Reading East (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading East
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Reading East in Berkshire.
Location of Berkshire within England.
County	Berkshire
Electorate	78,170 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Reading
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Rob Wilson (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Reading North and Reading South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Reading East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like all such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covers an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.

Boundaries

The constituency comprises the central, northern and eastern parts of the Borough of Reading (specifically the wards of Abbey, Caversham, Church, Katesgrove, Mapledurham, Park, Peppard, Redlands and Thames), together with the parishes of Woodley and (part of) Sonning in Wokingham District. It is bounded by the constituencies of Reading West, Henley, Maidenhead, and Wokingham.

History

The Reading East parliamentary constituency was first contested in 1983, when it was won for the Conservative Party by Gerard Vaughan, the sitting MP for the previous Reading South constituency. He held the seat through all subsequent general elections until he retired before the 1997 election.

The constituency was then won for the Labour Party by Jane Griffiths in the 1997 election that brought Labour to power under Tony Blair. She retained the seat in the 2001 election, but was deselected by her Constituency Labour Party before the 2005 election, when the seat was regained for the Conservatives by Rob Wilson.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Gerard Vaughan	Conservative
	1997	Jane Griffiths	Labour
	2005	Rob Wilson	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	21,269	42.6	+6.9
	Liberal Democrat	Gareth Epps	13,664	27.3	+3.0
	Labour	Anneliese Dodds	12,729	25.5	-8.5
	UKIP	Adrian Pitfield	1,086	2.2	+0.2
	Green	Rob White	1,069	2.1	-1.4
	Independent	Joan Lloyd	111	0.2	+0.2
	Independent	Michael Turberville	57	0.1	+0.1
Majority			7,605	15.2
Turnout			49,985	66.7	+8.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
Source BBC

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Wilson	15,557	35.4	+3.4
	Labour	Tony Page	15,082	34.3	-10.5
	Liberal Democrat	Prof John Howson	10,619	24.2	+5.7
	Green	Rob White	1,548	3.5	+1.1
	UKIP	David Lamb	849	1.9	+0.7
	Independent	Joan Lloyd	135	0.3	+0.3
	Independent	Rex Hora	122	0.3	+0.3
Majority			475	1.1
Turnout			43,912	60.3	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.0
Source BBC

General Election 2001: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Griffiths	19,538	44.8	+2.1
	Conservative	Barry Tanswell	13,943	32.0	-3.2
	Liberal Democrat	Thomas Dobrashian	8,078	18.5	0.0
	Green	Miriam Kennet	1,053	2.4	N/A
	UKIP	Amy Thornton	525	1.2	+0.7
	Socialist Alliance	Darren Williams	394	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Peter Hammerson	94	0.2	N/A
Majority			5,595	12.8
Turnout			43,625	58.4	-11.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.7
Source House of Commons Library

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Griffiths	21,461	42.7	+15.7
	Conservative	John Watts	17,666	35.2	-18.6
	Liberal Democrat	Sam Samuel	9,307	18.5	+0.9
	Referendum Party	D Harmer	1,042	2.1	N/A
	Natural Law	J Buckley	254	0.5	N/A
	UKIP	A L Thornton	252	0.5	N/A
	BNP	Barbara Packer	238	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,795	7.5
Turnout			50,220	70.2	-4.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.2
Source Guardian Unlimited

General Election 1992: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	29,148	53.8	0.0
	Labour	Gillian Parker	14,593	27.0	+5.5
	Liberal Democrat	Denis Thair	9,528	17.6	−5.6
	Green	A McCubbin	861	1.6	+0.3
Majority			14,555	26.8	−3.8
Turnout			54,130	75.0	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.8
Source Guardian Unlimited

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	28,515	53.8	+2.2
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Social Democrat)	S. M. Baring	12,298	23.2	−4.2
	Labour	Martin Salter	11,371	21.5	+2.1
	Green	P. J. Unsworth	667	1.3	+0.2
	CSOSMG	A. B. Shone	125	0.2	N/A
Majority			16,217	30.6
Turnout			52,976	73.3	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
Source

General Election 1983: Reading East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	24,516	51.6
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Social Democrat)	Chris Huhne	13,008	27.4
	Labour	K. Boyle	9,218	19.4
	Ecology	G. Darnton	519	1.1
	BNP	P. Baker	147	0.3
	Common Market Party	B. Shone	113	0.2
Majority			11,508	24.2
Turnout			47,512	70.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
Source

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire