Information about the site
Click on the links below to access information about the presentation and methodology used:
(These descriptions are best read while looking at an example of the relevant chart or table.)
Constituency names
The names of constituencies used on this site follow those used in the Media Guides published since 1983, and prior to that by F.W.S. Craig in his publications (see below). Compass point designations are always abbreviated where they follow a name, but not before (e.g. Essex SE and East Ham). No distinction is made between, for example, South or Southern - the latter form was generally used for County Constituencies before 1950. Although the Boundary Commissions have generally prefixed geographical descriptors to County Constituencies and suffixed them to Borough Constituencies, they are nearly always suffixed on this site (as in the Media Guides).
The Media Guides have not always been consistent. For example in Lincolnshire they have South Holland & The Deepings and Sleaford & North Hykeham, but Lindsey East.
Resources and acknowledgements:
On-line information sources:
National Library of Scotland Maps. Superb collection of out of copyright OS maps, with an ability to overlay historic maps on present day ones. Really helpful staff who respond quickly to queries.
Vision of Britain. Project run by the University of Portsmouth, which provides access to some historic Boundary Commission maps, as well as a Gazetteer describing changes to administrative units.
Electoral Calculus. Useful ward-by-ward breakdown of changes to constituency boundaries that were implemented in 2010 (sadly no longer fully available) and 2024.
On-line tools:
QGIS. The maps on this website were drawn using QGIS, a powerful open source Graphical Information System.
uMap. The zoomable maps were created using uMap, based on OpenStreetMap.
draw.io. The constituency charts were created using the draw.io app from Diagrams.net.
yEd. This charting software assisted in finding optimal layouts for the constituency charts.
Bibliography (incomplete):
Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885 -1972. F.W.S. Craig (1972). Despite its title, it only really covers the period 1918 - 1970, but including the Boundary Commissions' Second Periodical Reviews, the implementation of which were delayed until the February 1974 General Election. It provides no detail of divided Urban or Rural Districts or split wards in Boroughs. However, it is very accurate.
Various Reports of the Boundary Commissions for England, Wales, Scotland and (Northern) Ireland from 1868 to the present. Many reports contain useful maps, but care needs to be exercised as Boundary Commission Recommendations have not always been implemented in full. Also, a few errors have been found.
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, 1885-1918, 1918-1950, 1950-1970, 1970-1983, 1983-1997. F.W.S. Craig, except 1983 -1997 (Rallings and Thrasher).
Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. (Two volumes: Southern England (1980), Northern England (1991)). Frederic Youngs. A comprehensive guide, but sadly cannot be relied on in isolation, as it contains numerous errors.
BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (1983), Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (1995, 2007 and 2024), Media Guide to the New Scottish Westminster Constituencies (2004). These volumes present notional results for the new seats following major boundary reviews, based on how people voted in their predecessors. They contain useful estimates of the dispersal of the the electorate between the old and the new constituencies.