Holborn and St Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)

Holborn and St Pancras (/ˈhoʊbən ən sənt ˈpæŋkrəs/) is a parliamentary constituency^{[n 1]} in Greater London that was created in 1983. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister since 2024 and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020.^{[2][n 2]}

Holborn and St Pancras
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Location within Greater London
County	Greater London
Electorate	75,475 (2023)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Keir Starmer (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	St Pancras North and Holborn & St Pancras South

Constituency profile

The seat of Holborn and St Pancras as drawn in 2010 is composed of all but a small western portion of the London Borough of Camden and extends from most of Covent Garden and Bloomsbury in the heart of the West End of London through other areas of the NW1 postal district, north, and in elevation terms upwards through fashionable and economically diverse Camden Town to the affluent suburb of Highgate in a long strip. Gospel Oak, particularly towards Kentish Town, has high deprivation levels, but the neighbouring Highgate ward has low deprivation levels.

The southern part of the seat includes the University of London and several teaching hospitals, so the constituency has a large student population.

King's Cross, St Pancras International, and Euston railway termini are in the seat.^[3]

During the 20th century, the Bloomsbury, Holborn, Covent Garden, and Highgate wards overwhelmingly elected Conservative councillors. Since 2000, the wards forming the seat in its three revised forms have all swung against the Conservative Party. The 2014 local government elections (for a standard four-year term) produced one Green Party councillor for the Highgate ward; the remaining 32 councillors whose wards fall within the seat (as redrawn in 2010) are members of the Labour Party.^[4]

Political history

Labour Party MPs have served this constituency since its creation in 1983. The majorities achieved have been varied, from a relatively marginal 13.9% in 2005 (making it within the lowest 150 seats for the party in that year by percentage of majority) to a landslide 51.7% in 2017. The 2015 result ranked the seat as the 77th safest of the party's 232 seats (by percentage majority).^[5] Its predecessor seats have been in Labour hands for all but one term since 1945, and without interruption since 1964.

Boundaries

Historic

The seat was created in 1983 as a primary successor to Holborn and St Pancras South, which was created in 1950. The seat covers the southern half of the London Borough of Camden, including all or most of Camden Town, King's Cross, Gospel Oak, Kentish Town and Bloomsbury.

The constituency has contained the following wards of the London Borough of Camden:

1983–1997

Bloomsbury, Brunswick, Camden, Castlehaven, Caversham, Chalk Farm, Gospel Oak, Grafton, Holborn, King's Cross, Regent's Park, St John's, St Pancras, and Somers Town.

1997–2010

As above, less Gospel Oak

Map of boundaries 2010–2024.

2010–2024

Bloomsbury, Camden Town with Primrose Hill, Cantelowes, Gospel Oak, Haverstock, Highgate, Holborn and Covent Garden, Kentish Town, King's Cross, Regent's Park, and St Pancras and Somers Town. (Wards renamed and redrawn before 2010 election.)

The Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England was implemented nationally in 2010.^[6] Parts of Highgate, Gospel Oak, Haverstock, and Camden Town with Primrose Hill wards were transferred from the former constituency of Hampstead and Highgate. The electorate of the new seat would have been 85,188 if it had existed in that form at the 2005 general election. The electorate has since risen further, and at the 2010 general election it had among the five largest electorates in London.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following London Borough of Camden wards:

• Bloomsbury; Camden Square; Camden Town; Haverstock; Holborn and Covent Garden; Kentish Town North; Kentish Town South; King's Cross; Primrose Hill (part); Regent's Park; St. Pancras and Somers Town.^[7]

The contents reflect the local government boundary review for Camden which came into effect in May 2022. In order to bring the electorate within the permitted electoral range, the Highgate and Gospel Oak wards were transferred to the re-established constituency of Hampstead and Highgate.

Members of Parliament

Keir Starmer has represented the constituency since 2015.

The seat was held from 1983 to 2015 by Frank Dobson of the Labour Party, who had been elected in 1979 to the predecessor seat of Holborn & St Pancras South. Dobson was the longest-serving Labour MP in London until he stood down in 2015. The constituency has been represented by Keir Starmer since the 2015 general election. Starmer has served as Leader of the Labour Party (consequently Leader of the Opposition until his 2024 election victory) since April 2020 and the Prime Minister since July 2024.

Election		Member[8]	Party	Notes
	1983	Frank Dobson	Labour	Secretary of State for Health (1997–1999)
	2015	Keir Starmer	Labour	Leader of the Labour Party (2020–present) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2024–present)

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Holborn and St Pancras^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keir Starmer	18,884	48.9	−17.4
	Independent	Andrew Feinstein	7,312	18.9	N/A
	Green	David Stansell	4,030	10.4	+6.4
	Conservative	Mehreen Malik	2,776	7.2	−8.0
	Reform UK	David Roberts	2,371	6.1	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Charlie Clinton	2,236	5.8	−6.5
	Independent	Wais Islam	636	1.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Nick the Incredible Flying Brick	162	0.4	N/A
	UKIP	John Poynton	75	0.2	−0.1
	Socialist Equality	Tom Scripps	61	0.2	+0.1
	Independent	Senthil Kumar	40	0.1	N/A
	Give Me Back Elmo	Bobby Smith	19	0.0	N/A
Majority			11,572	30.0	–21.1
Turnout			38,602	54.1	–5.0
Registered electors			71,300
	Labour hold

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[10]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	29,537	66.3
	Conservative	6,771	15.2
	Liberal Democrats	5,473	12.3
	Green	1,790	4.0
	Brexit Party	836	1.9
	Others	175	0.4
Turnout		44,582	59.1
Electorate		75,475

General election 2019: Holborn and St Pancras^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keir Starmer	36,641	64.5	−5.6
	Conservative	Alexandra Hayward	8,878	15.6	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Kirk	7,314	12.9	+6.1
	Green	Kirsten De Keyser	2,746	4.8	+1.4
	Brexit Party	Hector Birchwood	1,032	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Mohammad Bhatti	138	0.2	−1.0
	Socialist Equality	Thomas Scripps	37	0.1	N/A
Majority			27,763	48.9	−2.8
Turnout			56,786	65.1	−1.9
Registered electors			87,236
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.4

General election 2017: Holborn and St Pancras^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keir Starmer	41,343	70.1	+17.2
	Conservative	Timothy Barnes	10,834	18.4	−3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Crosher	4,020	6.8	+0.3
	Green	Siân Berry	1,980	3.4	−9.4
	UKIP	Giles Game	727	1.2	−3.8
	English Democrat	Janus Polenceus	93	0.2	N/A
Majority			30,509	51.7	+20.7
Turnout			58,997	67.0	+3.7
Registered electors			88,088
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.3

General election 2015: Holborn and St Pancras^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keir Starmer	29,062	52.9	+6.8
	Conservative	Will Blair	12,014	21.9	+1.5
	Green	Natalie Bennett	7,013	12.8	+10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Fraser	3,555	6.5	−21.4
	UKIP	Maxine Spencer	2,740	5.0	+3.9
	CISTA	Shane O'Donnell	252	0.5	N/A
	Animal Welfare	Vanessa Hudson	173	0.3	N/A
	Socialist Equality	David O'Sullivan	108	0.2	N/A
Majority			17,048	31.0	+13.2
Turnout			54,917	63.3	+0.4
Registered electors			86,764
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

General election 2010: Holborn and St Pancras^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	25,198	46.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Shaw	15,256	27.9
	Conservative	George Lee	11,134	20.4
	Green	Natalie Bennett	1,480	2.7
	BNP	Robert Carlyle	779	1.4
	UKIP	Max Spencer	587	1.1
	Independent	John Chapman	96	0.2
	English Democrat	Mikel Susperregi	75	0.1
	Independent	Iain Meek	44	0.1
Majority			9,942	17.8
Turnout			54,649	62.9
Registered electors			86,563
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Holborn and St Pancras

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	14,857	43.2	―10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Fraser	10,070	29.3	+11.3
	Conservative	Margot James	6,482	18.9	+2.0
	Green	Adrian J. Oliver	2,798	8.1	+2.1
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Rainbow George Weiss	152	0.4	N/A
Majority			4,787	13.9	−22.0
Turnout			34,359	50.4	+0.8
Registered electors			68,327
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.0

General election 2001: Holborn and St Pancras

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	16,770	53.9	−11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nathaniel Green	5,595	18.0	+5.5
	Conservative	Roseanne Serrelli	5,258	16.9	−1.0
	Green	Robert Whitley	1,875	6.0	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Candy Udwin	971	3.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Novjot (Joti) Brar	359	1.2	N/A
	UKIP	Magnus Nielsen	301	1.0	N/A
Majority			11,175	35.9	−11.2
Turnout			31,129	49.6	−10.7
Registered electors			62,722
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Holborn and St Pancras

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	24,707	65.0	+10.8
	Conservative	Julian L. Smith	6,804	17.9	−10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Justine McGuiness	4,758	12.5	−1.4
	Referendum	Julia T.G. Carr	790	2.1	N/A
	Natural Law	Timothy P.J. Bedding	191	0.5	0.0
	Independent	Stephen Smith	173	0.5	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Brigid Conway	171	0.4	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Martin Rosenthal	157	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Peter Rice-Evans	140	0.4	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Bruno F. Quintavalle	114	0.3	N/A
Majority			17,903	47.1	+20.4
Turnout			38,005	60.3	−2.4
Registered electors			63,037
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.5

General election 1992: Holborn and St Pancras^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	22,243	54.8	+4.2
	Conservative	Andrew J. McHallam	11,419	28.1	−3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Horne-Roberts	5,476	13.5	−4.1
	Green	Paul A. Wolf-Light	959	2.4	N/A
	Natural Law	Mark K. Hersey	212	0.5	N/A
	Socialist (GB)	Richard Headicar	175	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Nigel Lewis	133	0.3	N/A
Majority			10,824	26.7	+7.2
Turnout			40,617	62.7	−1.6
Registered electors			64,480
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Holborn and St Pancras

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	22,966	50.6	+3.1
	Conservative	Peter Luff	14,113	31.1	+0.4
	Liberal	Simon McGrath	7,994	17.6	−3.8
	Red Front	Michael Gavan	300	0.7	N/A
Majority			8,853	19.5	+2.7
Turnout			45,373	64.3	+4.1
Registered electors			70,589
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: Holborn and St Pancras^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Dobson	20,486	47.5
	Conservative	Tony Kerpel	13,227	30.7
	Liberal	William Jones	9,242	21.4
	Workers Revolutionary	R. Price	155	0.4
Majority			7,259	16.8
Turnout			43,110	60.2
Registered electors			71,604
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London

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 most every five years.

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – London". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
2. "Keir Starmer: Labour leader becomes UK prime minister". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
3. "OS Maps – online and App mapping system – Ordnance Survey Shop". getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
4. directory Londoncouncils.gov.uk. Retrieved 31-01-2017
5. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
6. Fifth Periodical Report (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. 26 February 2007. ISBN 978-0-10-170322-2.. Contains list of boundary changes in England.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 3 London region.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
9. "General election results". London Borough of Camden. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
10. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
11. "Election of a Member of Parliament for the Holborn and St Pancras Parliamentary Constituency: Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". London Borough of Camden. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
12. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
13. "Holborn & St Pancras parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
14. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
15. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Parliamentary Election 2015 Results". camden.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
17. http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/council-and-democracy/news/2010/april/twocolumn/holborn-and-st-pancras-constituency---statement-of-persons-nominated.en ^{[dead link]}
18. "Election 2010 – Constituency – Holborn & St Pancras". BBC News.
19. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
20. "The Times guide to the House of Commons, June 1983". The Times (Revised ed.). 1984. p. 137. ISBN 0-7230-0257-6.

External links

• Guardian Politics: Holborn and St Pancras Archived 31 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• Holborn and St Pancras UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Holborn and St Pancras UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Holborn and St Pancras UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Richmond and Northallerton	Constituency represented by the prime minister 2024–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Islington North	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 2020–2024	Succeeded by Richmond and Northallerton

51.535°N 0.135°W / 51.535; -0.135