Warwick and Leamington
Borough constituency for theHouse of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Warwick and Leamington in theWest Midlands region
County	Warwickshire
Electorate	66,278 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Warwick andLeamington
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of Parliament	Matt Western[2] (Labour)
Created from	Warwick

Warwick and Leamington is aconstituency^{[n 1]} inWarwickshire represented in theHouse of Commons of theUK Parliament since the2017 general election byMatt Western of theLabour Party.^[3][4][2] As its name suggests, it encompasses the towns ofWarwick andLeamington.

From 1923 to 1957, the seat was held byAnthony Eden (Sir Anthony Eden from 1954), who served as Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.

1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough of Warwick, the municipal borough of Royal Leamington Spa, and the local government districts of Milverton and Lillington.^[5]

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Warwick, Royal Leamington Spa, and Stratford-on-Avon, the Urban District of Kenilworth, the Rural Districts of Warwick and Alcester, and parts of the Rural Districts of Stratford-on-Avon and Brailes.

1950–1974: The Boroughs of Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa, the Urban District of Kenilworth, and the Rural District of Warwick.

1974–1983: As 1950 but with redrawn boundaries.

1983–1997: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop's Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Cubbington, Lapworth, Leek Wootton, Manor, Milverton, Radford Semele, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes.

1997–2010: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop's Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Cubbington, Lapworth, Leek Wootton, Manor, Milverton, Radford Semele, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes, and the District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of Henley, Tanworth, and Tanworth Earlswood.

2010–2024: The District of Warwick wards of Bishop's Tachbrook, Brunswick, Budbrooke, Clarendon, Crown, Manor, Milverton, Warwick North, Warwick South, Warwick West, Whitnash, and Willes.

The 2010 boundary changes reduced the constituency's area by removing outlying villages, reflecting population and housing growth.

2024–present: The District of Warwick wards of: Bishop’s Tachbrook; Leamington Brunswick; Leamington Clarendon; Leamington Lillington; Leamington Milverton; Leamington Willes; Radford Semele; Warwick All Saints and Woodloes; Warwick Aylesford; Warwick Myton & Heathcote; Warwick Saltisford; Whitnash.^[6]

Minor changes to align boundaries with those of wards in the District of Warwick.Budbrooke transferred toKenilworth and Southam in exchange forRadford Semele.

The seat comprises the two eponymous towns, with modest hills surrounding them, in the upper valley of theRiver Avon.

The towns of Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa are still distinct, however, and form, in the modern seat, acontiguous urban area. Both towns are relatively affluent, although there are pockets of deprivation in Leamington.Warwick, with its historic castle, is an internationally advertised tourist destination, while Leamington's economy is more dependent on storage, distribution, manufacturing, processing, engineering and industry. Leamington is also more ethnically diverse (e.g. five per cent of the constituency's population is of Asian ethnicity)^{[clarification needed]} and is home to some students of theUniversity of Warwick that lies close toCoventry.

Unemployment claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation byThe Guardian.^[7]

The constituency was created under theRedistribution of Seats Act 1885, partially replacing the earlier and ancientWarwick constituency which until that year had sent two MPs to Westminster.^[8]

Represented solely by Members of Parliament from theConservative Party for 87 years from 1910 to 1997, the seat was for much of this time asafe seat; seeing frequent majorities of more than 10,000 votes, and the seat was uncontested at both the1918 and1922 general elections. The seat had not been expected to change hands at the 1997 general election: as suchJames Plaskitt's defeat ofDudley Smith was aPortillo moment, without the decapitation of a government frontbencher. Plaskitt increased his majority at the2001 general election, but on a lower turnout. At the2005 general election, Warwick and Leamington was 85th on the Conservative list of target seats, meaning that to gain it they would have required a somewhat greaterswing than was seen nationally. With a greater swing from Labour to theLiberal Democrats, Plaskitt narrowly retained the seat with a majority slashed from nearly 6,000 votes to a mere 266.

However, minor boundary changes in Labour's favour took effect at the2010 general election and the winner was variously predicted.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, the seat was gained by a Conservative, Chris White, with a majority of 7% of the vote. On this occasion, the Conservative Party was the main beneficiary from swings away from theLabour Party and theGreen Party. White held the seat in2015 with an increased majority of 6,606 votes. The Labour candidate,Matt Western gained the seat from the Conservatives on a swing of 7.6% at the2017 snap general election, overturning a majority of 6,606 votes.^[9] (this was the fourth-largest lead overturned by Labour at the 2017 general election). This made Matt Western the second MP for Warwick and Leamington from the Labour Party in the history of the constituency. At the2019 general election, Western held the seat with a slightly reduced majority, and in2024 Western was re-elected with an increased majority of 12,412 votes, the largest majority for a Labour candidate in the seat's history.

From 1923 to 1957, the seat was represented byAnthony Eden, who served asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 to 1957.

For part of the early 1920s, theSolicitor General for England and Wales, thenAttorney General for England and Wales, represented the seat, Sir Ernest Pollock. Eden's successor, Sir John Hobson, was also in all of those senior positions for part of the early-1960s.

Warwick prior to 1885

General Election 1939–40:Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative:Anthony Eden
• Liberal:Walter Dingley
• Labour:Theodore Besterman

• Caused by Peel's elevation to the peerage, becoming Viscount Peel.

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources: UK General Elections since 1832Archived 5 May 2004 at theWayback Machine
• 1968 By Election Results
• 1957 By Election Results
• Catalogue of the Warwick and Leamington Constituency Labour Party archives, held at theModern Records Centre, University of Warwick
• Warwick and Leamington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
• Warwick and Leamington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK
• Warwick and Leamington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) atMapIt UK

52°17′N1°31′W / 52.28°N 1.51°W /52.28; -1.51

• Parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
• Warwick
• Leamington Spa
• Anthony Eden

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