Parliamentary representation from Bedfordshire

The historic county of Bedfordshire, located in the 21st century region of East of England, was represented in Parliament from the 13th century. This article provides a list of constituencies constituting the Parliamentary representation from Bedfordshire.

In 1889 Bedfordshire became an administrative county and in 1974 much the same area became a shire county. Luton became a unitary authority in 1997, but it remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire.

The first part of this article covers the constituencies wholly or predominantly within the area of the historic county of Bedfordshire, both before and after the administrative changes of 1889 and 1974. The second part refers to constituencies mostly in another historic county, which included some territory from the historic county of Bedfordshire (if any). The summaries section only refers to the constituencies included in the first section of the constituency list.

List of constituencies

Article names are followed by (UK Parliament constituency). The constituencies which existed in 1707 were those previously represented in the Parliament of England.

Key to abbreviations:

(Type) BC Borough constituency, CC County constituency.
(Administrative County in Notes) B historic/administrative/shire/ceremonial county of Bedfordshire.

Constituencies wholly or predominantly in the historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes
Bedford	BC (1295-1918)	1295	1983	2 (1295-1654)	B
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
				1 (1885–1983)
	CC (1918–1983)			1 (1885–1983)
	BC (1997-*)	1997	*	1 (1997-*)
Bedfordshire	CC	1290	1885	2 (1290-1654)	B
				5 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
Mid Bedfordshire	CC	1918	*	1	B
North Bedfordshire	CC	1983	1997	1	B
North East Bedfordshire	CC	1997	*	1	B
South Bedfordshire	CC	1950	1983	1	B
South West Bedfordshire	CC	1983	*	1	B
Biggleswade	CC	1885	1918	1	B
Luton	CC (1885–1950)	1885	1974	1	B
Luton	BC (1950–1974)	1885	1974	1	B
Luton East	BC	1974	1983	1	B
Luton North	CC (1983–1997)	1983	*	1	B: Including North Luton 1983-1997
Luton North	BC (1997-*)	1983	*	1	B: Including North Luton 1983-1997
Luton South	BC	1983	*	1	B
Luton West	BC	1974	1983	1	B

Constituencies mostly in another historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes

Periods constituencies represented

	1290–1295	1295–1885	1885–1918	1918–1950	1950–1974	1974–1983	1983–1997	1997–*
Bedford		1295–1983						1997–*
Bedfordshire	1290–1885
Mid Bedfordshire				1918–*
North Bedfordshire							1983–1997
North East Bedfordshire								1997–*
South Bedfordshire					1950–1983
South West Bedfordshire							1983–*
Biggleswade			1885–1918
Luton			1885–1974
Luton East						1974–1983
Luton North							1983–*
Luton South							1983–*
Luton West						1974–1983

Summaries

Summary of Constituencies by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1654	1659	1885	1918	1950	1974	1983	1997
Borough	-	1	1	1	1	-	1	2	1	3
County	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	4	3
Total	1	2	2	2	3	3	4	5	5	6

Summary of Members of Parliament by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1654	1659	1885	1918	1950	1974	1983	1997
Borough	-	2	1	2	1	-	1	2	1	3
County	2	2	5	2	2	3	3	3	4	3
Total	2	4	6	4	3	3	4	5	5	6

References

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
The House of Commons 1509-1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
The House of Commons 1558-1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
The House of Commons 1660-1690, by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983)
The House of Commons 1715-1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
The House of Commons 1790-1820, by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986)
The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright