The Charnwood constituency is a hidden gem of the East Midlands, located in the heart of England, in north Leicestershire between Leicester and Loughborough. In 1995 population growth saw the old Loughborough seat split in two, forming the two new seats of Loughborough and Charnwood. Charnwood was first contested at the 1997 election and was represented between 1997 and 2015 by Conservative MP, Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell. The Charnwood constituency comprises 27 rural villages, small towns, and suburbs on the edge of Leicester, stretching in an arc round the north and west of the city.
The constituency contains parts of three different borough or district council areas. While the majority of its 17 council wards fall within the Charnwood Borough, the seat also includes the Groby Ward from Hinckley and Bosworth District, and the Forest (Leicester Forest East), Muxloe (Kirby Muxloe), Glenfield Ellis and Glenfield Fairestone Wards from the Blaby District.
It is a real mix of rural and suburban, and is home to agriculture, light industry, and service businesses. The seat has, in recent years, seen a notable amount of new housebuilding but retains its predominantly rural feel and includes the historic Bradgate Park and parts of the National Forest. With its central location, the constituency benefits not just from its proximity and links to the city of Leicester, and its rail services to London and to the north, but it sits at the heart of the Midlands' transport links of the M1, A46, A6 and nearby East Midlands Airport.
The Charnwood constituency includes the following towns and villages: Thurmaston, Birstall & Wanlip, Syston, Rothley, Mountsorrel, Anstey, Newtown Linford, Woodhouse Eaves, Woodhouse, Cropston, Thurcaston, Swithland, Barkby, Barkby Thorpe, Beeby, South Croxton, Queniborough, East Goscote, Seagrave, Cossington, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Rearsby, Thrussington, Glenfield, Leicester Forest East, Kirby Muxloe, and Groby.