Luton was a parliamentary constituency

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.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 centred on the town of Luton

Luton

Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....

 in Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

. It returned one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, elected by the first past the post system.

It was created for the 1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

 as a county division of Bedfordshire, when the former Bedfordshire county constituency

Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament from 1295 until 1885, when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.-History:...

 was abolished. Luton became a borough constituency in 1950

United Kingdom general election, 1950

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...

. At the February 1974 general election

United Kingdom general election, February 1974

The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...

 it was abolished, and replaced by two new borough constituencies: Luton East

Luton East (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton East is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the abolition of the Luton constituency in 1974 and, with Luton West, divided into Luton North and Luton South in 1983.-Members of Parliament:...

 and Luton West

Luton West (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton West is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the abolition of the Luton constituency in 1974 and, with Luton East, divided into Luton North and Luton South in 1983.-Members of Parliament:...

.

Boundaries

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

, when the former two-seat constituency of Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament from 1295 until 1885, when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.-History:...

 was divided into two single-member seats of Biggleswade

Biggleswade (UK Parliament constituency)

Biggleswade was a county constituency in Bedfordshire which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until its abolition in 1918...

 and Luton.

On its creation the constituency included, as well as Luton itself, the towns of Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable, both of which were transferred to other seats at subsequent boundary redistributions.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	Cyril Flower Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea was a British Liberal politician and patron of art.-Background and education:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1892	Samuel Howard Whitbread Samuel Howard Whitbread Samuel Howard Whitbread was a British Member of Parliament and a member of the Whitbread brewing family.He was the son of Samuel Whitbread. He was Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire and represented the constituencies of Huntingdon and Luton .- External links :...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1895 United Kingdom general election, 1895 The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...	Thomas Gair Ashton	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1911	Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...	Sir John Prescott Hewett	Unionist Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...	Geoffrey William Algernon Howard Geoffrey Howard (Liberal politician) The Honourable Geoffrey William Algernon Howard JP was a British Liberal politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household under H. H...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 - Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...	Terence James O'Connor	Unionist Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...	Edward Leslie Burgin	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...		National Liberal National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
	1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...	Will Warbey William Warbey William Noble Warbey was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.William Noble was born in the then newly created Metropolitan Borough of Hackney in London. He first entered the House of Commons in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, as Member of Parliament for Luton in...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...	Charles Hill Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton PC was a British administrator, doctor and television executive.Charles Hill was born in Islington, London and was educated at St Olave's Grammar School in Southwark, London. He won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge where he gained a first class degree...	National Liberal and Conservative National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
	1963 by-election	Will Howie William Howie, Baron Howie of Troon William Howie, Baron Howie of Troon , known as Will Howie, is a retired British Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament ....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...	Charles Simeons Charles Simeons Charles Fitzmaurice Creighton Simeons is a retired British Conservative Party politician and pollution control consultant.On his third attempt, he was elected Member of Parliament for Luton at the 1970 general election...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Feb 1974 United Kingdom general election, February 1974 The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...	constituency abolished: see Luton East Luton East (UK Parliament constituency) Luton East is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the abolition of the Luton constituency in 1974 and, with Luton West, divided into Luton North and Luton South in 1983.-Members of Parliament:...  and Luton West Luton West (UK Parliament constituency) Luton West is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the abolition of the Luton constituency in 1974 and, with Luton East, divided into Luton North and Luton South in 1983.-Members of Parliament:...