United Kingdom constituencies
In the
United Kingdom each of the electoral areas or divisions called
constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.
The United Kingdom now has five bodies with members elected by constituencies:
* The
House of Commons of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom* The
London Assembly (see
London Assembly constituencies)
* The
Northern Ireland Assembly* The
Scottish Parliament (see
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions)
* The
Welsh AssemblyOne member is elected to these bodies for each constituency by the
first past the post system of election, except in the Northern Ireland Assembly, where six members are elected for each constituency using the
Single Transferable Vote system (A single member is returned to the House of Commons for each Northern Ireland constituency). In addition, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and London Assemblies elect further members under the
Additional Member System.
As of 2005 the House of Commons has
646 constituencies representing the whole of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament is a
devolved parliament with constituencies representing
Scotland. The London, Northern Ireland and Welsh assemblies are
devolved assemblies with constituencies representing
Greater London,
Northern Ireland and
Wales.
The Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly have
legislative powers while the Welsh and London Assemblies do not.
Outside Greater London,
England has no directly-elected devolved assembly or parliament and all constituencies are of the House of Commons.
Greater London, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all have two kinds of constituency: House of Commons and devolved assembly or parliament. A House of Commons constituency may have the same name as that of a devolved body: it does not have necessarily the same boundaries.
For local elections, areas are known as
ward or
electoral divisions.
The
Scottish Parliament itself and all its now existing constituencies were created, effectively, in
1999, when the first
Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) were elected to the then new parliament.
In 1999
Scottish Parliament constituencies were based on pre-existing
United Kingdom House of Commons constituencies. All but two had the same names and boundaries. The two exceptions are
Orkney and
Shetland:
Orkney and Shetland was then, and is now, just one House of Commons constituency and, dating from
1707, the oldest of those constituencies.
For the
2005 House of Commons general election the number of House of Commons constituencies in
Scotland was reduced from 72 to 59 and the Scottish Parliament constituencies remained as they had been in 1999. Just two House of Commons constituencies now have boundaries identical with those of Scottish Parliament constituencies. However, both now have different names:
Na h-Eileanan an Iar instead of
Western Isles and
Renfrewshire East instead of
Eastwood.
Scottish Parliament constituencies are grouped into eight electoral regions, each electing seven
additional members from
party lists, to produce a form of
proportional representation.
*
List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom*
Former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies*
Parliamentary borough*
Borough constituency*
County constituency*
London Assembly constituencies*
Constituencies in the next United Kingdom general election - constituencies for the 2009/2010 General Election
