Situated in the southeast of the
Central District of Botswana, the Tswapong North constituency was established in
1965 for the country's inaugural elections and is one of Botswana's longest extant constituencies. Reflecting the dominant Tswapong population which has largely
assimilated with the
Ngwato tribe, the constituency was historically a
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) stronghold. From 1965 to 2014, the BDP consistently garnered an average of 80% of the vote. However, since the
turn of the century, the BDP's dominance began to wane, with its vote share decreasing in each election since 1999. The constituency was subject to modest boundary changes and was briefly renamed to
Lerala-Maunatlala in the run-up to the
2014 general election. In 2019, echoing a broader trend within the district, a significant
political realignment occurred as
Ian Khama,
paramount chief of the Ngwato tribe fell out with the incumbent president,
Mokgweetsi Masisi and leader of the BDP. This political discord impacted the constituency's voting patterns. The
2019 election saw an 11
percentage point swing against the BDP, marking the first time the BDP failed to have a majority of the votes cast in the constituency. However, opposition parties
split votes amongst themselves, allowing the BDP to eke out a victory. In the
2024 Botswana general election, the
Umbrella for Democratic Change flipped it to the opposition column due to a steep collapse in the BDP vote, ending the party’s 58-year grip on the constituency. The constituency, predominantly rural, encompasses the following villages: •
Lerala •
Lecheng • Mokungwana • Matlhakola • Goo-Segkweng • Gootau • Manaledi • Majwaneng • Seolwane • Kagodi • Diloro •
Mogapinyana • Ratholo • Moeng • Mosweu • Mokokwana •
Maunatlala • Lesenepole •
Moremi • Malaka • Maokatumo • Tamasane •
Mogapi ==Members of Parliament==