Earley and Woodley (UK Parliament constituency)

Earley and Woodley is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Following the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is represented by Yuan Yang of the Labour Party.

History

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.

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 Central constituency entirely within the borough.

In June 2023, the Conservatives selected Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the opposition group on Wokingham Borough Council, as their prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat. In December 2023, the Labour Party selected Earley resident Yuan Yang, a Financial Times journalist and social campaigner, as their candidate. On 5th February 2024, the Liberal Democrats announced they had selected Tahir Maher, a former Mayor of Earley, as their candidate.

Boundaries

Under the 2023 review, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following, as they existed on 1 December 2020:

The Borough of Reading wards of Church; Whitley.
The Borough of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe and Whitegates; Coronation; Hawkedon; Hillside; Loddon; Maiden Erlegh; Shinfield North; Shinfield South; Sonning; South Lake.

Following local government boundary reviews in Reading and Wokingham which came into effect in May 2022 and May 2024 respectively, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

The Borough of Reading wards or part wards of: Church; Redlands (small part); Whitley.
The Borough of Wokingham wards or part wards of: Bulmershe & Coronation; Hawkedon; Hillside; Loddon; Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates; Shinfield; South Lake; Spencers Wood & Swallowfield (majority); Thames (small part comprising Sonning parish).

The seat covers:

The southern-most Borough of Reading wards of Church and Whitley, transferred respectively from the former Reading East and Reading West constituencies

Western areas of the Borough of Wokingham previously included in the constituencies of Maidenhead, Reading East and Wokingham, including the communities of Sonning, Earley, Shinfield and Woodley

It is bordered by the seats of Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Reading Central, Henley and Thame, and Wokingham.