The historic county

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 of Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, in the 21st century region of South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

, was represented in Parliament from the 13th century. This article provides a list of constituencies constituting the Parliamentary representation from Berkshire.

In 1889 Berkshire became an administrative county. In 1974 a new shire county of Berkshire lost the Abingdon area to Oxfordshire, while the Slough district was transferred from Buckinghamshire. In 1997 the ceremonial county of Berkshire was divided between several unitary authorities

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

.

The first part of this article covers the constituencies wholly or predominantly within the area of the historic county of Berkshire, both before and after the administrative changes of 1889, 1974 and 1997. The second part refers to constituencies mostly in another historic county, which included some territory from the historic county of Berkshire. The summaries section only refers to the constituencies included in the first section of the constituency list.

List of constituencies

Article names are followed by (UK Parliament constituency). The constituencies which existed in 1707 were those previously represented in the Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

.

Key to abbrieviations:-

• (Type) BC Borough constituency, CC County constituency.
• (County in Notes) B1 historic county of Berkshire (to 1889), B2 administrative county of Berkshire (1889–1974), B3 shire/ceremonial county of Berkshire (from 1974), O shire county of Oxfordshire.

Constituencies wholly or predominantly in the historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes
Abingdon Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency) Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...	BC (1558-1885)	1558	1983	1	B1, B2, O
	CC (1885–1983)
Berkshire Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency) Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...	CC	1290	1885	2 (1290-1654)	B1
				5 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
				3 (1832–1885)
East Berkshire	CC	1983	1997	1	B3
Bracknell Bracknell (UK Parliament constituency) -Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...	CC	1997	*	1	B3
Maidenhead Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) Maidenhead is a county constituency in Berkshire which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system...	CC	1997	*	1	B
Newbury Newbury (UK Parliament constituency) Newbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament , elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....	CC	1885	*	1	B1, B2, B3
Reading Reading (UK Parliament constituency) Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....	BC	1295	1950	2 (1295-1654)	B1, B2: Includes Parliamentary Borough of Reading article for pre-1885.
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
				1 (1885–1950)
	BC	1955	1974	1
Reading East	CC (1983–1997)	1983	*	1	B3
	BC (1997-*)
Reading North Reading North (UK Parliament constituency) Reading North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...	BC	1950	1955	1	B2, B3
		1974	1983
Reading South Reading South (UK Parliament constituency) Reading South was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...	BC	1950	1955	1	B2, B3
	CC	1974	1983
Reading West Reading West (UK Parliament constituency) Reading West is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like all such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...	CC	1983	*	1	B3
Wallingford Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency) Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...	BC	1295	1885	2 (1295-1832)	B1: Unrepresented 1654-1659
				1 (1832–1885)
Windsor Windsor (UK Parliament constituency) Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...	BC	1302	By 1377	2	B1, B2, B3: Including New Windsor. Unrepresented 1654-1659. Includes part of the historic counties of Buckinghamshire and Middlesex from 1997.
	BC (1424-1918)	1424	1974	2 (1424-1868)
	CC (1918–1974)			1 (1868–1974)
	CC	1997	*	1
Windsor and Maidenhead Windsor and Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) Windsor and Maidenhead was a county constituency in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....	CC	1974	1997	1	B3: Includes part of historic county of Buckinghamshire from 1983.
Wokingham Wokingham (UK Parliament constituency) Wokingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...	CC	1885	1918	1	B1, B2, B3
		1950	*

Constituencies mostly in another historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes
Oxford West and Abingdon	CC	1983	*	1	O: Includes the Abingdon area.
Wantage Wantage (UK Parliament constituency) -Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...	CC	1983	*	1	O: Includes the Wallingford area.

Periods constituencies represented

	1290–1295	1295–1302	1302–<1377	<1377–1424	1424–1558	1558–1654	1654–1659	1659–1832
Abingdon Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency) Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...						1558–1983
Berkshire Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency) Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...	1290–1885
Reading		1295–1950
Wallingford Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency) Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...		1295–1654						1659–1885
Windsor Windsor (UK Parliament constituency) Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...			1302–<1377		1424–1654			1659–1974

	1832–1885	1885–1918	1918–1950	1950–1955	1955–1974	1974–1983	1983–1997	1997–*
Abingdon Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency) Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...	1558–1983
Berkshire Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency) Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...	1290–1885
East Berkshire							1983–1997
Bracknell Bracknell (UK Parliament constituency) -Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...								1997–*
Maidenhead Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) Maidenhead is a county constituency in Berkshire which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system...								1997–*
Newbury Newbury (UK Parliament constituency) Newbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament , elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....		1885–*
Oxford West and Abingdon							1983–*
Reading Reading (UK Parliament constituency) Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....	1295–1950				1955–1974
Reading East							1983–*
Reading North Reading North (UK Parliament constituency) Reading North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...				1950–1955		1974–1983
Reading South Reading South (UK Parliament constituency) Reading South was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...				1950–1955		1974–1983
Reading West Reading West (UK Parliament constituency) Reading West is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like all such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...							1983–*
Wallingford Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency) Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...	1659–1885
Wantage Wantage (UK Parliament constituency) -Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...							1983–*
Windsor Windsor (UK Parliament constituency) Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...	1659–1974							1997–*
Windsor and Maidenhead Windsor and Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) Windsor and Maidenhead was a county constituency in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....						1974–1997
Wokingham Wokingham (UK Parliament constituency) Wokingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...		1885–1918		1950–*

Summary of Constituencies by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1302	<1377	1424	1558	1654	1659	1832	1868	1885	1918	1950	1955	1974	1983	1997
Borough	–	2	3	2	3	4	2	4	4	4	2	1	2	1	1	–	1
County	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	4	4	5	6	6
Total	1	3	4	3	4	5	3	5	5	5	5	4	6	5	6	6	7

Summary of Members of Parliament by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1302	<1377	1424	1558	1654	1659	1832	1868	1885	1918	1950	1955	1974	1983	1997
Borough	–	4	6	4	6	7	2	7	6	5	2	1	2	1	1	–	1
County	2	2	2	2	2	2	5	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	6	6
Total	2	6	8	6	8	9	7	9	9	8	5	4	6	5	6	6	7

See also

• Wikipedia:Index of article on UK Parliament constituencies in England
• Wikipedia:Index of articles on UK Parliament constituencies in England N-Z
• Parliamentary representation by historic counties
  Parliamentary representation by historic counties
  The Parliamentary representation by historic counties is summarised in this article, with links to the articles about the representation of each of the historic counties in the House of Commons of the Parliaments of England , Great Britain and the United Kingdom .-History of the historic counties...
  
  
• First Protectorate Parliament
  First Protectorate Parliament
  The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....
  
  
• Unreformed House of Commons
  Unreformed House of Commons
  The unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act 1832.Until the Act of Union of 1707 joining the Kingdoms of Scotland and England , Scotland had its own Parliament, and the term refers to the House of Commons of England...