North Bedfordshire was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom 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 suprema ...

, elected by the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

voting system. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.

History

This safe

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

seat was held for its entire existence by

Trevor Skeet Sir Trevor Herbert Harry Skeet (28 January 1918 – 14 August 2004) was a New Zealand-born lawyer and a British Conservative Party politician. Early life Skeet was born in Auckland, New Zealand and was educated at King's College, Auckland and ...

who had been the MP for Bedford since 1970.

Boundaries

The Borough of North Bedfordshire wards of Brickhill, Bromham, Carlton, Castle, Cauldwell, Clapham, De Parys, Felmersham, Goldington, Harpur, Harrold, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Oakley, Putnoe, Queens Park, Renhold, Riseley, Roxton, and Sharnbrook. The territory the seat covered was virtually the same as the county constituency of Bedford which it replaced. This included the town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

itself. In 1997, the constituency was abolished, being dispersed on a roughly seven to three ratio between the new constituencies of Bedford and Bedfordshire North East, with 17 electors being transferred to

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

."Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", BBC/ITN/PA News/Sky, 1995, p. 191.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

Election in the 1990s

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedfordshire North Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Politics of the Borough of Bedford