Constituency view

Reading Central

South East, England

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Matt Rodda

Labour

Male

Majority12,637

Turnout61.5%

Electorate73,600

Valid votes45,291

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour21,598 - 47.7%

Conservative8,961 - 19.8%

Green6,417 - 14.2%

Lib Dem3,963 - 8.8%

Reform3,904 - 8.6%

Other448 - 1.0%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£219,107,956

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£1,786 total benefits bill per resident · 21% below average

Reading Central: £1,786
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 382 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£219,107,956	293/575
Change over 2 years	+19.8%
Median local wage (2025)	£47,337	+22.1%

Universal Credit£142,139,286
£1,159 per resident · 11,457 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 2,968 · 1 in 29 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£33,268,919
£271 per resident · 4,558 claimants (+22.2% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 2,089 · 46% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 2,198
Housing Benefit£22,884,784
£187 per resident · 2,248 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£11,161,452
£91 per resident · 1,941 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£4,945,427
£40 per resident · 783 claimants
Carer's Allowance£4,708,089
£38 per resident · 1,089 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 65.8%White British 50.4%Asian 19.2%Black, African or Caribbean 7.0%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 4.8%Other 3.2%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 72.7%White British 62.1%Asian 15.8%Black, African or Caribbean 6.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 3.7%Other 1.1%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 85.6%White British 78.7%Asian 7.0%Black, African or Caribbean 4.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.3%Other 0.8%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991 data not available for this constituency.

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Reading Central (2021)

UK 62.8%Other EU 12.7%Other countries 24.5%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Reading Central (2011)

UK 71.8%Other EU 7.3%Other countries 20.9%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Reading Central (2001)

UK 84.1%Other EU 2.7%Other countries 13.2%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

1991 data not available for this topic.

Inset map

Reading Central

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Reading Central	National	Difference	Rank
% White	65.8%	83.0%	-17.2pp	556/650
% White British	50.4%	74.4%	-24.0pp	549/632
% Asian	19.2%	8.6%	+10.6pp	65/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	7.0%	3.7%	+3.2pp	95/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	4.8%	2.7%	+2.2pp	82/650
% Other ethnic group	3.2%	2.0%	+1.3pp	106/650
% UK-born	62.8%	84.0%	-21.2pp	595/650
% Non-UK-born	37.2%	16.0%	+21.2pp	56/650
% Other EU-born	12.7%	6.0%	+6.8pp	48/650
% Other countries-born	24.5%	10.1%	+14.4pp	57/650
% Christian	39.0%	46.7%	-7.8pp	502/575
% Muslim	9.2%	6.3%	+2.9pp	121/575
% Hindu	5.8%	1.6%	+4.1pp	29/575
% Sikh	0.7%	0.9%	-0.2pp	130/575
% Jewish	0.2%	0.5%	-0.2pp	135/575
% Buddhist	1.7%	0.4%	+1.3pp	4/575
% Other religion	0.8%	0.6%	+0.2pp	68/575
% No religion	35.6%	37.0%	-1.4pp	386/575
% Religion not stated	7.0%	6.0%	+1.1pp	49/575
% Has any religion	57.3%	57.0%	+0.3pp	210/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Reading Central

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.