At the time of the
2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, there were eight
constituencies in the
county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (
Reading East,
Reading West, and
Windsor) were within the permitted electorate range of no fewer than 69,724 electors and no more than 77,062. All of the remaining constituencies were above the upper limit. The
Boundary Commission for England therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county. Whilst both Reading constituencies could have remained unchanged, the boundary commission instead proposed a reconfiguration to account for the increased electorates of the surrounding constituencies, and to better reflect local ties in the surrounding communities. This involved the creation of two new constituencies (
Earley and Woodley and Mid Berkshire), both with the bulk of their electorate outside the
Borough of Reading but including outer wards of the borough, together with a new
Reading Central constituency entirely within the borough. During the process of acceptance of these proposals, the name was changed from
Mid Berkshire to
West Reading and Mid Berkshire, despite the relative small proportion of the constituency that is within Reading. The new constituency includes three borough wards and twelve wards from
West Berkshire, as opposed to seven and six respectively for the old Reading West constituency. ==Constituency profile==