Worcester (UK Parliament constituency)

Worcester
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Worcester in Worcestershire.
Location of Worcestershire within England.
County	Worcestershire
Electorate	73,960 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1295
Member of parliament	Robin Walker (Conservative)
Number of members	1885–present: One 1295–1885: Two
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Worcester is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885 it has elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election; from 1295 to 1885 it elected two MPs.

1918-1950: The County Borough of Worcester.

1950-1983: The County Borough of Worcester, the Municipal Borough of Droitwich, and the Rural District of Droitwich.

1983-1997: The City of Worcester, and the District of Wychavon wards of Drakes Broughton, Inkberrow, Lenches, Pinvin, Spetchley, and Upton Snodsbury.

1997-present: The City of Worcester.

The constituency covers the city of Worcester, with exactly the same boundaries as the city. It borders the Mid Worcestershire constituency to the east, and West Worcestershire to the west.

A Conservative seat for many years, Worcester was represented by the high-profile Conservative cabinet minister Peter Walker for three decades, from a by-election in 1961 until he stood down in 1992. Peter Luff (also Conservative) held the seat until 1997, when he moved to the redrawn Mid Worcestershire constituency.

Michael Foster of the Labour Party took the seat in the 1997 general election. This can be put down to a combination of Labour's landslide victory nationally, but also to the fact that boundary changes meant the constituency was now solely an urban area, rather than also containing much of the surrounding countryside.