Penrith and The Border (UK Parliament constituency)

Penrith and The Border was a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It elected only members of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1950.

The seat was abolished prior to the 2024 general election, with its area being split between three other constituencies.

History
Penrith and The Border was first contested in 1950 since which it was generally a safe Conservative seat and on rare occasions a marginal. The Conservatives came close to losing the seat in a 1983 by-election, when the former cabinet minister William Whitelaw became the leader of the House of Lords: the by-election took place a mere seven weeks after his success in the 1983 general election. Since that year the Liberal Democrats have come second behind the Conservatives until the 2015 general election when they came fourth. At the two subsequent general elections they have come third.

History of boundaries
1950–1983: The Urban District of Penrith, and the Rural Districts of Alston with Garrigill, Border, Penrith, and Wigton.

1983–1997: The District of Eden wards of Alston Moor, Appleby, Appleby Bongate, Askham, Brough, Crosby Ravensworth, Dacre, Eamont, Greystoke, Hartside, Hesket, Kirkby Thore, Kirkoswald, Langwathby, Lazonby, Long Marton, Lowther, Penrith East, Penrith North, Penrith South, Penrith West, Skelton, Ullswater, and Warcop, the City of Carlisle wards of Arthuret, Brampton, Burgh, Dalston, Great Corby and Geltsdale, Hayton, Irthing, Lyne, St Cuthbert Without, Stanwix Rural, and Wetheral, and the District of Allerdale wards of Aspatria, Boltons, Marsh, Silloth, Tarns, Wampool, Warnell, Waver, and Wigton.

1997–2010: The District of Eden, the City of Carlisle wards of Arthuret, Brampton, Great Corby and Geltsdale, Hayton, Irthing, Lyne, Stanwix Rural, and Wetheral, and the District of Allerdale wards of Marsh, Wampool, Warnell, and Wigton.

2010–2024: The District of Eden, the City of Carlisle wards of Brampton, Great Corby and Geltsdale, Hayton, Irthing, Longtown and Rockcliffe, Lyne, and Stanwix Rural, and the District of Allerdale wards of Warnell and Wigton.

The constituency was created in 1950 by merging part of Penrith and Cockermouth with North Cumberland. It was redrawn in 1983 by taking in most of the northern part of the old Westmorland constituency and in 1997 by taking in the Kirkby Stephen and Tebay areas of the pre-1997 Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency by doing so the constituency covered the entire district of Eden. Penrith and The Border also included parts of Allerdale and Carlisle districts, but lost parts of these areas to other seats at each boundary review.

Penrith and The Border was the largest constituency by area in England until 2024. Despite the name, it only included the English part of the border with Scotland. The neighbouring constituency of Hexham (together with Berwick-upon-Tweed) also takes in the border area. The name stems from the fact that when the constituency was first created it consisted of the Penrith Rural and Urban Districts, the Border Rural District and also the Alston with Garrigill Rural District.

Abolition
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed to three neighbouring constituencies:


 * Penrith and rural areas stretching from Alston in the east to Wigton in the west to the new seat of Penrith and Solway
 * The parts in the (former) City of Carlisle district ("The Border"), including Brampton and Longtown, to the constituency of Carlisle
 * Areas to the south of Penrith, including Appleby-in-Westmorland and Kirkby Stephen, to Westmorland and Lonsdale

Constituency profile
A heavily undulating, mostly farmed terrain dotted by market towns and historic villages, with wooded mountainsides and heath-covered tops, the constituency was focused on the Eden Valley between the Pennines and the Lake District, with the vale of the River Irthing above Carlisle. In the north towards Scotland were 8 of its 42 wards all beside or in the market town of Brampton which sits beside Hadrian's Wall.

The constituency tended to have modest incomes, low unemployment and a rate of dependency on social housing lower than urban centres.

Members of Parliament
The seat was represented for nearly three decades by William Whitelaw, who served as a cabinet minister in various capacities during Conservative governments of the 1970s and 1980s and later joined the House of Lords.

His successor, the former Conservative Chief Whip and junior minister, David Maclean, sat as MP from 1983 to 2010, when he stood down due to the state of his health; he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996.

Maclean was succeeded by Rory Stewart in May 2010. In September 2019 Rory Stewart had the Conservative whip withdrawn and therefore sat as an Independent MP.

At the December 2019 general election, Neil Hudson of the Conservative Party became the new MP.