STV for Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire stretches from the southwest to the northeast, which has made it a bit tricky as I create maps for this site. I debated whether my STV constituencies should be called east/west or north/south and finally went for the former, simply to avoid repeating ‘north.

The county is also in that in between part of the country that travellers on the M1 pass through but don’t know well, apart from maybe its the road with the most service stations. We know we’ve left London behind but we don’t feel we’ve got to the Midlands proper yet.

Several English ‘Regions’ meet here, this county and its towns are ‘East Midlands’, nearby Rugby is ‘West Midlands’. Milton Keynes is classed as ‘South East’ as if its in the environs of Canterbury. I had a friend form Bedford who liked to claim she was a South-Easterner… The people who draw the lines put her in East Anglia. I do wonder if the area deserves a region of its own,

Northampton and Northamptonshire West (to elect 4 MPs, covering the current constituencies of  Daventry;  Northampton North; Northampton South; South Northamptonshire)

Northamptonshire East (to elect 3 MPs, covering the current constituencies of  Daventry;  Northampton North; Northampton South; South Northamptonshire)

The Geography

The county is now divided into two Unitary Authorities with the dividing line similar though not the same as my division - Daventry constituency in particular spreads across both Authorities, but by my rules has to be in one STV constituency.

Northamptonshire may feel a little apart from its region, but it is a microcosm of middle England, with swathes of countryside and medium to small manufacturing town. The West of the county, aka its south, is mostly dominated by the County Town, which fits well with its rural surround. The Northeast is home to several manufacturing towns, notably Corby, with its steel industry, and Kettering, known for its shoes—a specialty it shares with the county town, Northampton

The Politics

In 2019, The Conservatives were kings in Northamptonshire, and could well have seen 4 of their candidates elected out of the 7 even under STV. In 2024, their vote approximately halved in all seven constituencies. That they held two in the Western/Southern half is testament to how large their majorities had been then. Their STV return would have been reduced to 2 in all probability.

Labour would probably be able to take 2 of the places available in Northampton and West, but the second might have been on a knife edge and dependent on vote transfers. They gained all three seats in my ‘East’ but on votes of 40% or a bit less. Under STV, they’d win the first but a second would be in doubt. This side of the county would likely be split three ways, with Reform UK competitive, on 15-20% across the county, for one MP in each half.

Again though, this would depend on them being able to reach outside their base. Whatever my personal doubts on that, in these notes I leave that open as a possibility

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Famous artists from the county are hard to place, more famous are the shoes