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United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies
Constituencies after the 2023 Periodic Review
Category	Electoral district
Location	United Kingdom
Number	650 (as of 2023)
Government	House of Commons

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The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), each electing a single member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons by the plurality (first-past-the-post) voting system, ordinarily every five years. Voting last took place in all 650 of those constituencies at the United Kingdom general election on 4 July 2024.

The number of seats rose from 646 to 650 at the 2010 general election after proposals made by the boundary commissions for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) were adopted through statutory instruments. Constituencies in Scotland remained unchanged, as the Boundary Commission for Scotland had completed a review just before the 2005 general election, which had resulted in a reduction of 13 seats.

Primary legislation provides for the independence of the boundary commissions for each of the four parts of the UK, the number of seats for each of the countries, permissible factors to use in departing from any old boundaries, and a strong duty to consult. The Fifth Review was governed by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act of 1986. Under the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, as amended by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, the number of MPs is now fixed at 650. The Sainte-Laguë formula method is used to form groups of seats split between the four parts of the United Kingdom and the English regions (as defined by the NUTS 1 statistical regions of England).

Overview

The table below gives the number of eligible voters broken down by constituent country, including the average constituency size in each country.

As of 2023, every recommended constituency must have an electorate as at 2 March 2020 that is no smaller than 69,724 and no larger than 77,062. The exceptions to this rule are five 'protected' constituencies for island areas: Orkney and Shetland, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Ynys Mon, and two constituencies on the Isle of Wight. These consequently have smaller electorates than the lower limit for other constituencies.

Geographical size of constituencies

As the number of electors in each constituency is similar, the constituencies themselves vary considerably in area, ranging in 2019 from Ross, Skye and Lochaber, which occupies a sixth of Scotland, to the densely-populated London constituency of Islington North.

Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom

As of the 2024 election there are 543 constituencies in England, 32 in Wales, 57 in Scotland and 18 in Northern Ireland.

England

The "Region" of the table refers to the NUTS 1 statistical region of England, which coincides with the former European Parliament constituency in which the constituency was included until 31 January 2020.

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Recent boundary reviews

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commissions formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021 and published their final proposals on 28 June 2023.

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies (2024–present) by region for further details.

Summary of main boundary changes for the 2024 election

• Scotland – Lost 2 seats.
• Wales – Lost 8 seats
• Northern Ireland – No extra or fewer seats allocated.
• England – Gained 10 seats

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• Member of Parliament
• Number of Westminster MPs
• Lists of electoral districts by country and territory
• United Kingdom general elections overview

References

1. "The Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006". www.legislation.gov.uk.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) (Amendment) Order 2009". www.legislation.gov.uk.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008". www.legislation.gov.uk.
5. "A Guide to the 2013 Review" The Boundary Commission for England — retrieved 2012-12-19 Archived 29 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
6. "Electoral statistics, UK: 2017". ONS. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
7. Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis". Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
8. "Guide to the 2023 Review of Parliamentary constituencies | Boundary Commission for England | Page 3". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
9. "Guide to the 2023 Review of Parliamentary constituencies | Boundary Commission for England | Page 10". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
10. "Standard Area Measurements (2019) for Electoral Areas in the United Kingdom". Retrieved 22 July 2022.
11. • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – East Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – London". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
    • Mr Justice Lane; Byrne, Colin; Hamilton, Sarah (June 2023). "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Yorkshire and the Humber". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
12. Matthews, Hugh; Henderson, Ailsa; Walker, Susan (June 2023). "Table 5.1 – Final Recommendations for UK Parliament constituencies" (PDF). 2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituency Boundaries in Scotland. Edinburgh: Boundary Commission for Scotland. ISBN 978-1-5286-3892-0. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
13. Mrs Justice Jefford; Thomas, Huw Vaughan; Hartley, Sam A (June 2023). "Appendix 1: Recommended Constituencies" (PDF). The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales. Cardiff: Boundary Commission for Wales. pp. 250–251. ISBN 978-1-5286-3901-9. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
14. Humphreys, Michael; Havlin, Sarah; Patterson, Vilma (28 June 2023). "Appendix D: Composition of the Recommended Constituencies" (PDF). Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies. Belfast: Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. ISBN 978-1-5286-4069-5. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
15. "Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to lose seat in Commons boundary changes". BBC News. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.

Bibliography

• Boundary Commission for N.I. Fifth Periodical Report (HM Command Paper 73) – Parliamentary Constituencies of Northern Ireland. Retrieved 2013-07-19.

• Lists of constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Politics of the United Kingdom
• 2010 United Kingdom general election
• 2015 United Kingdom general election
• 2017 United Kingdom general election
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom