 2024. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election. For its entire existence, the seat elected members of the Conservative Party.

History

The constituency was created in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

from the former seats of

Rutland and Stamford Rutland and Stamford is a county constituency comprising the area of Lincolnshire centred on the town of Stamford; the county of Rutland; and also parts of rural Leicestershire, making it a very unusual parliamentary constituency in that it spa ...

and Melton. Initially, it covered all of

and Melton borough and part of Charnwood. A boundary change implemented in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

saw the area of Charnwood replaced with part of

Harborough district Harborough () is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. It is named after its main town, Market Harborough, which is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Lutterworth and numerous villages and surroundi ...

up to the boundary of the city of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

(for example

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 ...

). The constituency was considered a safe Conservative seat throughout its existence, electing a Conservative with a significant margin even with the 1997 national swing towards the Labour Party. Sir Alan Duncan held the seat from 1992 to 2019, when he was replaced by

Alicia Kearns Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns (born 11 November 1987) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutland and Stamford, previously Rutland and Melton, since 2019 and Shadow Minister for Home Affa ...

. Further 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 seat was abolished for 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 ...

, with its contents distributed as follows: * The

Borough of Melton Melton is a local government district with borough status in north-eastern Leicestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Melton Mowbray. The borough also includes numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The north of the dis ...

to the newly created seat of Melton and Syston * The County of Rutland and the parts in

Harborough District Harborough () is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. It is named after its main town, Market Harborough, which is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Lutterworth and numerous villages and surroundi ...

, including

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 ...

, to the re-established seat of

Boundaries

1983–1997: The district of

, the

, and the

borough of Charnwood Charnwood is a local government district with borough status in the north of Leicestershire, England. It is named after Charnwood Forest, much of which lies within the borough. Towns in the borough include Loughborough (where the council is ...

wards of

East Goscote East Goscote is a modern village and civil parish in the Borough of Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England, just north of the market town of Syston. It is a medium-sized village, with a population measured at 2,866 in the 2011 census ...

Queniborough Queniborough is an English village in the county of Leicestershire 2.5 miles (4 km) north-east of the town of Syston and of 7.5 miles (12 km) north-east of the city of Leicester. Its 972 properties housed 1,878 registered electors in ...

, Six Hills,

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

, and

Thurmaston Thurmaston is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Leicestershire, England, located within the Borough of Charnwood. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, it had a population of 9,668. It is pronounced "Thurmsto ...

. 1997–2010: The county of Rutland, the Borough of Melton, and the District of Harborough wards of Billesdon, Easton, Houghton,

, and Tilton. 2010–2024: The county of Rutland, the Borough of Melton, and the District of Harborough wards of Billesdon, Nevill, Thurnby and Houghton, and Tilton.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes

References

External links

Rutland and Melton UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{coord, 52.7, -0.8, dim:50000_region:GB, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire (historic) Parliamentary constituencies in Rutland (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024 Melton Mowbray Oakham Uppingham Ketton