Reading (UK Parliament constituency)

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Reading Borough constituency
Created:	1885, 1955
Abolished:	1950, 1974
Type:	House of Commons

Reading was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covered an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.

1 Members of Parliament
2 Politics and history of the constituency
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Members of Parliament

Single member borough created (1885)
1885 — 1892: Charles Townshend Murdoch, Conservative
1892 — 1895: George William Palmer, Liberal
1895 — 1898: Charles Townshend Murdoch, Conservative
1898 — 1904: George William Palmer, Liberal
1904 — 1913: Rufus Isaacs, Liberal
1913 — 1922: Leslie Orme Wilson, Conservative
1922 — 1923: Edward Cecil George Cadogan, Conservative
1923 — 1924: Somerville Hastings, Labour
1924 — 1929: Herbert Williams, Conservative
1929 — 1931: Somerville Hastings, Labour
1931 — 1945: Alfred Bakewell Howitt, Conservative
1945 — 1950: Ian Mikardo, Labour
Constituency divided into Reading North and Reading South (1950)
Constituency reunited (1955)
1955 — 1959: Ian Mikardo, Labour
1959 — 1966: Peter Emery, Conservative
1966 — 1970: John Lee, Labour
1970 — 1974: Gerard Vaughan, Conservative
Constituency abolished (1974)

[edit] Politics and history of the constituency

The parliamentary constituency was effectively created in its modern form, with each constituency represented by a single MP, by the Representation of the People Act 1884. Prior to this act, the Parliamentary Borough of Reading was entitled to elect two MPs to Parliament, whilst the surrounding County of Berkshire was entitled to three MPs. After the act, the Reading area had a single constituency electing a single MP, whilst Berkshire was split into the adjacent constituencies of Abingdon, Newbury and Wokingham.

The single constituency of Reading continued to exist, until it was split in 1950 into the separate constituencies of Reading North and Reading South. These two constituencies were merged back into a single Reading constituency in 1955, and again split apart in 1974. Today the area formerly covered by the Reading constituency is within the constituencies of Reading East and Reading West.