Reading West and Mid Berkshire

Reading West and Mid Berkshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Map of constituency
Boundary of Reading West and Mid Berkshire in South East England
CountyBerkshire
Electorate69,999 (2023)[1]
Major settlementsReading (part), Purley-on-Thames, Theale, Mortimer, Pangbourne
Current constituency
Created2024
Member of ParliamentOlivia Bailey (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created from

Reading West and Mid Berkshire is a 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 primarily replaced the former Reading West constituency, also subsuming parts of the Newbury and Wokingham constituencies. It was first contested at the 2024 general election.[2][3] Since 2024 it has been represented by Olivia Bailey of the Labour Party.

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]

Constituency profile

High Street, Theale

Reading West and Mid Berkshire is a constituency in Berkshire in South East England. It covers the western suburbs of the town of Reading (Norcot, Tilehurst, Purley on Thames and Calcot) and parts of the rural West Berkshire district, including the villages of Theale, Burghfield, Stratfield Mortimer and Pangbourne.

Reading is one of the UK's largest towns without city status. It is sometimes considered part of the London commuter belt; the capital is located around 37 miles (60 km) to the east. Reading is a historic town and was traditionally a centre for brewing and manufacturing. Today the economy is geared towards the technology and insurance industries.[4] Most of the Reading suburbs within this constituency are affluent and were largely developed in the mid 20th century with mostly detached and semi-detached housing.[5][6] House prices across the constituency are generally higher than the regional and UK averages.[7]

The constituency's rural area forms part of the North Wessex Downs, a National Landscape of chalk hills. This area is also wealthy and contains many small villages.[5] AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, the Ministry of Defence body responsible for the research and manufacturing of the UK's nuclear weapons, has two major facilities in this constituency close to the villages of Burghfield and Stratfield Mortimer and is thus a significant local employer.

Reading West and Mid Berkshire has a below-average proportion of young adults.[8] Residents have high levels of income and homeownership and the child poverty rate is low.[7][9] They have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the manufacturing sector.[7][10] The percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is below-average.[9] White people made up 86% of the population at the 2021 census.[11]

At the local council level, the Reading suburbs closer to the town centre are represented by Labour Party councillors whilst the outer suburbs and rural villages elected Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. An estimated 51% of voters in Reading West and Mid Berkshire supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 48%.[7]

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][12]

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 name was changed from Mid Berkshire 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]

Boundaries

The constituency is composed of the following wards (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

The Reading wards, together with Pangbourne, Theale and the three Tilehurst wards in West Berkshire, comprising 67% of the electorate, were previously in the Reading West seat, with the remaining areas coming from Newbury and Wokingham in equal parts.[14]

The seat is bordered by the parliamentary constituencies of Newbury, Didcot and Wantage, Henley and Thame, Reading Central, Earley and Woodley, Wokingham, North East Hampshire, and North West Hampshire.[15]

Members of Parliament

Reading West prior to 2024

ElectionMemberParty
2024 Olivia Bailey Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Reading West and Mid Berkshire[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Olivia Bailey 16,273 35.0 +12.1
Conservative Ross Mackinnon 14,912 32.0 –24.8
Reform Kate Bosley 6,260 13.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Helen Belcher 5,103 10.9 –5.9
Green Carolyne Culver 3,169 6.8 +3.4
Independent Adrian Abbs 562 1.2 N/A
Independent Adie Peppiatt 272 0.6 N/A
Majority 1,361 3.0 N/A
Turnout 46,551 67.7 –2.9
Registered electors 68,786
Labour gain from Conservative Swing Increase18.5
2019 notional result[17]
Party Vote %
Conservative28,07856.8
Labour11,32022.9
Liberal Democrats8,35616.9
Green1,6903.4
Turnout 49,444 70.6
Electorate 69,999

See also

Notes

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "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. ↑ "Government & public sector". PwC. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Constituency data: Deprivation in England". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Accommodation type - Census Maps, ONS". ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Seat Details - Reading West and Mid Berkshire". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Constituency data: Population, by age". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Constituency dashboard". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Constituency data: businesses and industries". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "2021 census results: Ethnic groups in your constituency". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Background to the 2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
  14. ↑ "Boundary review 2023: Which seats will change in the UK?".
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "Reading West and Mid Berkshire results - Election 2024". BBC News. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "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.

51°27′N 1°08′W / 51.45°N 1.14°W / 51.45; -1.14

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