Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It was first contested at the 2024 general election. The current MP is Alex Mayer of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
The Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency is located in Bedfordshire. It covers the towns of Dunstable and Houghton Regis, which lie on the outskirts of the large town of Luton, and the town of Leighton Buzzard. The three towns in the constituency are historic market towns. Deprivation in the constituency is low and the area is generally wealthy, particularly in Leighton Buzzard.In general, residents have average levels of education and professional employment with above-average household income. At the 2021 census, White people made up 87% of the population. At the local council, Leighton Buzzard is mostly represented by Liberal Democrats, whilst Dunstable and Houghton Regis elected a variety of councillors including Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Conservatives and independents. The rural area between Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable is represented by Conservatives. An estimated 59% of voters in the constituency supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum compared to 52% nationwide.
History
The seat is a successor to South West Bedfordshire which was a Conservative seat during its existence, often with large majorities, though Labour came very close to winning the seat on two occasions in 1997 and 2001, reducing the Conservative Party's majorities to 132 and 776 respectively, with Labour winning the seat narrowly on a three-figure majority for the first time since a previous incarnation of the constituency, in 1966.Boundaries
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the composition of the constituency was defined as follows :- Dunstable–Central; Dunstable–Icknield; Dunstable–Manshead; Dunstable–Northfields; Dunstable–Watling; Heath and Reach; Houghton Hall; Leighton Buzzard North; Leighton Buzzard South; Linslade; Parkside; Tithe Farm.
Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency comprises the following wards of Central Bedfordshire from the 2024 general election:
- Dunstable Central; Dunstable East; Dunstable North; Dunstable South; Dunstable West; Heath & Reach; Houghton Regis East; Houghton Regis West; Leighton-Linslade North; Leighton-Linslade South; Leighton-Linslade West