What will the general election mean for Northants?
Voters in Northamptonshire will go to the polls on Thursday 4th July to select MPs across seven constituencies.
Earlier this month, Chris Heaton-Harris, the MP for Daventry, announced he would not contest the seat he has held since 2010.
Until earlier this year, all seven constituencies in the county had been Conservative.
That changed in February in the Wellingborough by-election, when Labour’s Gen Kitchen took the seat from the Tories.
Here are the seven constituencies in Northamptonshire:
Corby and East Northamptonshire
This constituency has had a name change since 2019, adding East Northamptonshire. Conservative Tom Pursglove first won the seat in 2015. He has a majority of just over 2,400. Labour finished in second place and it is a seat they will be looking to take.
Daventry
The seat will have a new MP after the general election, as sitting MP Conservative Chris Heaton-Harris announced he would be standing down. He won in 2019 with a majority of over 26,000, with Labour coming in second.
Kettering
The seat has been held by Conservative Philip Hollobone since May 2010. In 2019 he won a majority of more than 16,000. He has confirmed he will be standing again, but Labour, Reform and the Greens are all fielding candidates. The seat was held by Labour between 1975 and 1983 before the Conservatives won it. It returned to Labour in 1997 and went back to the Tories in 2005.
Northampton North
The seat has been held by Conservative Sir Michael Ellis since May 2010. In 2019 he won a majority of over 5,500, with Labour coming second.
Sir Michael has announced he will not contest the seat in 2024.
Major boundary changes see this seat take in Northampton town centre from the Northampton South constituency.
Northampton South
The seat was won by Conservative Andrew Lewer in 2017 with a majority of over 4,600. It has often been seen as a bellweather - changing between the Conservatives and Labour. The boundary changes here see the constituency take in more of the rural South Northamptonshire seat, perhaps strengthening the Conservative vote.
South Northamptonshire
The constituency has been represented by Conservative Dame Andrea Leadsom since 2010. In 2019 she secured a majority of over 27,000, the largest majority in the county. The constituency was created in 2010 from parts of the Daventry seat, although it had existed twice before, but with different boundaries each time.
Wellingborough and Rushden
This constituency has had boundary changes and a name change since the 2019 general election. Some of the voters here only went to the polls in February - for the by-election that saw Labour’s Gen Kitchen take the seat from Conservative Peter Bone. That made her Labour’s first Northamptonshire MP since 2015. On the old boundaries, it had been the second most marginal seat for Labour in 1997, before it was won by the Tories in 2005.
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