Number of Westminster MPs

Over the history of the House of Commons, the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) has varied for assorted reasons, with increases in recent years due to increases in the population of the United Kingdom. There are currently 650 constituencies, each sending one MP to the House of Commons, corresponding to approximately one for every 92,000 people, or one for every 68,000 parliamentary electors.

While the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition governing after the 2010 general election had initially planned to reduce the number of MPs and constituencies to 600 during its term of office, Parliament voted in January 2013 to delay the boundary review this change would require.[1] Section 6 of the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013[2] required that the next review report come by October 2018; that was done, but the delays continued. The overall measure was not implemented and later abrogated with the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020,[3] from which the redrawn boundaries will be based and implemented ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election. The new boundary reviews were submitted on 28 June 2023.

  1. ^ "BBC News article: Conservatives lose boundary review vote". bbc.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 January 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  2. ^ Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
  3. ^ "Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2021.