Rutland and Stamford is a county constituency comprising the area of Lincolnshire centred on the town of Stamford; the entire county of Rutland; and also parts of rural Leicestershire, making it a very unusual parliamentary constituency in that it spans three counties. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, using the first-past-the-post voting system. It was recreated for the 2024 general election, since when it has been represented by Alicia Kearns of the Conservative Party. Kearns was previously the MP for the predecessor seat of Rutland and Melton.

Constituency profile

Rutland and Stamford is a constituency in the East Midlands of England, covering the small county of Rutland and parts of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Its largest town is Stamford, which has a population of around 21,000. Other settlements include the towns of Oakham and Uppingham and the villages of Thurlby, Thurnby and Bushby.

This is a large, rural, sparsely-populated constituency characterised by low, rolling hills and many small villages and hamlets. Stamford is a historic market town known for its well-preserved Jacobean and Georgian-era town centre. Oakham and Uppingham are also historic rural towns and, like Stamford, are popular with tourists. The constituency is generally affluent with low levels of deprivation; Stamford and Uppingham have both been described as some of the best places to live in the country.The Times. Retrieved 21 June 2022. House prices across the constituency are generally higher than the UK average and considerably higher than the rest of the East Midlands.

Rutland and Stamford has a high proportion of retirees and a low young adult population. Residents have high levels of income and homeownership and the child poverty rate is low. They are generally well-educated and a high proportion work in the agriculture and tourism sectors. The percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is around half the UK-wide rate. White people made up 93% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, mostly of Indian origin, were 4% of the population, but they made up around a quarter of residents in Thurnby, Bushby and Scraptoft which lie on the edge of Leicester.

At the local council level, the constituency is represented by a mixture of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives; Liberal Democrats were mostly elected in the towns and large villages whilst Conservatives were elected in the rural areas. An estimated 53% of voters in Rutland and Stamford supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, similar to the UK-wide figure of 52%.

History The constituency was originally created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election. It was succeeded by the Rutland & Melton and Stamford & Spalding constituencies.

Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election.

Boundaries

Historic 1918–1950: The administrative county of Rutland, the Municipal Borough of Stamford, the Urban District of Bourne, the Rural Districts of Bourne and Uffington, and part of the Rural District of Grantham.

1950–1983: The administrative county of Rutland, the Municipal Borough of Stamford, the Urban District of Bourne, the Rural District of South Kesteven, and parts of the Rural Districts of East Kesteven and West Kesteven.

Current The re-established constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

The District of Harborough wards of: Billesdon & Tilton; Nevill; Thurnby & Houghton. The County of Rutland. The District of South Kesteven wards of: Casewick; Castle; Dole Wood; Glen; Isaac Newton; Stamford All Saints; Stamford St. George's; Stamford St. John's; Stamford St. Mary's.

It includes the following areas: The County of Rutland and the parts of Harborough District, including Thurnby, from the abolished constituency of Rutland and Melton; The town of Stamford and surrounding areas from the abolished constituency of Grantham and Stamford.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1983 Rutland and Stamford prior to 1918

ElectionMemberParty 1918 Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby Conservative 1922 Charles Harvey Dixon Conservative 1923 by-election Neville Smith-Carington Conservative 1933 by-election Lord Willoughby de Eresby Conservative 1950 Sir Roger Conant Conservative 1959 Kenneth Lewis Conservative1983 Constituency abolished. See Rutland & Melton and Stamford & Spalding

In 1983 Rutland became part of the Rutland and Melton constituency, as did Melton borough and part of Harborough District in Leicestershire.

MPs since 2024 Rutland & Melton and Grantham & Stamford prior to 2024

ElectionMemberParty 2024 Alicia Kearns Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Reform UK removed Ginny Ball as its candidate in March 2024 after "exposure of a range of racist comments on her social media feed".

Elections 1918–1983

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1939–40 Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby Labour: Arnold William GrayReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

See also Parliamentary constituencies in the East Midlands Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)

References

External links Rutland and Stamford UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK