| North Bedfordshire | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Year2: | 1983 |
| Abolished2: | 1997 |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Region: | England |
| Electorate: | 76,319 (2023)[1] |
| Party: | Conservative |
North Bedfordshire is a county constituency in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.
The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election.[2]
This safe Conservative seat was originally held for its entire existence by Trevor Skeet who had been the MP for Bedford since 1970.
The Borough of North Bedfordshire wards of Brickhill, Bromham, Carlton, Castle, Cauldwell, Clapham, De Parys, Felmersham, Goldington, Harpur, Harrold, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Oakley, Putnoe, Queens Park, Renhold, Riseley, Roxton, and Sharnbrook.[3]
The territory the seat covered was virtually the same as Bedford which it replaced. This included the town of Bedford itself, but not the adjoining community of Kempston. In 1997, the constituency was abolished, being dispersed on a roughly seven to three ratio between a re-established Bedford and the new constituency of Bedfordshire North East, with 17 electors being transferred to Huntingdon.[4]
The re-established constituency was defined as comprising the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Subject to minor changes due to the revision of local authority ward boundaries, the constituency is the successor to North East Bedfordshire - except south eastern areas, including the communities of Arlesey, Langford and Stotfold, which were included in the re-established, cross-county boundary, constituency of Hitchin.
Following further local government boundary reviews in Bedford[6] [7] and Central Bedfordshire[8] [9] which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:
Bedford prior to 1983
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | |||
| 1997 | constituency abolished | ||
Bedfordshire North East prior to 2024
| 2019 notional result[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 34,360 | 61.1 | ||
| 10,729 | 19.1 | ||
| 7,403 | 13.2 | ||
| Others | 2,023 | 3.6 | |
| 1,585 | 2.8 | ||
| 102 | 0.2 | ||
| Turnout | 56,202 | 73.6 | |
| Electorate | 76,319 | ||