Luton North (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton North is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sarah Owen, of the Labour Party. ^{[n 2]}

Luton North
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Luton North in the East of England
Local government in England	Bedfordshire
Electorate	73,266 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Luton
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Sarah Owen (Labour Party)
Seats	One
Created from	Luton West, Mid Bedfordshire, South Bedfordshire and Luton East[2]

Constituency profile

Luton North was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton West. It consists of the northern portion of the town of Luton, excluding Stopsley.

One constituency other than Luton North includes Luton; Luton South. Both cover a similar housing profile^{[n 3][3]} and economic ambit that have seen house prices increase above the national average since 1997, two periods of relatively high numbers of the unemployed and lowest wage earners (the 1990s and 2008–2011 global recession).^[4] The former covers roughly the LU3 and 4 postcode districts and excludes the town centre of what one broadsheet characterised as a tough town^[5] whereas other commentators state that Luton has a resilient economy which "revolves around the airport as well as the retail sector."^[6]

History

At creation, Luton North included eight wards from the neighbouring districts of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire; these made it a much safer seat for the Conservatives than Luton South, which included only one ward from outside the Borough of Luton. Boundary changes in 1997 reduced the Conservative majority from 13,094 to 7,357, and it was 81st on Labour's list of target seats; Labour duly gained it on a 17.1% swing, and since then the party has held the seat with comfortable majorities.

From 2005 to 2015, Luton North was Labour's safest seat in the East of England by both vote and vote share majority; in 2017 it was overtaken in the former count by Norwich South, but the percentage margin in Luton North (30.8% compared to 30.4% in Norwich South) is slightly higher.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

• The Borough of Luton wards of Bramingham, Challney, Icknield, Leagrave, Lewsey, Limbury, and Sundon Park;
• The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Flitton and Pulloxhill, Flitwick East, Flitwick West, Harlington, and Westoning; and
• The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Barton-le-Clay, Streatley, and Toddington.^[7]

Created as a county constituency formally named North Luton,^[7] incorporating the bulk of the abolished borough constituency of Luton West. Extended northwards to include part of the abolished constituency of South Bedfordshire as well as Flitwick, transferred from Mid Bedfordshire.

1997–2010

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

• The Borough of Luton wards of Bramingham, Challney, Icknield, Leagrave, Lewsey, Limbury, Saints, and Sundon Park.^[8]

Redesignated as the borough constituency of Luton North. The parts of the Districts of Mid Bedfordshire (including Flitwick) and South Bedfordshire transferred to Mid Bedfordshire. Gained the Saints ward of the Borough of Luton from Luton South.

2010–2024

• The Borough of Luton wards of Barnfield, Bramingham, Challney, Icknield, Leagrave, Lewsey, Limbury, Northwell, Saints, and Sundon Park.^[9]

Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was expanded with the transfer of the Luton Borough ward of Stopsley (as it existed on 1 December 2020) from Luton South.^[10]

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,^[11][12] the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Borough of Luton from the 2024 general election:

• Barnfield (nearly all); Beech Hill (part); Bramingham; Challney (nearly all); Leagrave; Lewsey; Limbury; Northwell; Poets; Saints (nearly all); Sundon Park; Stopsley (majority).^[13]

Members of Parliament

Luton West, Luton East, Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire prior to 1983

Election		Member[14]	Party
	1983	John Carlisle	Conservative
	1997	Kelvin Hopkins	Labour
	2017		Independent
	2019	Sarah Owen	Labour

Elections

Luton North election results 1983-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Luton North^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Owen	14,677	37.9	−16.0
	Conservative	Jilleane Brown	7,167	18.5	−15.8
	Reform UK	James Fletcher	4,666	12.0	+9.0
	Independent	Toqueer Shah	4,393	11.3	N/A
	Workers Party	Waheed Akbar	3,914	10.1	N/A
	Green	Ejel Khan	1,940	5.0	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Prendergast	1,890	4.9	+0.3
	SDP	Paul Trathen	98	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,510	19.4	−11.4
Turnout			38,745	51.8	–9.1
Registered electors			74,866
	Labour hold		Swing	0.1

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[16]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	24,015	53.9
	Conservative	15,275	34.3
	Liberal Democrats	2,063	4.6
	Brexit Party	1,319	3.0
	Others	1,086	2.4
	Green	832	1.9
Turnout		44,590	60.9
Electorate		73,266

General election 2019: Luton North^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Owen	23,496	55.2	−8.6
	Conservative	Jeet Bains	14,249	33.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Jack	2,063	4.8	+3.1
	Brexit Party	Sudhir Sharma	1,215	2.9	N/A
	Green	Simon Hall	771	1.8	+0.4
	Independent	Muhammad Rehman	646	1.5	N/A
	Women's Equality	Serena Laidley	149	0.3	N/A
Majority			9,247	21.7	−9.1
Turnout			42,589	62.5	−8.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2017: Luton North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	29,765	63.8	+11.6
	Conservative	Caroline Kerswell	15,401	33.0	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rabi Martins	808	1.7	−1.4
	Green	Simon Hall	648	1.4	−0.9
Majority			14,364	30.8	+8.5
Turnout			46,622	71.0	+7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

General election 2015: Luton North^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins[19]	22,243	52.2	+2.9
	Conservative	Dean Russell[20]	12,739	29.9	−1.9
	UKIP	Allan White[20]	5,318	12.5	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Aroosa Ulzaman	1,299	3.1	−8.0
	Green	Sofiya Ahmed	972	2.3	+1.2
Majority			9,504	22.3	+4.8
Turnout			42,571	64.0	−1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 2010: Luton North^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	21,192	49.3	+0.7
	Conservative	Jeremy Brier	13,672	31.8	−0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Rabi Martins	4,784	11.1	−4.5
	UKIP	Colin Brown	1,564	3.6	+0.4
	BNP	Shelley Rose	1,316	3.1	N/A
	Green	Simon Hall	490	1.1	N/A
Majority			7,520	17.5	+0.9
Turnout			43,018	65.5	+8.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Luton North^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	19,062	48.7	−8.0
	Conservative	Hannah Hall	12,575	32.1	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Jack	6,081	15.5	+5.8
	UKIP	Colin Brown	1,255	3.2	+0.8
	Open Forum	Kayson Gurney	149	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,487	16.6	−8.9
Turnout			39,122	57.4	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.5

General election 2001: Luton North^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	22,187	56.7	+2.1
	Conservative	Amanda Sater	12,210	31.2	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Hoyle	3,795	9.7	+0.6
	UKIP	Colin Brown	934	2.4	+0.9
Majority			9,977	25.5	+5.2
Turnout			39,126	57.9	−15.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Luton North^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	25,860	54.6	+17.4
	Conservative	David Senior	16,234	34.3	−16.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kathryn Newbound	4,299	9.1	−1.1
	UKIP	Colin Brown	689	1.5	N/A
	Natural Law	Aaron Custance	250	0.5	0.0
Majority			9,626	20.3	N/A
Turnout			47,332	73.2	−8.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Luton North^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Carlisle	33,777	53.7	−0.1
	Labour	Tony McWalter	20,683	32.9	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Jackson	7,570	12.0	−7.4
	Green	Roger Jones	633	1.0	N/A
	Natural Law	Keith Buscombe	292	0.5	N/A
Majority			13,094	20.8	−6.2
Turnout			62,955	81.8	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Luton North^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Carlisle	30,997	53.8	+5.5
	Labour	Michael Wright	15,424	26.8	+0.6
	SDP	John Stephen	11,166	19.4	−6.1
Majority			15,573	27.0	+4.9
Turnout			57,587	77.6	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Luton North^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Carlisle	26,115	48.3
	Labour	Kelvin Hopkins	14,134	26.2
	SDP	John Stephen	13,769	25.5
Majority			11,981	22.1
Turnout			54,018	77.4
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)
• Politics in Luton

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.
3. The proportion of semi-detached houses is in the highest of the five categories, similar to London Borough of Havering, London Borough of Bexley, Castle Point and Ipswich only surpassed in the east/south east by Rochford.