United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.

Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies and one that was abolished:

Electoral areas called constituencies are also used in elections to the European Parliament. (See European Parliament constituencies.)

In local government elections, electoral areas are called wards or electoral divisions.

Contents

County constituencies and borough constituencies

House of Commons, Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly constituencies are designated as either county or borough constituencies, except that in Scotland the term burgh is used instead of borough. Borough constituencies are predominantly urban. They are the successors of the historic parliamentary boroughs and parliamentary burghs. (Each of the Scottish burghs, except for one, was a component in a district of burghs constituency. The exception was the burgh of Edinburgh, which was also, in its own right, the Edinburgh constituency.) County constituencies are the successors to the historic parliamentary divisions of counties. Many are predominantly rural in nature, but others are mostly urban with a rural component.[1] Sometimes a town can be covered by more than one constituency, with one a borough and another a county. Reading and Milton Keynes are both examples of this. The spending limits for election campaigns are different in the two, the reasoning being that candidates in county constituencies tend to need to travel further.

Elected body Constituency type
borough/burgh county
House of Commons[2][3] £7,150 + 5p per elector £7,150 + 7p per elector
Northern Ireland Assembly £5,483 + 4.6p per elector £5,483 + 6.2p per elector
Scottish Parliament
Welsh Assembly 		£5,761 + 4.8p per elector £5,761 + 6.5p per elector

For by-elections to any of these bodies, the limit in all constituencies is £100,000.[4][5]

House of Commons constituencies

In the 2005 United Kingdom general election, the House of Commons had 646 constituencies covering the whole of the United Kingdom. This rose to 650 in the 2010 election. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the "first past the post" system of election.

The House of Commons is one of the two legislative bodies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the other being the House of Lords.

See also

London Assembly constituencies

There are fourteen London Assembly constituencies covering the Greater London area, and each constituency elects one member of the assembly by the first past the post system of election. Also, eleven additional members are elected from Greater London as a whole to produce a form or degree of mixed member proportional representation.

Constituency names and boundaries remain now as they were for the first general election of the assembly, in 2000.

The assembly is part of the Greater London Authority and general elections of the assembly are held at the same time as election of the Mayor of London.

Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies

There are 18 Northern Ireland Assembly Constituencies: 4 borough (for Belfast) and 14 county constituencies elsewhere (see below).

Each elects 6 MLAs to the 108 member NI Assembly by means of the Single Transferrable Vote system. Assembly Constituency boundaries are usually linked to their House of Commons equivalents (which also are 18 in number, although they only elect 1 MP to serve).

The constituencies below are not used for the election of members to the 26 district councils.

Name Current boundaries Name
  1. Belfast East BC
  2. Belfast North BC
  3. Belfast South BC
  4. Belfast West BC
  5. East Antrim CC
  6. East Londonderry CC
  7. Fermanagh & South Tyrone CC
  8. Foyle CC
  9. Lagan Valley CC
  1. Mid Ulster CC
  2. Newry & Armagh CC
  3. North Antrim CC
  4. North Down CC
  5. South Antrim CC
  6. South Down CC
  7. Strangford CC
  8. Upper Bann CC
  9. West Tyrone CC

Scottish Parliament constituencies

Scottish Parliament constituencies are sometimes called Holyrood constituencies, to distinguish them from Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. The Scottish Parliament Building is in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, while the main meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Palace of Westminster, in the City of Westminster.

There are 73 Holyrood constituencies covering Scotland, and each elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system of election. Also, the constituencies are grouped into eight electoral regions, and each of these regions elects seven additional members, to produce a form or degree of mixed member proportional representation.

The existing constituencies were created, effectively, for the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, in 1999. When created, all but two had the names and boundaries of Westminster constituencies. The two exceptions were the Orkney Holyrood constituency, covering the Orkney Islands council area, and the Shetland Holyrood constituency, covering the Shetland Islands council area. For Westminster elections, these council areas were covered (and still are covered) by the Orkney and Shetland Westminster constituency.

In 1999, under the Scotland Act 1998,[6] the expectation was that there would be a permanent link between the boundaries of Holyrood constituencies and those of Westminster constituencies. This link was broken, however, by the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004,[7] which enabled the creation of a new set of Westminster constituencies without change to Holyrood constituencies. The new Westminster boundaries became effective for the United Kingdom general election, 2005.

Welsh Assembly constituencies

There are 40 Welsh Assembly constituencies covering Wales, and each elects one Assembly Member (AM) by the first past the post system of election. Also, the constituencies are grouped into five electoral regions, and each of these regions elects four additional members, to produce a form or degree of mixed member proportional representation.

The current set of Assembly constituencies is the second to be created. The first was created for the first general election of the Assembly, in 1999.

European Parliament constituencies

There are twelve European Parliament constituencies covering the United Kingdom. All except one are entirely within the UK. The exception is the South West England constituency, which includes Gibraltar.[8] Each constituency elects a number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

The current set of UK European Parliament constituencies was first used in the 1999 European Parliament election.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Boundary Commission for England - General Information "The Commission consider that, as a general principle, where constituencies contain more than a small rural element they should normally be designated as county constituencies. Otherwise they should be designated as borough constituencies."
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 269 (section 3) The Representation of the People (Variation of Limits of Candidates' Election Expenses) Order 2005 (Coming into force 2005-03-04)
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Scotland Act 1998, Office of Public Sector Information website
  7. ↑ Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004, Office of Public Sector Information website
  8. ↑ Gibraltar should join South West for elections to European Parliament, Electoral Commission new release, 28 Aug 2003