Preston (UK Parliament constituency)

Preston
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Preston in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Electorate	61,025 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Preston
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Mark Hendrick (Labour Co-op)
Number of members	One
Created from	Preston North, Preston South
1529–1950
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Preston North, Preston South
1295–unknown
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Preston is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2000 by Mark Hendrick, a member of the Labour Party and of the Co-operative Party.

The seat was created for the Model Parliament and sent members until at least 1331 until a new (possibly confirmatory) grant of two members to Westminster followed. From 1529 extending unusually beyond the 19th century until the 1950 general election the seat had two-member representation. Party divisions tended to run stronger after 1931 before which two different parties' candidates frequently came first and second at elections under the bloc vote system.

In 1929 recently elected Liberal, Sir William Jowitt decided to join the Labour Party and called for a by-election (which implies a single vacancy) to support this change of party which he won to take up for two years the position of Attorney General of England and Wales as part of the Government. He became the highest judge during the Attlee Ministry, the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and Speaker of the House of Lords under a then hereditary-dominated House leading to a Conservative majority. Consequently, he was selected to be elevated to a peerage as 1st Earl Jowitt. With no sons he was to be the last Earl and wrote the Dictionary of English Law.

The representatives since the seat's revival after 33 years of being split between (larger area) North and South seats have all been members of the Labour Party.