| Luton North | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Previous: | Luton West, Mid Bedfordshire, South Bedfordshire and Luton East[1] |
| Electorate: | 73,266 (2023)[2] |
| Towns: | Luton |
Luton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sarah Owen, of the Labour Party.
Luton North was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton West. It consists of the northern portion of the town of Luton, excluding Stopsley.
One constituency other than Luton North includes Luton; Luton South. Both cover a similar housing profile[3] and economic ambit that have seen house prices increase above the national average since 1997, two periods of relatively high numbers of the unemployed and lowest wage earners (the 1990s and 2008–2011 global recession).[4] The former covers roughly the LU3 and 4 postcode districts and excludes the town centre of what one broadsheet characterised as a tough town[5] whereas other commentators state that Luton has a resilient economy which "revolves around the airport as well as the retail sector."[6]
At creation, Luton North included eight wards from the neighbouring districts of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire; these made it a much safer seat for the Conservatives than Luton South, which included only one ward from outside the Borough of Luton. Boundary changes in 1997 reduced the Conservative majority from 13,094 to 7,357, and it was 81st on Labour's list of target seats; Labour duly gained it on a 17.1% swing, and since then the party has held the seat with comfortable majorities.
From 2005 to 2015, Luton North was Labour's safest seat in the East of England by both vote and vote share majority; in 2017 it was overtaken in the former count by Norwich South, but the percentage margin in Luton North (30.8% compared to 30.4% in Norwich South) is slightly higher.
Created as a county constituency formally named North Luton, incorporating the bulk of the abolished borough constituency of Luton West. Extended northwards to include part of the abolished constituency of South Bedfordshire as well as Flitwick, transferred from Mid Bedfordshire.
Redesignated as the borough constituency of Luton North. The parts of the Districts of Mid Bedfordshire (including Flitwick) and South Bedfordshire transferred to Mid Bedfordshire. Gained the Saints ward of the Borough of Luton from Luton South.
Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was expanded with the transfer of the Luton Borough ward of Stopsley (as it existed on 1 December 2020) from Luton South.[10]
Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,[11] [12] the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Borough of Luton from the 2024 general election:
Luton West, Luton East, Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire prior to 1983
| Election | Member | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Conservative | ||||
| 1997 | Labour | ||||
| 2017 | Independent | ||||
| 2019 | Labour | ||||
| 2019 notional result[14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 24,015 | 53.9 | ||
| 15,275 | 34.3 | ||
| 2,063 | 4.6 | ||
| 1,319 | 3.0 | ||
| Others | 1,086 | 2.4 | |
| 832 | 1.9 | ||
| Turnout | 44,590 | 60.9 | |
| Electorate | 73,266 | ||