North Warwickshire and Bedworth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Before the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was known as North Warwickshire. Its new name took effect with the 2024 general election, its boundaries being unchanged.
Constituency profile North Warwickshire and Bedworth is a constituency in Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England. It is named after its largest town, Bedworth, which has a population of around 32,000. Other settlements include the towns of Atherstone and Coleshill and the villages of Polesworth, Kingsbury, and Water Orton.
This constituency covers towns, villages and rural areas lying close to the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. Bedworth has an industrial history as a coal mining and textile manufacturing town. Polesworth and Kingsbury also grew through the coal mining industry, whilst Atherstone and Coleshill are historic market towns. There is some deprivation in Bedworth and Atherstone whilst the west of the constituency around Coleshill and Kingsbury is more affluent, giving the constituency an overall average level of wealth. House prices across the constituency are generally similar to the rest of the West Midlands but below the UK average.
North Warwickshire and Bedworth has an above-average proportion of retirees and older working-age adults and a below-average proportion of young adults. Residents have high rates of homeownership and average levels of household income and child poverty. In general, residents have low levels of education and a high proportion work in the transport, retail and manufacturing sectors. The percentage claiming unemployment benefits is below average. White people made up 92% of the population at the 2021 census.
At the local district council level, the rural areas are mostly represented by Conservatives and the towns and larger villages mostly by Labour Party councillors. Bedworth is the exception; its district held local elections in 2026, more recently than the rest of the constituency, and the town elected Reform UK representatives. At the county council, which held elections in 2025, all seats in the constituency were won by Reform UK. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 67% voted in favour of Brexit compared to the UK-wide figure of 52%, making North Warwickshire and Bedworth one of the top 40 most Brexit-voting constituencies out of 650 according to Electoral Calculus.
Boundaries 1832–1885: The Hundred of Hemlingford, the County of the City of Coventry, and the Rugby and Kirby Divisions of the Hundred of Knightlow.
1983–2010: The Borough of North Warwickshire, and the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth wards of Exhall, Heath, Mount Pleasant, and Poplar.
2010–present:
The Borough of North Warwickshire wards of: Atherstone Central; Atherstone North; Atherstone South and Mancetter; Baddesley and Grendon; Coleshill North; Coleshill South; Curdworth; Dordon; Fillongley; Hurley and Wood End; Kingsbury; Newton Regis and Warton; Polesworth East; Polesworth West; Water Orton; and The Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth wards of: Bede; Exhall; Heath; Poplar; and Slough.
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged but changed the name to include Bedworth.
The constituency since 2010 has all but two wards of North Warwickshire.
History
1832–1885 The North Warwickshire constituency was created for the 1832 general election, when the Great Reform Act divided the former Warwickshire constituency into two new divisions: North Warwickshire and South Warwickshire.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, North Warwickshire was abolished for the 1885 general election, when Warwickshire was divided into four new single-member constituencies: Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon, Nuneaton and Tamworth.
1983–present The second iteration of the North Warwickshire county constituency was created for the 1983 general election, replacing outlying parts of the Meriden and Nuneaton constituencies. The seat was won by Francis Maude of the Conservative Party at the 1983 general election, who held it until 1992, when it was taken by Mike O'Brien of Labour. Labour held the seat comfortably until 2010.
On 8 March 2007, former Army Officer and polar explorer Dan Byles was selected at an open primary to contest North Warwickshire for the Conservative Party. At the 2010 general election, Byles won the seat from Mike O'Brien by just 54 votes, making him the Conservative Member of Parliament with the smallest majority in the country. However, a strong Conservative performance during the latter part of the decade saw the seat become safer for the Conservatives – the result in 2019 being akin to a safe Conservative seat. This trend was reversed when the newly named seat was won by Labour's Rachel Taylor at the 2024 general election.
Members of Parliament MPs 1832–1885 ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party 1832 William Stratford Dugdale Tory Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Bt Tory 1834 Conservative Conservative 1843 by-election Charles Newdegate Conservative 1847 Richard Spooner Conservative 1864 by-election William Bromley-Davenport Conservative 1884 by-election Philip Muntz Conservative 1885Constituency abolished: see Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon and Tamworth
MPs 1983–2024 Meriden and Nuneaton prior to 1983
ElectionMemberParty 1983 Francis Maude 1992 Mike O'Brien 2010 Dan Byles 2015 Craig Tracey 2024Rachel Taylor
Elections Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Election results 1832–1885 Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Caused by Eardley-Wilmot's resignation after being appointed Governor of Tasmania
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Caused by Spooner's death.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Caused by Bromley-Davenport's death.
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)
Notes
References
External links North Warwickshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK North Warwickshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK North Warwickshire and Bedworth UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK