When considering the history of local democracy in the area it is perhaps prudent to start the review from the 1880s, during which decade secret ballots were introduced and the Rugby Constituency was formed. It was still some years before universal suffrage, but looking at the latter years of the 19th Century is a reminder of how the democratic process changed in that period and at the start of the 20th Century.
In 1872 the use of secret ballot boxes had been introduced, and with the change in 1880 to make it a criminal offence to bribe voters, the first significant stages of electoral reform were underway – for a review of voting rights prior to those dates there is a good article here. The 1884 Third Electoral Reform Act provided some uniformity of voting rights – but those still excluded women completely, and only included male householders with defined rental contributions (£10 per annum minimum).
In 1885 the Rugby Constituency was formed following the 1885 Redistribution Act – see this Wikipedia link for details, and this would have provided the local MP for almost 100 years until 1983 when the Rugby Constituency was abolished in favour of the new Rugby and Kenilworth seat.
The Members of Parliament for those first 100 years or so were as follows
| From | To | Name | Party |
| 1885 | 1895 | Henry Peyton Cobb | Liberal |
| 1895 | 1900 | Richard Greville Verney | Conservative |
| 1900 | 1910 | Corrie Grant | Liberal |
| 1910 | 1922 | John Baird | Conservative |
| 1922 | 1923 | Euan Wallace | Conservative |
| 1923 | 1924 | Ernest Brown | Liberal |
| 1924 | 1942 | David Margesson | Conservative |
| 1942 | 1950 | William Brown | Independent |
| 1950 | 1959 | James Johnson | Labour |
| 1959 | 1966 | Roy Wise | Conservative |
| 1966 | 1979 | William Price | Labour |
| 1979 | 1983 | Jim Pawsey | Conservative |
Electoral Registers had been introduced in 1832, and there had been a distinction in the right to vote in local versus national elections with focus being on male ratepayers. From 1869 women ratepayers began to have the right to vote in local elections, and by 1884 those paying rent of at least £10 per year were added to the electoral register (although only one person per household).
A copy of the 1910 Electoral Roll for Church Lawford is available (the equivalent for King’s Newnham is not available until after the Great War). The Electoral Roll in 1910 shows the three divisions of voters showing those eligible to vote in the parliamentary election and the county elections. For details see here.
By 1928 Electoral Registry equality was established, with local electoral rolls, including that for King’s Newnham, illustrated here.
Prior to 1950 the local parliamentary constituency was formed from the urban district of Rugby, the Rugby Rural district plus the Southam area and villages to the south of the county.
From 1950 to 1974 the constituency consisted of the Rugby Borough area, and the Rugby Rural Area, with some amendments for the period 1975-1983.
From 1983 there was a more significant change, with the creation of the Rugby and Kenilworth Constituency bringing the latter and surrounding villages alongside most of the old Rugby constituency. This Constituency was abolished in 2010, having seen three local MPs – 1983-97 Jim Pawsey (Conservative), 1997-2005 Andy King (Labour) and 2005-10 Jeremy Wright (Conservative).
The Rugby Constituency was thus revived in 2010, with the Rugby wards of Admirals, Avon and Swift, Benn, Bilton, Brownsover North, Brownsover South, Caldecott, Earl Craven and Wolston, Eastlands, Fosse, Hillmorton, Lawford and King’s Newnham, New Bilton, Newbold, Overslade, Paddox, and Wolvey, plus Bulkington formerly in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth ward. Mark Pawsey (Conservative) was MP between 2010 and 2024. In July 2024 John Slinger (Labour) became the local MP.