Abstract: A reluctance motor comprises a stator having two salient poles and a rotor also having two poles and being of soft magnetic material. The stator poles support windings which when current is being supplied generate a magnetic field which tends to set the rotor (16) in a stable position of equilibrium in which the rotor pole and the stator pole coincide. Either or both of the rotor poles and/or either or both of the stator poles are designed so as at high flux density to cause a constriction of the flux in a part of the cross section of the flux path to displace the position of equilibrium and when the flux density is moderate to distribute the flux generally uniformly over the said cross section.