Reading East (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading East is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party.[n 2] The seat is one of two won (held or gained) by a Labour candidate in 2017 from a total of eight covering its county. Rodda's 2017 win was one of 30 net gains of the Labour Party.

Reading East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Reading East in Berkshire
Location of Berkshire within England
County	Berkshire
Electorate	72,647 (2018)[1]
Major settlements	Reading
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Matt Rodda (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Reading North, Reading South and Henley[2]

The seat has been relative to others a semi-marginal seat and major-swing (volatile) seat since 2010 as well as a swing seat as its winner's majority has not exceeded 12.9% of the vote since the 15.2% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands once since that year.

History

The Reading East parliamentary constituency was first contested in 1983, when it was won by a partial incumbent, Gerry Vaughan, a Conservative who was before that election sitting MP for abolished Reading South. He held the seat through two general elections until he retired before the 1997 election. The constituency was in 1997 won by the Labour Party's Jane Griffiths, thus a backbencher under the Blair Ministry. She retained the seat in the 2001 election but was deselected by her Constituency Labour Party before the 2005 election, when the seat was won by the Tory candidate, Rob Wilson, who held the seat through two elections. The seat was regained by the Labour Party's candidate in 2017, Matt Rodda, achieving the party's best showing since the seat's creation. The 2017 result came when there was a hung parliament nationally. Until 2005 the seat had been a national bellwether.

Reading East is one of five constituencies, the others being Croydon Central, Enfield Southgate, Leeds North West and Peterborough, which elected Labour MPs in 2017 having not done so since 2001. As of the 2017 general election, the seat is one of two Labour seats from a total of eight seats in Berkshire.

Demographic and economic profile

The seat contains the University of Reading and the residential areas surrounding it. The Thames Valley Business Park is in another part of the seat, hosting multinational and cutting-edge technology companies in the software and advanced computer science areas. Adjoining the redeveloped heart of town are a handful mid-rise blocks of ex-council flats and serried ranks of former relatively philanthropic biscuit, brick and seeds manufacturing/processing workers' neat terraces towards the south-centre and east of the town, including firmly Labour-held wards. The suburban north bank of the Thames section takes in Caversham, forming four wards, whilst Earley and Woodley, adding a further three wards, make up strongly-leaning Conservative wards. Intermediate wards such as Redlands and Park have three or four-party politics and have been served by multiple Green Party and Liberal Democrat councillors. Most of the University's students live in Reading East, which is severed from the most part of Reading West by a high speed link road and the River Kennet.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997: Formed as a county constituency, largely from parts of the abolished constituency of Reading South.  it also incorporated parts of the abolished borough constituency of Reading North, including Caversham. It comprised the Borough of Reading wards of Abbey, Caversham, Church, Park, Peppard, Redlands, Thames, and Whitley, and the District of Wokingham wards of Arborfield, Barkham, Finchampstead, Shinfield, and Swallowfield.[3]

1997–2010: For the 1997 general election, the constituency lost its southern areas comprising the parts of the District of Wokingham to the County Constituencies of Wokingham (including Shinfield) and Bracknell (Finchampstead), but gained other parts of Wokingham to the east of the Reading.  The boundary with Reading West was realigned, gaining Katesgrove ward and losing Whitley ward. It was redesignated as a Borough Constituency.

The revised constituency comprised the Borough of Reading wards of Abbey, Caversham, Church, Katesgrove, Park, Peppard, Redlands, and Thames, and the District of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe, Loddon, South Lake, and Whitegates.[4]

2010–present: The Borough of Reading wards of Abbey, Caversham, Church, Katesgrove, Mapledurham, Park, Peppard, Redlands, and Thames, and the District of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe and Whitegates, Loddon, and South Lake.[5]

Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

Reading East is bordered by Reading West, Henley, Maidenhead, and Wokingham.[6]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[7]	Party	Notes
	1983	Gerard Vaughan	Conservative
	1997	Jane Griffiths	Labour
	2005	Rob Wilson	Conservative	Minister for Civil Society (27 September 2014 – 9 June 2017)
	2017	Matt Rodda	Labour	Shadow Minister for Local Transport (12 January 2018 – present)

Elections

Results of UK House of Commons seat Reading East.

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Reading East[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Matt Rodda	27,102	48.5	-0.5
	Conservative	Craig Morley	21,178	37.9	−4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Imogen Shepherd-DuBey	5,035	9.0	+2.9
	Green	David McElroy	1,549	2.8	+0.8
	Brexit Party	Mitchell Feierstein	852	1.5	N/A
	Christian Peoples Alliance	Yemi Awolola	202	0.4	N/A
Majority			5,924	10.6	+3.9
Turnout			56,055	72.6	-0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 2017: Reading East[9][10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Matt Rodda	27,093	49.0	+15.9
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	23,344	42.3	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Woods	3,378	6.1	−1.3
	Green	Kizzi Johannessen	1,093	2.0	−4.4
	Independent	Michael Turberville	188	0.3	N/A
	Movement for Active Democracy	Andy Kirkwood	142	0.0	N/A
Majority			3,749	6.7	N/A
Turnout			55,370	73.1	+3.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

General election 2015: Reading East[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	23,217	46.0	+3.4
	Labour	Matt Rodda	16,697	33.1	+7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Woods	3,719	7.4	−19.9
	UKIP	Christine Forrester[14]	3,647	7.2	+5.0
	Green	Rob White	3,214	6.4	+4.3
Majority			6,520	12.9	-2.3
Turnout			50,494	69.0	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

General election 2010: Reading East[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	21,269	42.6	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Epps	13,664	27.3	+3.1
	Labour	Anneliese Dodds	12,729	25.5	−8.5
	UKIP	Adrian Pitfield	1,086	2.2	+0.2
	Green	Rob White	1,069	2.1	−1.4
	Independent	Joan Lloyd	111	0.2	+0.2
	Independent	Michael Turberville	57	0.1	+0.1
Majority			7,605	15.3	-2.1
Turnout			49,985	66.7	+8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Reading East[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	15,557	35.4	+3.4
	Labour	Tony Page	15,082	34.3	−10.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Howson	10,619	24.2	+5.7
	Green	Rob White	1,548	3.5	+1.1
	UKIP	David Lamb	849	1.9	+0.7
	Independent	Joan Lloyd	135	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Rex Hora	122	0.3	N/A
Majority			475	1.1	N/A
Turnout			43,912	60.3	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.0
Source BBC[17]

General election 2001: Reading East[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jane Griffiths	19,538	44.8	+2.1
	Conservative	Barry Tanswell	13,943	32.0	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Dobrashian	8,078	18.5	0.0
	Green	Miriam Kennet	1,053	2.4	N/A
	UKIP	Amy Thornton	525	1.2	+0.7
	Socialist Alliance	Darren Williams	394	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Peter Hammerson	94	0.2	N/A
Majority			5,595	12.8	+5.3
Turnout			43,625	58.4	−11.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.7
Source House of Commons Library[19]

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Reading East[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jane Griffiths	21,461	42.7	+13.8
	Conservative	John Watts	17,666	35.2	−13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Samuel	9,307	18.5	-1.9
	Referendum	David Harmer	1,042	2.1	N/A
	Natural Law	John Buckley	254	0.5	N/A
	UKIP	A L Thornton	252	0.5	N/A
	BNP	Barbara Packer	238	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,795	7.5	N/A
Turnout			50,220	70.2	−4.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.2

General election 1992: Reading East[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	29,148	53.8	+0.0
	Labour	Gillian Parker	14,593	27.0	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Denis Thair	9,528	17.6	−5.6
	Green	A McCubbin	861	1.6	+0.3
Majority			14,555	26.8	−3.8
Turnout			54,130	75.0	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.8

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Reading East[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	28,515	53.8	+2.2
	Alliance (SDP)	Susan Baring	12,298	23.2	−4.2
	Labour	Martin Salter	11,371	21.5	+2.1
	Green	Philip Unsworth	667	1.3	+0.2
	CSOSMG	Arthur Shone	125	0.2	N/A
Majority			16,217	30.6	+6.4
Turnout			52,976	73.3	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2

General election 1983: Reading East[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	24,516	51.6	N/A
	Alliance (SDP)	Chris Huhne	13,008	27.4	N/A
	Labour	K. Boyle	9,218	19.4	N/A
	Ecology	Geoffrey Darnton	519	1.1	N/A
	BNP	P. Baker	147	0.3	N/A
	Common Market Party	B. Shone	113	0.2	N/A
Majority			11,508	24.2	N/A
Turnout			47,512	70.4	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "'Reading East', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
6. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
8. "Reading East parliamentary constituency – Election 201( – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
9. "Reading Borough Council – statement of persons nominated 2017" (PDF).
10. "Reading East parliamentary constituency – Election 2017 – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
11. "Reading Borough Council". www.reading.gov.uk.
12. "Notice of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Reading Borough Council.
13. "Parliamentary results 2015". Reading Borough Council. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
14. "UK Polling Report".
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election 2005 – Reading East". BBC. 2005. Retrieved 6 May 2005.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Research Paper 01/54 – General Election Results – 7 June 2001" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2005.
20. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
23. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.