Gainsborough
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire for the 2010 general election
Location of Lincolnshire within England
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	75,893 (June 2017)[1]
Major settlements	Market Rasen and Gainsborough
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Edward Leigh (Conservative)
Seats	One
1885–1983
Seats	One
Created from	North Lincolnshire
Replaced by	Gainsborough and Horncastle and Boothferry[2]

Gainsborough is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 that year, which lasted until it was reformed as Gainsborough and Horncastle on a boundary change for the 1983 election. That seat lasted until 1997, as from the mid-1990s population changes led to removal of Horncastle from the seat and recreation of the old seat with largely similar boundaries.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Lincoln, the Sessional Divisions of Epworth, Gainsborough, Lincoln, and the parish of Bracebridge.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Crowle and Gainsborough, and the Rural Districts of Gainsborough, Isle of Axholme, and Welton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Gainsborough and Market Rasen, and the Rural Districts of Caistor, Gainsborough, Isle of Axholme, and Welton.

1997–2010: The District of West Lindsey, and the District of East Lindsey wards of Binbrook and Wragby.

2010–present: The District of West Lindsey, and the District of East Lindsey ward of Wragby.

This constituency is named for its largest town of Gainsborough, on the west edge of the constituency, and comprises the West Lindsey district, and the Wragby ward of the East Lindsey district.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election will become coterminous with the District of West Lindsey, as a result of the transfer of the orphan ward of Wragby being transferred to Louth and Horncastle.^[3]

Constituency profile

This relatively vast rural seat north of Lincoln is named after the small market town at its western boundary. Regeneration projects are attempting to reduce pockets of severe deprivation in the constituency, but most of the area is affluent, albeit remote from many major cities; the closest conurbation is the city of Lincoln to the immediate south. Scunthorpe and Grimsby are both close enough to the northern edge of the constituency to be significant to residents. Though arable farming dominates the landscape and noteworthy pig farming industry (see Lincolnshire sausages), agriculture is in decline and the service/creative sector dominates.^[4] The seat has elected Conservative MPs since 1924 and is a stronghold, as well as giving its MPs very long tenures, having been represented by only three people since 1924.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s