Reading West and Mid Berkshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyBerkshire
Electorate69,999 (2023)[1]
Current constituency
CreatedNext general election
Member of ParliamentNot yet contested
SeatsOne
Created fromNewbury, Reading West and Wokingham

Reading West and Mid Berkshire, initially called simply Mid Berkshire, is a proposed constituency[n 1] in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was formed as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and subsumes parts of the Newbury, Wokingham, and, soon to be former, Reading West constituencies. It will be first contested at the next general election.[2][3]

Some 30% of the constituency's voters live in the Borough of Reading, with the remainder living in the West Berkshire local government area.[1]

History

At the time of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, there were eight constituencies in the county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (Reading East, 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 therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county.[3][4]

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), both with the bulk of their electorate outside the Borough of Reading but including outer wards of the borough, together with a new Reading Central constituency entirely within the borough.[3]

During the process of acceptance of these proposals, the proposed constituency known as Mid Berkshire was renamed to West Reading and Mid Berkshire, despite the relative small proportion of the constituency that is within Reading. The new constituency includes three borough wards and twelve wards from West Berkshire, as opposed to seven and six respectively for the old Reading West constituency.[1][3]

In mid-October 2023, the Liberal Democrats selected Helen Belcher OBE as their prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat in the next general election. At the beginning of January 2024, Adrian Abbs, a councillor on West Berkshire Council who left the Liberal Democrats in 2023, announced his intention to run as an independent candidate. As of mid-December 2023, no other parties had announced their final selection, however in that month the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.[5][6][7]

Constituency profile

The proposed constituency has a mixed nature, including parts of the continuously built-up urban area of Reading (both within and without the boundaries of the borough) and an extensive rural area, which includes villages such as Aldermaston, Aldworth, Basildon, Bucklebury, Burghfield, Compton, East Ilsley, Hampstead Norreys, Mortimer, Pangbourne, Streatley, Theale, West Ilsley, Woolhampton and Yattendon. Some 30% of the constituency's voters live in the Borough of Reading, with the remainder living in the West Berkshire local government area.[1][8]

The wards that make up the constituency are represented by 26 councillors. As of November 2023, these comprise 11 Liberal Democrats, 8 Conservatives, 6 Labour and 1 Green.[1][9][10]

Boundaries and boundary changes

As proposed

As proposed, the constituency will comprise:

  • The Reading wards of Kentwood, Norcot, and Tilehurst; and
  • The West Berkshire wards of Aldermaston, Basildon, Bradfield, Bucklebury, Burghfield & Mortimer, Downlands (part), Pangbourne, Ridgeway, Theale, Tilehurst & Purley, Tilehurst Birch Copse, and Tilehurst South & Holybrook.[1]

The constituency will be bordered by the seats of Newbury, Didcot and Wantage, Henley, Reading Central, Earley and Woodley, Wokingham, North East Hampshire, and North West Hampshire.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "South East | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituency boundaries in the South East region". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Background to the 2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Creighton, Phil (10 October 2023). "Lib Dems select Helen to be their general election candidate in Reading West and Mid Berkshire seat". rdg.today. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Hinman, Niki (3 January 2024). "Abbs to run as an independent". rdg.today. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Belger, Tom (8 December 2023). "Labour selections: Full list of 211 'non-battleground' seats now open to applications". labourlist.org. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Your Councillors by Ward". West Berkshire Council. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Your Councillors by Ward". Reading Borough Council. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Revised Proposals for the South East Region" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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