Bedford constituency is centred on the built-up area of Bedford and Kempston. It includes central Bedford neighbourhoods such as Castle, Cauldwell, De Parys, Harpur and Queens Park, together with Brickhill, Goldington, Kingsbrook, Newnham and Putnoe. To the south-west it takes in Kempston through its central, northern, southern and western wards. The constituency is therefore overwhelmingly urban and suburban, bringing together Bedford’s town centre and surrounding residential districts with the adjoining town of Kempston. It forms only one part of the wider Bedford Borough, whose more rural communities fall mainly into North Bedfordshire and Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituencies.
Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.
People and place
A population and household snapshot for Bedford, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.
Estimated population114,023
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationEast of England
Age profile
0 to 1722.3% · 25,407 people
18 to 247.7% · 8,724 people
25 to 3414.2% · 16,174 people
35 to 4921.7% · 24,687 people
50 to 6418.1% · 20,693 people
65 and over16.1% · 18,338 people
Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗
Home ownership and renting
Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.
44,851 householdsCensus 2021
Home owners54.4% · 24,382 households
Private renters24.6% · 11,024 households
Social renters19.8% · 8,880 households
Other tenure1.3% · 565 households
“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.
Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗
Household composition
A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.
44,848 householdsCensus 2021
One-person households32.0% · 14,348 households
Families with dependent children30.2% · 13,557 households
Other single-family households32.5% · 14,561 households
Other household types5.3% · 2,382 households
Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗
Disability and day-to-day activities
The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
109,965 people in the source baseCensus 2021Source comparison: England & Wales
Day-to-day activities limited a lot7.0% · 7,671 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little9.4% · 10,359 people
Not disabled under the Equality Act83.6% · 91,935 people
Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.
Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗
Petitions
Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.
Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.
Open petitionCloses 12 September 2026
Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership
Signatures in this constituency322
Signatures nationally244,689
Government response published · Debate scheduled for 29 June 2026
Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗
Funding and local projects
National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.
The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.
Grants recorded70
Total awarded£4,710,976
Most recent awards
National Lottery grantAwarded 18 June 2026
Refugee Integration Project
Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support
£19,999
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support - Community - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 12 June 2026
Roof Refurbishment for The Place Theatre
Bedford Players Trust
£20,000
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Bedford Players Trust - Environment - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 11 June 2026
The Changing Voice of Folk: Exploring Folk Voice through Digitisation, Embodiment & Experimentation
Grant to individual
£4,550
Arts Council England · Arts
About this award
The Changing Voice of Folk: Exploring Folk Voice through Digitisation, Embodiment & Experimentation - Not discipline specific - National Lottery Project Grants
National Lottery grantAwarded 9 June 2026
Extension 2027-28: Bedford Borough Council
Bedford Borough Council
£69,349
Arts Council England · Arts
About this award
Extension 2027-28: Bedford Borough Council - Museums - NPO 2023-26
National Lottery grantAwarded 27 May 2026
Increasing Access to Wheelchair Rugby League–Bedford Tigers
Bedford Tigers Wheelchair Rugby League Club
£3,000
Sport England · Sport
About this award
This project will enable more consistent delivery of the wheelchair rugby league. This will be achieved by sessions every 3 weeks alongside 10 matches. Funding will support the maintenance, repair and management of existing wheelchairs plus the purchase of new chairs.
65 more awards are available.
Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗
Consent on Project Open Gov
We use essential cookies to make this website work.
We would also like to use optional cookies to understand how people use the site and to manage embedded third-party content where it is used.
You can accept optional cookies, reject them, or manage your preferences.
Essential cookies
Always active
These cookies are needed for the website to work properly, including security, basic site functions, caching, forms and cookie preference settings. They are always active.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Analytics cookies
These optional cookies help us understand how people use Project Open Gov, such as which pages are visited and how the site is reached. We use this information to improve the website. Analytics cookies are only used if you agree.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
External media cookies
These optional cookies may be used when third-party embedded content is loaded, such as videos or social media content. Project Open Gov does not use these cookies for advertising or remarketing.
