Northampton North (UK Parliament constituency)

Northampton North is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Lucy Rigby, a member of Labour.^{[n 2]} The constituency is a considered a bellwether, as it has reflected the national result at every general election since it was created in February 1974.

Northampton North
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Northampton North in the East Midlands
County	Northamptonshire
Electorate	75,713 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Northampton (part)
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Lucy Rigby (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Northampton

History

This constituency was created for the election of February 1974 when the old constituency of Northampton was split into Northampton North and Northampton South.

Since creation it has been a bellwether, electing an MP from the winning (or largest governing) party in every general election.

Boundaries

Historic

1974–1983: The County Borough of Northampton wards of Abington, Dallington, Kingsthorpe, Park, St David, and St George.^[2]

1983–2010: The Borough of Northampton wards of Abington, Boughton Green, Dallington and Kings Heath, Headlands, Kingsthorpe, Lings, Lumbertubs, Park, St Alban, St George, Thorplands, and Welford.

2010–2024: The Borough of Northampton wards of Abington, Boughton Green, Eastfield, Headlands, Kingsley, Kingsthorpe, Lumbertubs, Parklands, St David, and Thorplands.

NB: with effect from 1 April 2021, the Borough of Northampton was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of West Northamptonshire.^[3]

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 April 2021):

• The District of West Northamptonshire wards of: Abington and Phippsville; Boothville and Parklands; Castle; Dallington Spencer; Headlands; Kingsthorpe North; Kingsthorpe South; St. George; Talavera.^[4]

The constituency was expanded considerably with the addition of Northampton town centre from Northampton South.

Constituency profile

The constituency has income, social housing and unemployment statistics^[5] close to the national average. There is a varied and dynamic service and engineering-centred economy typical of the East Midlands, with significant foodstuffs, clothing and consumables manufacturing and processing operations.^[6] Health inequality is high, with the life expectancy gap between the least deprived and most deprived men in Northampton reaching over a decade.^[7] According to Public Health England, the constituency is "considerably worse than [the] England average" in terms of violent crime, self harm, under 18 conception and GCSE achievement.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Northampton prior to 1974

Election		Member[8]	Party
	Feb 1974	Maureen Colquhoun	Labour
	1979	Tony Marlow	Conservative
	1997	Sally Keeble	Labour
	2010	Michael Ellis	Conservative
	2024	Lucy Rigby	Labour

Elections

Northampton North election results 1983-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Northampton North^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lucy Rigby[10]	18,209	43.5	+1.4
	Conservative	Dan Bennett[11]	9,195	22.0	−27.8
	Reform UK	Antony Antoniou[12]	7,010	16.8	N/A
	Green	Eishar Bassan[13]	2,558	6.1	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Leggett[14]	2,251	5.4	−0.3
	Workers Party	Khalid Razzaq[15]	1,531	3.7	N/A
	Independent	Paul Clark[16]	1,059	2.5	N/A
Majority			9,014	21.5	N/A
Turnout			41,813	55.3	−12.2
Registered electors			75,575
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.6

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Northampton North^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ellis	21,031	53.2	+6.0
	Labour	Sally Keeble	15,524	39.3	−5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Sawyer	2,031	5.1	+2.6
	Green	Katherine Pate	953	2.4	+0.8
Majority			5,507	13.9	+11.9
Turnout			39,539	66.7	−2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.0

General election 2017: Northampton North^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ellis	19,065	47.2	+4.8
	Labour	Sally Keeble	18,258	45.2	+11.1
	UKIP	Jonathan Bullock	1,404	3.5	−12.6
	Liberal Democrats	George Smid	1,015	2.5	−1.1
	Green	Steve Miller	636	1.6	−2.2
Majority			807	2.0	−6.2
Turnout			40,411	68.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.1

General election 2015: Northampton North^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ellis	16,699	42.4	+8.3
	Labour	Sally Keeble	13,454	34.1	+4.8
	UKIP	Tom Rubython[20]	6,354	16.1	+13.0
	Green	Tony Clarke[21]	1,503	3.8	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Paterson	1,401	3.6	−24.3
Majority			3,245	8.2	+3.4
Turnout			39,711
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

General election 2010: Northampton North^[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ellis	13,735	34.1	+4.4
	Labour	Sally Keeble	11,799	29.3	−10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Simpson	11,250	27.9	+1.0
	BNP	Ray Beasley	1,316	3.3	New
	UKIP	Jim MacArthur	1,238	3.1	+0.6
	Green	Tony Lochmuller	443	1.1	New
	Independent	Eamonn Fitzpatrick	334	0.8	New
	Christian	Timothy Webb	98	0.2	New
	Independent	Malcolm Mildren	58	0.1	New
Majority			1,936	4.8	N/A
Turnout			40,271	62.7	+5.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Northampton North^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sally Keeble	16,905	40.2	−9.2
	Conservative	Damian Collins	12,945	30.8	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Simpson	10,317	24.5	+6.8
	UKIP	John Howsam	1,050	2.5	+1.1
	SOS! Northampton	Paul Witherington	495	1.2	New
	CPA	Andrew Otchie	336	0.8	New
Majority			3,960	9.4	−9.6
Turnout			42,048	57.9	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.8

General election 2001: Northampton North^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sally Keeble	20,507	49.4	−3.3
	Conservative	John Whelan	12,614	30.4	−3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Church	7,363	17.7	+5.0
	UKIP	Dusan Torbica	596	1.4	+0.5
	Socialist Alliance	Gordon White	414	1.0	New
Majority			7,893	19.0	0.0
Turnout			41,494	56.0	−14.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.15

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Northampton North^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sally Keeble	27,247	52.7	+14.1
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	17,247	33.4	−12.4
	Liberal Democrats	L. Dunbar	6,579	12.7	−2.5
	UKIP	D. Torbica	474	0.9	New
	Natural Law	B. Spivack	161	0.3	−0.1
Majority			10,000	19.0	N/A
Turnout			51,708	70.1	−8.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Northampton North^[27][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	24,865	45.8	−2.0
	Labour	JM Thomas	20,957	38.6	+8.7
	Liberal Democrats	R. Church	8,236	15.2	−5.9
	Natural Law	B Spivack	232	0.4	New
Majority			3,908	7.2	−10.7
Turnout			54,290	78.5	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Northampton North^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	24,816	47.8	+0.8
	Labour	Owen Granfield	15,560	29.9	+3.0
	Liberal	Tony Rounthwaite	10,960	21.1	−5.0
	Green	Michael Green	471	0.9	New
	Workers Revolutionary	S. Colling	156	0.3	New
Majority			9,256	17.9	−2.2
Turnout			51,963	74.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.1

General election 1983: Northampton North^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	23,129	47.0
	Labour	David Offenbach	13,269	26.9
	Liberal	Anthony Rounthwaite	12,829	26.1
Majority			9,860	20.1
Turnout			49,227
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Northampton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Marlow	18,597	48.22
	Labour	Maureen Colquhoun	13,934	36.13
	Liberal	Anthony Rounthwaite	5,659	14.67
	National Front	R G W Rickord	373	0.97	New
Majority			4,663	12.09	N/A
Turnout			38,563
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.11

General election October 1974: Northampton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maureen Colquhoun	16,314	43.80	+3.08
	Conservative	Richard Tracey	14,776	39.67	+1.53
	Liberal	R B Baker	6,160	16.54	−4.60
Majority			1,538	4.13	−4.60
Turnout			37,250
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.78

General election February 1974: Northampton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Maureen Colquhoun	16,321	40.72
	Conservative	C M Jackson	15,288	38.14
	Liberal	R B Baker	8,475	21.14
Majority			1,033	2.58
Turnout			39,994
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.15

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northamptonshire

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 least every five years.