UK Explained

Reading Central

Represented in Parliament by Matt Rodda (Labour). Here is who won the last general election here, and a few numbers about the area.

Your MP at a glance

Matt Rodda, Labour. Open their full page →

These describe the record. They do not say why an MP voted or claimed as they did.

How Reading Central compares

Every dot is one of the 631 areas that have figures. The large red dot is this area; green dots are areas like it.

TYPICAL FULL-TIME PAY, A WEEK

This area is 200 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £797£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 473 areas and lower than 175.

UK 3.9%This area 4.3%0.0%12.0%

Areas like this one

The three areas with the closest pay and claimant rate. This says nothing about politics or geography.

AreaWeekly payClaimants
Reading Central£7974.3%
North Ayrshire and Arran£7974.2%
Milton Keynes Central£7894.2%
Basildon and Billericay£7954.1%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in Reading Central

From the 2021 Census, next to the figure for England and Wales as a whole. Census day was 21 March 2021, so some things will have changed.

About the areaThis areaEngland and WalesCompared
Number of people116,33059,597,740 in total
Aged under 1618%18%about the same
Aged 65 and over12%19%7 points lower
Adults with a degree or higher45%34%11 points higher
Households that own their home49%62%13 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association13%17%4 points lower
Households renting privately37%20%17 points higher

Source: ONS, Census 2021 (England and Wales), via the UK Data Service statistics portal. Fetched 2026-10-04. These describe who lives here. They do not explain how anyone votes.

WINNER, 2024
Matt Rodda

Labour

MAJORITY
12,637

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
62%

of people who could vote did

Matt Rodda won with 48% of the votes, and Raj Singh (Conservative) came second with 20%.

Votes for each party

Labour48% · 21,598
Conservative20% · 8,961
Green Party14% · 6,417
Liberal Democrat9% · 3,963
Reform UK9% · 3,904
Independent1% · 227
Everyone else0% · 221
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Matt RoddaLabour21,59847.7%
Raj SinghConservative8,96119.8%
Dave McElroyGreen Party6,41714.2%
Henry WrightLiberal Democrat3,9638.8%
Andrew WilliamsReform UK3,9048.6%
Michael TurbervilleIndependent2270.5%
Adam GillmanTrade Unionist and Socialist Coalition2210.5%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£797 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
4.3%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Updated 4 Oct 2026