Kettering is a constituency in Northamptonshire based around the large town of Kettering, which has a population of around 67,000.[2] The other towns in the constituency are Desborough, Burton Latimer and Rothwell. Kettering and the smaller towns have an industrial history, particularly in iron mining and shoemaking.[3][4][5] The constituency has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in the centre of Kettering whilst the rest of the constituency is generally affluent, particularly so in Kettering's eastern suburbs.[6] House prices across the constituency are similar to the rest of the East Midlands and lower than the national average.[7]
In general, residents of the constituency have low levels of education but average rates of income and professional employment.[7] A high proportion of residents work in healthcare, retail and manufacturing.[8] White people made up 90% of the population at the 2021 census.[7] At the local council, the town of Kettering is mostly represented by Green Party councillors, Burton Latimer and the east of the constituency elected Reform UK councillors and Desborough, Rothwell and the west of the constituency elected Conservatives. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 61% voted in favour of Brexit compared to the nationwide figure of 52%.[7]
Electoral history
Prior to 1983, the constituency had been dominated not by the eponymous town, but by the nearby industrial town of Corby. The town's general support for Labour made Kettering a reliable Labour seat, as the party won it at every election from 1945 to when Corby was split off to form its own constituency in 1983. In its current configuration Kettering is much more inclined towards the Conservatives, though Labour won it in their landslide victories in 1997, 2001 and 2024.
Boundaries
The constituency covers the major town of Kettering, the smaller towns of Desborough, Rothwell and Burton Latimer together with a number of villages. A semi-rural seat, the preponderance of constituents live in the towns and a minority of the wards form a wide array of rural communities that have civil parish or hamlet status.
1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Desborough, Kettering, and Rothwell, the Rural Districts of Brixworth, Kettering, and Oxendon, and in the Rural District of Northampton the parishes of Great Billing, Little Billing, and Weston Favell.
The constituency created in 1950 included the generally (in the late 20th century) Labour-majority industrial town of Corby until the 1983 general election, when Corby gained its own constituency.
1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Kettering, the Urban Districts of Burton Latimer, Desborough, Corby and Rothwell, and the Rural Districts of Brixworth and Kettering.
1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Kettering, the Urban Districts of Burton Latimer, Corby, Desborough, and Rothwell, and the Rural District of Kettering.
1983–1997: The Borough of Kettering, and the District of Daventry wards of Boughton and Pitsford, Brixworth, Clipston, Moulton, and Overstone and Walgrave.
1997–2010: The Borough of Kettering, and the District of Daventry wards of Boughton and Pitsford, Brixworth, Clipston, Guilsborough, Moulton, Overstone and Walgrave, Spratton, and Welford.
2010–2021: The Borough of Kettering.
The Boundary Commission's Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies proposed an additional seat in Northamptonshire due to population growth in the county. Parliament approved its recommendations for 2010 which made way for the new constituency of South Northamptonshire. The resulting boundary changes resulted in the loss of the District of Daventry wards from the Kettering constituency.
2024–present: The North Northamptonshire wards of Burton and Broughton, Corby Rural (part), Clover Hill, Desborough, Ise, Northall, Rothwell and Mawsley, Wicksteed and Windmill.[9]
Members of Parliament
The current Member of Parliament is Rosie Wrighting of the Labour Party. She was elected in 2024 when she defeated the sitting Conservative MP, Philip Hollobone, in an election which nationally saw a landslide win for the Labour Party. Prior to Wrighting's victory, Kettering had been a predominantly safe Conservative seat since the removal of Corby in 1983, as Labour had only won it in their two landslides in 1997 and 2001, by tight margins of just 189 and 665 votes (0.3 and 1.2 percent of the vote) respectively. Her majority was by far the largest for Labour since before Corby was removed from the seat.
Prior to boundary changes in 1918, at least the majority of modern-day Kettering Constituency lay within the Mid Northamptonshire constituency.
North Northamptonshire Constituency (1832–1885)
Prior to boundary changes in 1885, at least the majority of modern-day Kettering Constituency lay within the North Northamptonshire constituency, which elected two members to Parliament.
Note: The boundary changes to the seat for the 1983 election meant that this seat would have been won by the Conservatives in 1979, as parts of the seat were moved into the newly created seat of Corby which was notionally Labour on the new boundaries and thus saw William Homewood attempt (albeit unsuccessfully) to seek re-election there.
^‘FERGUSON, Brig.-Gen. Algernon Francis Holford’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Sept 2017
Sources
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
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