Harborough () is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

covering the south east of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since 2017 by

Neil O'Brien Neil John O'Brien (born 6 November 1978) is a British politician who was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health in September 2022. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough in 2017. ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. It is considered a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for the

, as there has been a Conservative representative elected since 1924 (with a brief 5 year interlude from the Labour Party in 1945).

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leicester, the Sessional Divisions of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, ...

and

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Leicester and

East Norton East Norton is a small village and parish located in the east of Leicestershire, adjoining the A47 Leicester to Uppingham road. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 94 in 37 households. The population remained less than 100 at ...

. 1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough,

Oadby Oadby is a town in the borough of Oadby and Wigston in the county of Leicestershire, England. Oadby is a district centre south east of Leicester city centre on the A6 trunk road. Leicester Racecourse is situated on the border between Oadby ...

, and

Wigston Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the East ...

, and the Rural Districts of Blaby,

Hallaton Hallaton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 523, which had increased to 594 at the 2011 census. History and description The village' ...

, and Market Harborough. 1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough, Oadby, and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Blaby, Lutterworth, and Market Harborough. 1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Blaby, Lutterworth, and Market Harborough. 1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Market Harborough, Oadby, and Wigston, and the Rural Districts of Billesdon and Market Harborough. 1983–1997: The District of Harborough wards of

Billesdon Billesdon is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of 745 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 901 at the 2011 census. It is just off the A47, nine miles east of Leicester. ...

, Bosworth, Easton,

Fleckney Fleckney is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between Market Harborough and Leicester. The village appeared in the Domesday Book ...

, Glen, Houghton,

Kibworth Kibworth is an area of the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes in England, civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibwor ...

, Langton,

Lubenham Lubenham is a small rural village and civil parish west of the market town of Market Harborough, in the Harborough district, in the south of Leicestershire, England. The first National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup was held in Lubenham, in the grou ...

, Market Harborough Bowden, Market Harborough North, Market Harborough South, Market Harborough West,

Scraptoft Scraptoft is a village in Leicestershire, England. It has a population of about 1,500, measured at the 2011 census as 1,804. It lies north of the A47 road east of Leicester, and runs directly into the built up area of Thurnby and Bushby to ...

Thurnby Thurnby is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thurnby and Bushby, in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is just east of Leicester's city boundaries. Thurnby village proper is set to ...

, and Tilton, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston. 1997–2010: The District of Harborough wards of Bosworth,

, Glen, Kibworth, Langton, Lubenham, Market Harborough Bowden, Market Harborough North, Market Harborough South, and Market Harborough West, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston wards of All Saints, Bassett, Brocks Hill, Brookside, Central, Fairfield, Grange, St Peter's, St Wolstan's, and Westfield. 2010–present: The District of Harborough wards of Bosworth, Fleckney, Glen, Kibworth, Lubenham, Market Harborough Great Bowden and Arden, Market Harborough Little Bowden, Market Harborough Logan, and Market Harborough Welland, and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston wards of Oadby Brocks Hill, Oadby Grange, Oadby St Peter's, Oadby Uplands, Oadby Woodlands, South Wigston, Wigston All Saints, Wigston Fields, Wigston Meadowcourt, and Wigston St Wolstan's. The constituency takes its name from

, seat of the

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...

local government district. The constituency excludes parts of the Harborough district (including some eastern suburbs of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

which are in the Rutland & Melton constituency, but includes the smaller

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Oadby and Wigston that adjoins Leicester.

Constituency profile

Harborough is one of the wealthier constituencies in the East Midlands. It is a safe seat for the Conservatives, who have held the seat for 70 years.

History

The seat was created in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

and in boundary changes in 1974 reflecting the growth in population and electorate of

lost a large amount of its territory to the new seat of Blaby.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...

originally selected Clive Langley, who was replaced by Mark Hunt in March 2015.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940, however this did not happen due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected: *Conservative:

Ronald Tree Arthur Ronald Lambert Field Tree (26 September 1897 – 14 July 1976) was a British Conservative Party politician, journalist and investor who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Harborough constituency in Leicestershire from 1933 t ...

*Labour: A E Bennett

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915, however this was not held due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected: *Liberal:

Percy Harris Percy Harris is the name of: *Percy Harris (lawyer), British barrister *Percy Harris (politician), British politician See also

*Percy Harris Bowers, Anglican priest *Percy Harrison (disambiguation) {{human name disambiguation, Harris, Percy ...

Standard, 23 February 1914 *Conservative: Unknown

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Harborough Conservative Association
*
Edward Garnier QC MP

Kevin McKeever (Labour Parliamentary Candidate - 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harborough (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885