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Luton South and South Bedfordshire
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Luton South and South Bedfordshire in the East of England
Local government in England	Bedfordshire
Electorate	70,197 (2023)
Major settlements	Luton (part)
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Rachel Hopkins (Labour Party (UK))
Seats	One
Created from	Luton East, Luton West and Bedfordshire South

Luton South and South Bedfordshire is a constituency in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party.

Prior to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was known as Luton South. The constituency was contested under new name for the first time in 2024 general election.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the southern and eastern areas of Luton, inclusive of the town centre and Luton Airport. It also comprises the rural country house estate of Luton Hoo, in addition to the late medieval Someries Castle, and the villages/hamlets, extending south to the border of Hertfordshire and the town of Harpenden. The areas of Luton it spans include Stopsley, Wigmore, Butterfield Green, Hart Hill, Wardown Park, Bury Park, Dallow, Farley Hill, New Town, and Stockwood Park.

Outside of the actual Borough of Luton, it also encompasses the small village of East Hyde on the Hertfordshire border, as well as Slip End and Caddington, which are near the M1 motorway.

Demographically, the constituency is mixed, with large southern Asian communities in the Bury Park and Farley Hill areas. The largest community is White British, though Africans and Afro-Caribbeans, as well as newer immigrant arrivals from Eastern Europe, form substantial parts of the population.

The town centre features The Mall Luton (the town's main shopping centre), the University of Bedfordshire Luton campus, and various amenities such as The Galaxy entertainment complex, and Luton railway station on the Midland Main Line. Luton Town FC, currently of the Premier League, is within the constituency, as would be their intended new home stadium at Power Court (to the immediate east of The Mall Luton). The railway station serving London Luton Airport, Luton Airport Parkway, is also within the constituency. A new rail link was constructed between this station and the airport, which opened on 10 March 2023.

Vauxhall still makes vehicles in this area, although the operations have reduced greatly since a large part of the facility closed in the early 2000s.

History

This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton East.

The constituency and its predecessors the Luton East and Luton constituencies were long considered a bellwether (they had elected an MP from the winning party in each election since the 1951 general election). Margaret Moran, who was the Labour MP from 1997, stood down at the 2010 general election after falsifying claims for her expenses.

Bellwether status ended in the 2010 general election, when the constituency elected a Labour MP while the Conservatives were the largest party in the House of Commons. As a result, its new MP Gavin Shuker became one of just two Labour MPs elected in 2010 in the East of England, alongside Kelvin Hopkins, the MP for the Luton North seat. Shuker and Hopkins served as MPs for the two divisions of Luton at the two subsequent elections with increasing majorities, although the majority in South has not been larger than that of North since 2001.

In the 2019 general election, Shuker stood as an independent but was defeated by the Labour Party candidate, Rachel Hopkins – the daughter of Kelvin, who did not stand in Luton North after losing the Labour whip in 2017.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

• The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, Saints, South, and Stopsley; and
• The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End.

This was a new constituency incorporating the abolished constituency of Luton East. It also included the southernmost parts of the abolished constituency of Luton West and a small part from the south-east of the abolished constituency of South Bedfordshire.

1997–2010

• The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, South, and Stopsley; and
• The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End.

The Saints ward was transferred to Luton North.

2010–2024

• The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Round Green, South, Stopsley, and Wigmore; and
• The District of South Bedfordshire ward of Caddington, Hyde and Slip End.

Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

NB: Following the conversion to unitary councils in Bedfordshire in 2009, the wards of the district of South Bedfordshire formed the majority of the Caddington ward of the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority, the former wards having been abolished with effect from May 2011.

Current (Luton South and South Bedfordshire)

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the renamed constituency was defined as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The District of Central Bedfordshire wards of Caddington; Eaton Bray.
• The Borough of Luton wards of: Biscot; Crawley; Dallow; Farley; High Town; Round Green; South; Wigmore.

The Luton Borough ward of Stopsley was transferred to Luton North, partly offset by the addition of Eaton Bray and the remainder of the Caddington ward from the abolished constituency of South West Bedfordshire (renamed Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard).

Following local government boundary reviews in Central Bedfordshire and Luton which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

• The District of Central Bedfordshire wards of Caddington; Eaton Bray.
• The Borough of Luton wards of: Biscot; Beech Hill (majority); Central; Dallow; Farley; High Town; Round Green; South; Stopsley (part); Vauxhall; Wigmore; and very small parts of Barnfield, Challney and Saints wards.

Members of Parliament

Luton East, Luton West and Bedfordshire South prior to 1983

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Luton South and South Bedfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Hopkins	13,593	35.4	–13.3
	Conservative	Mark Versallion	6,735	17.5	–17.7
	Independent	Attiq Malik	5,384	14.0	N/A
	Reform UK	Norman Maclean	4,759	12.4	+9.1
	Workers Party	Yasin Rehman	3,110	8.1	N/A
	Green	Edward Carpenter	2,401	6.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Dominic Griffiths	2,400	6.3	+5.8
Majority			6,858	17.9	–2.9
Turnout			38,382	49.9	–14.3
Registered electors			76,970
	Labour hold		Swing	2.2

Elections in the 2010s

Incumbent MP Gavin Shuker (formerly Labour) unsuccessfully sought reelection as an Independent candidate. On 2 November 2019, the Liberal Democrats decided not to stand a candidate and endorsed Shuker.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)
• Politics in Luton

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
2. "'Luton South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
3. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Eastern | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
4. Williams, Rob (14 December 2012). "Former Labour MP Margaret Moran escapes jail and criminal conviction despite fiddling £53,000 of expenses from taxpayer". The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
9. LGBCE. "Central Bedfordshire | LGBCE". lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
10. "The Central Bedfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2021".
11. LGBCE. "Luton | LGBCE". lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
12. "The Luton (Electoral Changes) Order 2022".
13. "New Seat Details – Luton South and South Bedfordshire". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
14. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)
15. "Labour candidate search for Luton South and South Bedfordshire". Retrieved 5 June 2024.
16. Mark Versallion (30 May 2024). "Honoured to have been selected as Conservative parliamentary candidate for Luton South & South Bedfordshire…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
17. "Luton Independent". Retrieved 2 June 2024.
18. "Find My PPC (Eastern England)" (PDF). Reform UK. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
19. "General election 2024". Retrieved 2 June 2024.
20. "Our Candidates". Retrieved 2 June 2024.
21. "General election 2024". Retrieved 2 June 2024.
22. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
23. Peers, Steve (2 November 2019). "LibDems also standing down in Luton South, where Gavin Shuker is running as an independent. They were 3rd, with 2.3% of the vote, in 2017.…".
24. "Statement of persons nominated and notice of poll" (PDF). Luton Borough Council. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
25. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
27. Statement of Persons Nominated Archived 4 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Luton Borough Council
28. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. Vote 2001: Luton South, BBC News
31. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
32. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
33. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
34. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
35. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Luton South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Luton South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Luton South and South Bedfordshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

v t e Luton
Demography Economy History Listed buildings
Places	LU postcode area Luton/Dunstable urban area Dunstable Houghton Regis Wards Barnfield Biscot Bramingham Challney Crawley Farley Dallow High Town Icknield Leagrave Lewsey Limbury Northwell Round Green Saints South Stopsley Sundon Park Wigmore Areas Bushmead Bury Park Butterfield Green Chapel Langley Hart Hill Hockwell Ring Lewsey Farm Lewsey Park Maidenhall Marsh Farm Napier Park New Town Park Town Putteridge Ramridge End Runfold Skimpot Tin Town Tophill Vauxhall Park Warden Hill
Amenities	Churches Fire and Rescue Luton and Dunstable Hospital The Mall Luton Stockwood Park Wardown Park
Culture & sport	Exodus Collective The Hat Factory Luton Carnival Luton Hoo Luton Town F.C. History Kenilworth Road Power Court Rugby Club Stockwood Discovery Centre Wardown Park Museum
Education	Secondary Cardinal Newman Chalk Hills Academy Challney Boys Challney Girls Denbigh Icknield Lea Manor Lealands Putteridge Queen Elizabeth Rabia School Stockwood Park Academy Stopsley Woodlands Tertiary Barnfield College Central Bedfordshire College Luton Sixth Form College University of Bedfordshire
Politics	Council elections Luton Borough Council Luton North Luton South Luton Town Hall
Transport	Leagrave railway station Luton Airport Luton Airport Parkway Luton DART Luton railway station Luton to Dunstable Busway
Media	BBC 3 Counties Radio Heart East Radio LaB
Category Commons

• Politics of Luton
• Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983