Bedford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Mohammad Yasin of the Labour Party.
The seat dates back to the earliest century of regular parliaments, in 1295; its double representation was halved in 1885, then altered by the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was abolished in 1983 but re-established at the next periodic review for the 1997 general election.
Constituency profile The constituency is located in Bedfordshire and contains the large county town of Bedford and the contiguous town of Kempston.
Bedford is a historic market town and is linked by rail to London via the Thameslink service. Residents of the constituency have similar levels of wealth and education to the rest of the country. The constituency is ethnically diverse; 17% of residents are Asian, 7% are Black and there is also a large concentration of residents of Italian descent. At the most recent borough council election in 2023, the east of the town elected primarily Liberal Democrat councillors whilst Kempston and the west of Bedford elected Labour councillors. Voters in the constituency voted marginally in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, similar to the country as a whole.
History Up to the Great Reform Act 1832 Bedford was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295. The constituency was originally a parliamentary borough electing two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons, and consisted of the five parishes making up the town of Bedford.
Before the Reform Act 1832, the right to vote was exercised by all freemen and burgesses of the town (whether or not they lived within the borough boundaries) and by all householders who were not receiving alms. This was a fairly wide franchise for the period, but potentially subject to abuse since the Corporation of the borough had unlimited power to create freemen. The corporation was usually under the influence of the Dukes of Bedford, but their influence usually fell well short of making Bedford a pocket borough.
In 1768, a majority of the corporation apparently fell out with the Duke at the time, and decided to free the borough from his influence. They elected a Huntingdonshire squire, Sir Robert Bernard, as recorder of the borough, and made 500 new freemen, mostly Bernard's Huntingdonshire neighbours or tenants.Page 77, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1961) As there were only 540 householders, this gave him the effective power to choose Bedford's MPs; at the next election the defeated candidates petitioned against the result, attempting to establish that so many non-residents should not be allowed to vote, but the Commons dismissed the petition and confirmed the right of all the freemen, however created, to vote.
Bernard cemented his control with the creation of hundreds of further freemen in the next few years; at around the same period he lent the Corporation £950, and it is not unreasonable to assume this was payment for services rendered. However, in 1789, the young Duke of Bedford managed to regain the corporation's loyalty, and had 350 of his own retainers made freemen.
Even at other periods, the influence of the Dukes seems sometimes to have been more nominal than real. In the 1750s and 1760s, before Bernard's intervention, a frequent compromise was that the Duke nominated one MP and the corporation (representing the interests of the town) the other; but it seems that on occasion the Duke had to be flexible to retain the semblance of local deference towards him, and that his "nominee" had in reality been imposed upon him. Nor was the outcome invariably successfully predetermined: at the 1830 election the result swung on one individual's vote – the defeated candidate being Lord John Russell, who was not only one of the Whig leaders but The Duke of Bedford's son.
In 1831, the population of the borough was 6,959, and contained 1,491 houses. This was sufficient for Bedford to retain both its MPs under the Great Reform Act, with its boundaries unaltered. The reformed franchise introduced in 1832 gave the borough 1,572 inhabitants qualified to vote.
1832–1983 The town was growing, and Bedford retained its borough status until the 1918 general election, although under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, its representation was reduced to a single MP. On the eve of the First World War, its population was just under 40,000, of whom 6,500 people were eligible to vote.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the parliamentary borough was abolished; but the town gave its name to a new county constituency (formally The Bedford division of Bedfordshire). As well as the town of Bedford, it covered the northern end of the county and included Kempston and Eaton Socon together with surrounding rural areas.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, a boundary change which came into effect at the 1950 election reduced its size somewhat, and under the Third Review of Westminster Constituencies in 1983, the constituency was abolished.
1997 onwards
Under the Fourth Review, effective from the 1997 general election, Bedford was restored as a borough constituency, comprising the towns of Bedford and Kempston.
In the latest boundary changes under the Fifth Review, effective from the 2010 general election, there were marginal changes due to the revision of local authority wards.
The 2017 general election saw the Labour Party win the seat despite coming second in the election. This was significant as it was the first time the party had won the seat at an election where it had not won a comfortable national majority. This was repeated at the 2019 general election, where the seat was narrowly held by the Labour incumbent, despite the party suffering a heavy national defeat.
Boundaries and boundary changes
Historic
1832–1918 The Municipal Borough of Bedford.
1918–1950 The Municipal Borough of Bedford; the Urban District of Kempston; and the Rural Districts of Bedford and Eaton Socon. Expanded to include Kempston and rural areas in the north of Bedfordshire, transferred from the abolished constituency of Biggleswade.
1950–1983 The Municipal Borough of Bedford; the Urban District of Kempston; and part of the Rural District of Bedford.
Eastern and southern rural areas, including Eaton Socon, transferred to Mid Bedfordshire.
Seat abolished in 1983 and absorbed into the new constituency of North Bedfordshire, with the exception of Kempston, which was transferred to Mid Bedfordshire.
1997–2010
The Borough of Bedford wards of Brickhill, Castle, Cauldwell, De Parys, Goldington, Harpur, Kempston East, Kempston West, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Putnoe, and Queen's Park.
Re-established as a borough constituency, comprising the towns of Bedford from the now abolished seat of North Bedfordshire, and Kempston, regained from Mid Bedfordshire.
2010–2024 The Borough of Bedford wards of Brickhill, Castle, Cauldwell, De Parys, Goldington, Harpur, Kempston East, Kempston North, Kempston South, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Putnoe, Queens Park.
Marginal changes due to the revision of local authority wards.
Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency comprises the following, after taking into account the local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023:
The Borough of Bedford wards of: Brickhill (most); Castle & Newnham; Cauldwell (most); De Parys; Greyfriars; Goldington; Harpur (nearly all); Kempston Central and East; Kempston North; Kempston South; Kempston West (majority); Kingsbrook; Putnoe; Queens Park; Renhold & Ravensden (small part); Riverfield. Marginal changes due to further revisions to local authority wards.
Members of Parliament MPs 1295–1660 Constituency created (1295) Edward I – Edward II – Edward IV – Richard III – Henry VII – Henry VIII – Edward VI – Mary I – Elizabeth I – James I – Charles I – Protectorate – 1377-1427 – 1660-1885 – 1885-1983 – 1885-1983 – 1997-2017 – Elections
Parliaments of King Edward I No.SummonedElectedAssembledDissolvedFirst memberSecond member29th 30 September 1295+ 1295 27 November 1295 4 December 1295 John Cullebere Simon de Holand30th 26 August 1296 1296 3 November 1296 29 November 1296 unknown unknown33rd 6 October 1297 1297 15 September 1297 14 October 1297 unknown unknown34th 15 March 1298 March 1298 30 March 1298 ... unknown unknown35th 10 April 1298 1298 25 May 1298 ... Thomas Halyday Robert de Sywell 39th 29 December 1299 1299–00 6 March 1300 20 March 1300 John Wymond William Benne40th 26 September 1300 1300–01 20 January 1301 30 January 130142nd 14 July 1302 1302 14 October 1302 21 October 1302 Simon le Tanner Robert de Sywell43rd 12 November 1304 1304–05 28 February 1305 20 March 1305 John Halyday William Costyn45th 5 April 1306 1306 30 May 1306 30 May 1306 Simon de Wilshamstead Geoffrey le Blund46th 3 November 1306 1306–07 20 January 1307 19 March 1307 William Costyn John le Marescal
Parliaments of King Edward II No.SummonedElectedAssembledDissolvedFirst memberSecond member1st 26 August 1307 1307 13 October 1307 16 October 1307 William Bonum John atte Wal2nd 19 January 1308 1308 3 March 1308 ... unknown unknown5th 4 March 1309 1309 27 April 1309 13 May 1309 Gilbert de Holm John le Marescal 8th 16 June 1311 1311 8 August 1311 ... John Halyday Geoffrey Clogon (Glogon)... 1311 12 November 1311 18 December 1311 William Costyn (Costantyn)9th 3 June 1312 1312 20 August 1312 16 December 1312 Roger Cullebere10th 8 January 1313 1313 18 March 1313 9 May 1313 Thomas de Norfolk John atte Wal11th 23 May 1313 1313 8 July 1313 27 July 131312th 26 July 1313 1313 23 September 1313 15 November 131313th 29 July 1314 1314 9 September 1314 27/28 September 1314 William Costantyn14th 24 October 1314 1314–15 20 January 1315 9 March 1315 Geoffrey Glogon15th 16 October 1315 1315–16 27 January 1316 20 February 1316 no return16th 24–25 August 1318 1318 20 October 1318 9 December 1318 Henry Oliver Geoffrey de Blunham17th 20 March 1319 1319 6 May 1319 25 May 1319 Simon de Bydenham Ralph le Collere19th 5 August 1320 1320 6 October 1320 25/26 October 1320 Richard de Cave Thomas Halyday20th 15 May 1321 1321 15 July 1321 22 August 1321 John de Soham Richard le Ussher21st 14 March 1322 1322 2 May 1322 19 May 1322 Simon de Knightwyk William Costantyn22nd 18 September 1322 1322 14 November 1322 29 November 1322 Richard de Cave23rd 20 November 1323 1323–24 23 February 1324 18 March 1324 Thomas Halyday Roger atte Wal24th 6 May 1325 1325 25 June 1325 ... unknown unknown25th 10 October 1325 1325 18 November 1325 5 December 1325 unknown unknown26th 28 October 1326 1326–27 7 January 1327 20 January 1327 Hugh Balle Hugh Cok Back to Members of Parliament
Parliaments of King Edward III