Preston is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2000 by Sir Mark Hendrick, a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party.

Constituency profile

Preston is a constituency in Lancashire in North West England. It covers most of the city of Preston, including the city centre and the suburbs of Lea, Ashton-on-Ribble, Ingol, Ribbleton and Brookfield.

Preston was traditionally a rural market town until the 19th century when, like much of Lancashire, it rapidly developed into an industrial centre for textile manufacturing. The decline of industry in the late 20th century left Preston with high rates of unemployment and most of the city remains highly-deprived today. Most residents live in post-war blocks of flats or dense terraced housing, although the northern suburbs are more affluent with many semi-detached properties. House prices in Preston are generally lower than the rest of North West England and the average price is less than half the overall UK average.

Preston has a low proportion of retirees and a large young adult population; this constituency contains the University of Lancashire which has around 24,000 students. Residents have below-average levels of income and homeownership, and the child poverty rate is high. They have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the retail and defence sectors; aerospace manufacturer BAE Systems has two major facilities in nearby villages. The percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is high. White people made up 70% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, mostly of Indian origin, were the largest ethnic minority group at 22%. The Asian community was largely concentrated in the neighbourhoods immediately north and east of the city centre, where they made up around half the population.

At the local council level, the centre of Preston is mostly represented by Labour Party councillors and the outer suburbs by Liberal Democrats, although some Green Party and Reform UK representatives were elected at the most recent election. An estimated 55% of voters in Preston supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.

History 1295–1950 The seat was created for the Model Parliament and sent members until at least 1331 until a new (possibly confirmatory) grant of two members to Westminster followed. From 1529 extending unusually beyond the 19th century until the 1950 general election the seat had two-member representation. Party divisions tended to run stronger after 1931 before which two different parties' candidates frequently came first and second at elections under the bloc vote system.

In 1929, a recently elected Liberal, Sir William Jowitt decided to join the Labour Party and called for a by-election (which implies a single vacancy) to support this change of party, which he won, to take up for two years the position of Attorney General for England and Wales as part of the Government. He became the highest judge during the Attlee Ministry, the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and Speaker of the House of Lords under a then hereditary-dominated House leading to a Conservative majority. Consequently, he was selected to be elevated to a peerage as 1st Earl Jowitt. With no sons, he was to be the last Earl and wrote the Dictionary of English Law.

1950–1983 Preston was abolished as a constituency by the Representation of the People Act 1948, being replaced by the Preston North and Preston South constituencies for the 1950 general election.

1983–present Since the seat's revival after being split for 33 years into the larger North and South seats, all representatives have been members of the Labour Party.

The member from 1987 to 2000 was Audrey Wise, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and reformer of maternity healthcare in opposition on the Select Committee.

Boundaries

Historic

Two-member seat (1832–1950) 1832–1868: The old borough of Preston, and the township of Fishwick.

1868–1885: The existing parliamentary borough, excluding such part (if any) as lies on the south side of the River Ribble.

1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough, so much of the municipal borough of Preston as was not already included in the parliamentary borough, so much of the parish of Lea, Ashton, Ingol, and Cottam, and of the parish of Penwortham, as were added to the municipal borough of Preston on 1 June 1889 by the Ribble Navigation and Preston Dock Act 1883, and the local government district of Fulwood.

1918–1950: County borough of Preston and urban district of Fulwood:RotPA 1918 Archive.org

Single-member seat (1983 onwards) 1983–1997: The Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Brookfield, Central, Deepdale, Fishwick, Ingol, Larches, Moorbrook, Park, Ribbleton, St John's, St Matthew's, and Tulketh.

The boundaries of the re-established constituency corresponded to those of former County Borough, with Fulwood being included in the new seat of Ribble Valley.

1997–2010: The Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Brookfield, Central, Deepdale, Fishwick, Larches, Moor Park, Ribbleton, Riversway, St Matthew's, and Tulketh, and the Borough of South Ribble wards of Bamber Bridge Central, Bamber Bridge South, and Walton-le-Dale.

Ingol ward was transferred to Fylde. The Borough of South Ribble wards were transferred from the constituency of South Ribble.2010–2018: The City of Preston wards of Ashton, Brookfield, Deepdale, Fishwick, Ingol, Larches, Moor Park, Ribbleton, Riversway, St George's, St Matthew's, Town Centre, Tulketh, and University.

Movements in 1997 reversed.

The ward of Lea was within the constituency of Fylde. The wards of Preston Rural North, Preston Rural East and the Fulwood wards (Cadley, College, Garrison, Greyfriars and Sharoe Green) were within the constituency of Wyre and Preston North. By the end of the review, the newly recommended Preston constituency had the smallest number of voters of an English constituency based on 2006 electorates.

2018–2024: In full: Ashton, Brookfield, City Centre, Deepdale, Fishwick and Frenchwood, Plungington, Ribbleton, St Matthews. In part: Cadley (shared with Wyre and Preston North), Ingol and Cottam (shared with Fylde), Lea and Larches (shared with Fylde).

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England modified Preston City Council's ward boundaries and names in 2018, which altered the contents, but not the boundaries of the Parliamentary constituency of Preston. Due to the changes, some wards were shared with neighbouring seats.

Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the City of Preston (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

Ashton, Brookfield, Cadley, City Centre, Deepdale, Fishwick & Frenchwood, Garrison, Ingol & Cottam, Lea & Larches, Plungington, Ribbleton, and St Matthew's.

The constituency was expanded to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring in the part wards currently in the Fylde constituency, together with the remainder of the Cadley ward and the Garrison ward from Wyre and Preston North (abolished).

Members of Parliament MPs 1295–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1295 Willielmus fil' (filius) Pauli Adam Russel 1298 Adam fil' RadulfiAdam de Biri 1300/1 Willielmus fil' Paulini 1304/5 Robertus fil' Willelmi de PrestonHernricus fil' Willelmi del Tounhende 1306/7 Robertus fil' RogeriRicardus Banastre 1307 Henricus del KrykestyleRicardus Banastre 1326/7 Laurencius TraversWillelmus de Graistok 1327 (Nov) John Stakky Henry Banastre 1328/9 (Feb) Willielmus fil' PauliniNicholaus de Preston 1330 (Nov) William fitz Paul Henry de Haydock 1331 (Sep) Johannes fil' GalfridiWillielmus fil' Johannis 1331–1529 No returns 1529 Cristoferus HeydockJames Walton 1536–1545No returns 1545 Sir Ralph Sadler John Bourne 1547 George FrevilJohn Hales 1552/3 (Mar) Anthony BrowneThomas Fleetwood 1553 (Oct) William GerardAnthony Browne 1554 (Apr) Thomas Ruthall Willielmus Berners 1554 (Nov) Richard ShyrburneJohn Sylyard 1555 John ArundellJohn Herle 1557/8 Richard SherbourneRobert Southwell 1559 (Jan) Robert Aalford Francis Goldsmith, sat for Helston, repl, by Richard Cooke 1562/3 Gilbert Moreton James Hodgkinson 1571 Edward Baeshe Reginald Williams 1572 James Hodgkinson George Horsey 1584 (Nov) William Fleetwood Thomas Cromwell 1586 John Brograve Sir Thomas Hesketh 1588 (Oct) Sir Thomas Hesketh Michael Doughty 1593 James Dalton Thomas Bulbeck 1597 (Oct) John Brograve Sir John Stanhope 1601 (Oct) John Brograve William Waad 1604-1611 Sir Vincent Skinner William Holte 1614 Sir Edward Mosley Henry Banister 1621-1622 Sir Edward Mosley Sir William Pooley 1624 Sir Edward Mosley Sir William Pooley, sat for Sudbury, repl. by Sir William Hervey 1625 Sir William Hervey Henry Banister 1626 George Garrard Thomas Fanshawe 1628 Robert Carre George Garrard 1629-1640No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1950