Reading Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading Central is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was formed as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. It subsumes parts of the former Reading West and Reading East constituencies but, unlike them, the whole of the new constituency will be within the Borough of Reading. It will be first contested in the 2024 general election.^[2][3][4]

At the time of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, there were eight constituencies in the county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (Reading East, Reading West, and Windsor) were within the permitted electorate range of no fewer than 69,724 electors and no more than 77,062. All of the remaining constituencies were above the upper limit. The Boundary Commission for England therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county.^[4][5]

Whilst both Reading constituencies could have remained unchanged, the boundary commission instead proposed a reconfiguration to account for the increased electorates of the surrounding constituencies, and to better reflect local ties in the surrounding communities. This involved the creation of two new constituencies, Earley and Woodley and Mid Berkshire (renamed Reading West and Mid Berkshire in the final proposals), both with the bulk of their electorate outside the Borough of Reading but including outer wards of the borough, together with a new Reading constituency entirely within the borough.^[4]

During the process of acceptance of these proposals, the name was changed from Reading to Reading Central.^[2][4]

On 5 February 2024, the Liberal Democrats selected Henry Wright, a local NHS worker, as their candidate. On 12 March, the Green Party selected Dave McElroy, a local councillor, as their candidate. On 31 May, after the General Election was called, the Conservative Party selected Raj Singh, a local councillor, as their candidate. Matt Rodda, the former MP for the Reading East constituency, was selected by the Labour Party to stand as their candidate in Late 2023.^[6][7][8][9]

The constituency is defined as being composed of the following wards of the Borough of Reading as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• Abbey, Battle, Caversham, Katesgrove, Mapledurham, Minster, Park, Peppard, Redlands, Southcote, and Thames.^{[n 2][2][3]}

The Battle, Minster and Southcote wards are currently part of Reading West, with the remainder, comprising 73% of the new seat, in Reading East.^[10]

As a result of a local government boundary review^[11] which came into effect in May 2022,^[12] the constituency will now comprise the following Borough of Reading wards from the 2024 general election:

• Abbey, Battle (most), Caversham, Caversham Heights, Coley, Emmer Green, Katesgrove, Norcot (small part), Redlands (most), Southcote, and Thames.^[13]

Since 2024 it bordered by the seats of Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Henley and Thame, and Earley and Woodley.^[14][15]

Electoral Calculus characterises the seat as "Progressive", with soft left or liberal views and high levels of university education.^[16] Incomes and house prices in the seat are slightly higher than UK averages.

Reading East and Reading West prior to 2024

General election 2024: Reading Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matt Rodda[9]	21,598	47.7	−4.9
	Conservative	Raj Singh[8]	8,961	19.8	−16.6
	Green	Dave McElroy[7]	6,417	14.2	+11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Wright[6][17]	3,963	8.8	+2.4
	Reform UK	Andy Williams[18]	3,904	8.6	+7.5
	Independent	Michael Jeffrey Turberville[19]	227	0.5	N/A
	TUSC	Adam Gillman[20]	221	0.5	N/A
Majority			12,637	27.9	+11.7
Turnout			45,291	61.5	–10.8
Registered electors			73,600
	Labour hold		Swing	5.9

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

• Reading Central UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

51°28′N 0°58′W / 51.46°N 0.97°W / 51.46; -0.97