![Harrogate and Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency) Harrogate and Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)](/modules/owlapps_apps/img/nopic.jpg)
Harrogate and Knaresborough () is a parliamentary constituency in North Yorkshire which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Jones, an MP from the Conservative Party. The constituency was formed in the 1997 boundary changes, before which it was named Harrogate.
An area with little unemployment, a relatively large retired population and large neighbourhoods of high house prices the former Harrogate constituency was a safe Conservative seat. When former Chancellor Norman Lamont stood for the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat in the Labour landslide general election in 1997, Harrogate moved the way of other spa towns in England such as Bath, and more urban and less touristic Cheltenham, by returning a non-Conservative candidate. The Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis was elected, and served until Andrew Jones regained the seat for his party on Willis's retirement in the 2010 general election with a swing of 9.1% and a margin of 1,039 votes.
1997–2010: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Duchy, East Central, Granby, Harlow, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough West, New Park, Pannal, Starbeck, Wedderburn, and West Central.
2010–present: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Boroughbridge, Claro, Granby, Harlow Moor, High Harrogate, Hookstone, Killinghall, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough King James, Knaresborough Scriven Park, Low Harrogate, New Park, Pannal, Rossett, Saltergate, Starbeck, Stray, and Woodfield.
As its name suggests, the constituency is centred on the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, with no parts more than 10 miles (16 km) away from either.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 general election the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Minor changes to align with revised ward boundaries.
With effect from 1 April 2023, the Borough of Harrogate was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of North Yorkshire. The constituency will therefore now comprise the following electoral divisions of North Yorkshire from the 2024 general election:
Before 1950 the two eponymous towns had been part of the Ripon constituency. The constituency was created as Harrogate and following boundary changes in 1997 the name was changed to 'Harrogate and Knaresborough'.
The current constituency embraces three former borough constituencies: Aldborough (now a suburb of Boroughbridge civil parish) and Boroughbridge, which were abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832, and Knaresborough, abolished in 1885.
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