Louth and Horncastle is a constituency in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Victoria Atkins, a Conservative.

Constituency profile

Louth and Horncastle is a large rural constituency located in Lincolnshire. Its largest town is Louth, which has a population of around 18,000. Other settlements include the small market towns of Horncastle, Wragby, Coningsby, Alford and Spilsby, the spa town of Woodhall Spa, the seaside resort towns of Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea and the village of Holton-le-Clay. The Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape is located in the constituency, and like much of Lincolnshire, the constituency contains a number of former and active Royal Air Force bases. The coastal area is popular with tourists and contains numerous holiday parks, although like much of coastal England, there are high levels of deprivation here due to the decline in domestic tourism. The inland areas have average levels of wealth. House prices are lower than the rest of the East Midlands and considerably lower than the national average.

Louth and Horncastle has a large retiree population and thus residents have a very high average age. Residents have high rates of homeownership but low levels of income, education and professional employment. and the percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is low. The child poverty rate is higher than the national figure. White people made up 98% of the population at the 2021 census. At the local district council, the constituency is represented by a mixture of Conservative and independent councillors with some Labour Party representation in Louth and Mablethorpe. At the county council, which held elections in 2025, all seats in the constituency were won by Reform UK. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 68% voted in favour of Brexit compared to 52% nationwide.

The two wards of Chapel St Leonards and Willoughby with Sloothby were transferred to Boston and Skegness, whilst the previously orphaned ward of Wragby was added from Gainsborough.

History

The seat was created in 1997. Conservatives have been dominant in the area for decades, the closest result was in 1997, when a Labour Party candidate came the closest of any opponents to being elected.

Members of Parliament

The MP for this seat is Victoria Atkins. She succeeded Peter Tapsell at the 2015 general election. He previously represented the predecessor seats of East Lindsey and Horncastle from 1966 to 1997, and before that represented Nottingham West from 1959 to 1964 before being defeated by Labour. Prior to standing down, he was the longest-serving Conservative MP, albeit with the break in service, and from 2001, he was the only MP of any party first elected in the 1950s. Following the retirement of Alan Williams, Tapsell became, on his re-election in 2010, Father of the House. He was succeeded in the honorific position in 2015 by Gerald Kaufman.

Before 1997, see East Lindsey

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Election!!Member!!Party

|-

| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1997

| Sir Peter Tapsell

| Conservative

|-

| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 2015

| Victoria Atkins

| Conservative

|-

|}

Elections

thumb|centre|upright=2.5|Houth & Horncastle election results 1997–2024

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

See also

  • Louth constituency (1885–1983)
  • Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire

Notes

References

  • Louth and Horncastle UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
  • Louth and Horncastle UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
  • Louth and Horncastle UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK