Reading West and Mid Berkshire

New parliamentary constituency

This constituency is new at the July general election, and replaces the previous three constituencies:

Reading West

Covered approximately 57% of this new constituency’s population, and 71% of this new constituency’s area.

Wokingham

Covered approximately 13% of this new constituency’s population, and 50% of this new constituency’s area.

Newbury

Covered approximately 14% of this new constituency’s population, and 34% of this new constituency’s area.

MP profiles

Date elected

4th Jul 2024

Public opinion

Do you think immigration has generally enriched or undermined society?

This area National average
Enriched 39.8% 37.2%
Neither 13.8% 12.5%
Undermined 46.4% 47.3%

Should the welfare system be expanded to help more people, or reduced to make benefits harder to get?

This area National average
Expanded 29.8% 34.1%
Neither 13.3% 11.5%
Reduced 57.0% 51.5%

Would you be comfortable paying more tax, if it meant more money were invested in public services like the NHS and education?

This area National average
Comfortable 46.1% 44.3%
Neither 5.8% 6.0%
Uncomfortable 48.2% 46.8%

Would you be comfortable with government debt going up, provided that money were invested in the economy and local services?

This area National average
Comfortable 52.1% 52.5%
Neither 7.3% 7.6%
Uncomfortable 40.5% 37.0%

Would you support or oppose the building of new housing in your area?

This area National average
Neither 24.6% 21.1%
Oppose 20.4% 17.8%
Support 55.0% 58.2%

Second placed party at most recent election

Conservative Party

Loss of nature and destruction of the environment should be one of the most important concerns for the country

This area National average
Net agree 75.0% 72.6%
Net disagree 8% 8.7%
Strongly agree 35.5% 33.8%
Partly agree 38.8% 38.8%
Neither agree nor disagree 16.8% 18.7%
Partly disagree 6% 5.9%
Strongly disagree 2% 2.7%

Policies for tackling the cost of living crisis should go hand in hand with policies to tackle the climate crisis

This area National average
Net agree 62.5% 58.9%
Net disagree 15.3% 17.6%
Strongly agree 26.5% 24.2%
Somewhat agree 36.7% 34.7%
Neither agree nor disagree 22.2% 23.4%
Somewhat disagree 10.2% 10.5%
Strongly disagree 5.2% 7.1%

Tackling climate change should / should not be one of the Government’s biggest priorities right now

This area National average
Should be a priority 61.5% 57.5%
Should not be a priority 38.5% 42.5%

Neither support nor oppose Net Zero

25%

26.2% national average

Believe that the government should continue the block on onshore wind development

26.5%

24.3% national average

Believe that the government should use wind and solar farms to reduce energy bills

87%

84.3% national average

Believe the government has increased investment in renewables over the past 5 years

57.5%

52.0% national average

Place

Constituency age distribution

This area National average
Ages 0 - 15 19.9% 18.3%
Ages 16 - 24 9.1% 10.5%
Ages 25 - 34 11.1% 13.2%
Ages 35 - 49 20.3% 19.1%
Ages 50 - 64 20.9% 19.8%
Ages 65 and over 18.7% 19.1%

Current Industry

This area National average
Agriculture, energy and water 1.5% 1.1%
Construction 4.5% 4.1%
Distribution, hotels and restaurants 8.8% 9.2%
Financial, real estate, professional and administrative activities 9.1% 7.9%
Manufacturing 2.6% 3.5%
Does not apply 50.1% 53.4%
Other 2.0% 2.1%
Public administration, education and health 14.3% 14.3%
Transport and communication 7.0% 4.4%

Current Occupation

This area National average
Administrative and secretarial occupations 4.9% 4.3%
Associate professional and technical occupations 7.2% 6.1%
Caring, leisure and other service occupations 4.2% 4.4%
Elementary occupations 4.1% 4.8%
Managers, directors and senior officials 7.5% 6.0%
Does not apply 50.1% 53.4%
Process, plant and machine operatives 2.5% 3.2%
Professional occupations 11.1% 9.4%
Sales and customer service occupations 3.2% 3.5%
Skilled trades occupations 5.1% 4.8%

Disabled under the Equality Act

14.4%

17.7% national average

Ethnicity

This area National average
Asian / Asian British 6.0% 8.1%
Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups 3.9% 2.8%
Other ethnic groups 0.9% 1.8%
Other White 7.0% 6.3%
White British 78.8% 77.5%

General Health

This area National average
Bad or very bad health 3.5% 5.3%
Fair health 10.9% 12.8%
Very good or good health 85.6% 81.9%

Have missed a bill payment in the last six months

32.5%

31.5% national average

Have missed a credit payment in the last six months

24.8%

23.6% national average

Have missed a rent payment in the last six months

21.8%

19.0% national average

Have not been able to afford to turn the heating on at home when they have felt cold in the past month

38.7%

37.5% national average

Main Language

This area National average
African languages 0.2% 0.3%
Asian languages 2.1% 3.0%
English or Welsh 91.0% 88.9%
European languages (EU) 3.2% 3.8%
Does not apply 3.0% 3.1%
North or South American languages 0% 0.0%
Oceanic or Australian languages 0% 0.0%
Any other languages 0.3% 0.6%
Other European languages (non-EU) 0.1% 0.1%
Any other UK languages 0.0% 0.0%
Sign and supported languages 0.0% 0.0%

Travel to work method

This area National average
Bicycle 0.6% 0.9%
Bus, minibus or coach 2.0% 1.8%
Driving a car or van 21.4% 21.3%
On foot 2.6% 3.5%
Work mainly at or from home 20.1% 14.5%
Underground, metro, light rail, tram 0.0% 0.7%
Motorcycle, scooter or moped 0.2% 0.2%
Not in employment or aged 15 years and under 50.1% 53.4%
Other method of travel to work 0.4% 0.5%
Passenger in a car or van 1.6% 1.8%
Taxi 0.1% 0.3%
Train 0.7% 0.8%

Worried about having to use a foodbank in the next year

28.3%

28.7% national average

Worried about not being able to afford their mortgage or rent in the next year

43.8%

40.0% national average

Country of the UK

England

Movement

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust members

2,796

2,956.4 national average

Churches that have declared a climate emergency

0

0.2 national average

Number of RSPB Reserves

0

0.3 national average

Number of Save the Children shops

0

0.2 national average

Number of Wildlife Trusts Reserves

6

  • Bucklebury Common
  • Decoy Heath
  • Hosehill Lake
  • Moor Copse
  • Padworth Common
  • Wokefield Common