Aberdeen South (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberdeen South is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

The seat is currently vacant, and most recently held by Stephen Flynn of the Scottish National Party from the 2019 general election until his resignation on 14 May 2026 upon his election as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. Flynn had served as the leader of the SNP in the House of Commons from December 2022 until 10 May 2026.

The constituency was first used in the 1885 general election, but has undergone boundary changes since then. There was also an Aberdeen South Holyrood constituency, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, created in 1999 with the boundaries of the Westminster constituency at that time. In 2011 the Scottish Parliament constituency of Aberdeen South was abolished and replaced with the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency.

Constituency profile

thumb|250px|Queens Cross, Aberdeen.

Aberdeen South is an affluent suburban constituency located along the south of the Aberdeen City council area. The seat covers most of Aberdeen's affluent West End and the outer villages of Bieldside, Cults, Milltimber and Peterculter. Situated within the constituency are some of Scotland's most affluent neighbourhoods, including Broomhill, Rubislaw and Queen's Cross, which was named the wealthiest part of Scotland in 2003. The seat also extends south-east across the River Dee to cover the suburb of Cove Bay and the more deprived neighbourhoods of Torry and Kincorth.

Boundaries

Historic

1885 to 1918

From 1832 to 1885 there was a single Aberdeen constituency. Prior to 1832, the burgh of Aberdeen had been represented as a component of the Aberdeen Burghs constituency.

When Aberdeen South was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and first used in the 1885 general election, so was Aberdeen North. Aberdeen South then consisted of the municipal wards of St Nicholas, Rosemount, Rubislaw and Ferryhill, and the 9th Parliamentary Polling District. The rest of the county of Aberdeen was covered by the county constituencies of Eastern Aberdeenshire and Western Aberdeenshire.

The same boundaries were used in the 1886 general election, the 1892 general election, the 1895 general election, the 1900 general election, the 1906 general election, the January 1910 general election and the December 1910 general election.

1918 to 1950

In 1918 constituency boundaries were redefined by the Representation of the People Act 1918. By then the county of city of Aberdeen had been created; Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South became the two constituencies covering the city (which was one of four counties of cities in Scotland) and entirely within the city. The new boundaries were first used in the 1918 general election, and Aberdeen South then consisted of the wards of Ferryhill, Rosemount, Rubislaw, Ruthrieston and St Nicholas.

The 1983 general election, the 1987 general election and the 1992 general election took place during this period. At the 1992 general election the constituency was the only seat which Labour had won at the 1987 election to be gained by the Conservatives.

In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, local government regions and districts were abolished and the city became one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. Also, the name of the city became, officially, Aberdeen City.

1997 to 2005

As redefined for the 1997 general election, Aberdeen South was one of three constituencies covering and entirely within the Aberdeen City area, the other two being Aberdeen North and Aberdeen Central. Aberdeen South shared boundaries with both of the other two constituencies.

The same boundaries were used for the 2001 general election.

2005 to 2024

As redefined by the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, and subsequently first used in the 2005 general election, the constituency was entirely within the Aberdeen City council area and one of five constituencies covering that council area and the Aberdeenshire council area.

In this period the constituency was made up of the Aberdeen City Council wards of Queens Cross, Gilcomston, Langstane, Hazlehead, Peterculter, Murtle, Cults, Seafield, Ashley, Broomhill, Garthdee, Gairn, Duthie, Torry, Tullos Hill, Kincorth West, Nigg, Loirston, as provided for by the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1995.

Current

Following the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the newly redrawn Aberdeen South consists of the following:

In full: the Aberdeen City Council wards of George Street/Harbour, Lower Deeside, Hazlehead/Queens Cross/Countesswells, Airyhall/Broomhill/Garthdee, Torry/Ferryhill, Kincorth/Nigg/Cove;
In part: the Aberdeen City Council ward of Midstocket/Rosemount (small area in southeast of ward).

The city centre and harbour areas (George Street/Harbour ward) were transferred from Aberdeen North.

Voting patterns

thumb|500px|Chart of Aberdeen South elections since the 1970 general election through the 2017 general election.

Aberdeen South was traditionally a strong Liberal Party constituency until it was won by the Unionist Party at the 1918 general election. The constituency subsequently went on to return Unionist MPs to Parliament until the party amalgamated with the Conservatives in 1965. The constituency developed into a Unionist-Labour marginal in 1964 and was gained by Labour's Donald Dewar in 1966, who went on to become the leader of the Scottish Labour Party and later the first-ever First Minister of Scotland in 1999. From the 1970 general election onwards, Aberdeen South returned Conservative MPs to Parliament. The seat was gained by Labour in 1987 and regained by the Conservatives in 1992. At Labour's 1997 landslide election victory Aberdeen South fell to Labour's Anne Begg, who represented the constituency until the 2015 general election when the constituency was gained by Callum McCaig of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Throughout the 2000s, the Liberal Democrats emerged as the main challenger to Labour in Aberdeen South, taking second place in 2005 behind Labour by just 3.2% of the vote. In the Scottish Parliament the equivalent Aberdeen South constituency was represented by the Liberal Democrats from 1999 until 2011, when the constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine was gained by the SNP. Recently the Conservatives have made a set of substantial advances in Aberdeen South, making gains in the constituency at the 2015 UK general election despite seeing a drop in their national vote share across Scotland. The 2015 election saw a Scottish National Party landslide across Scotland, and for the first time the SNP won the constituency with Callum McCaig. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election the Conservatives finished in second place in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency, more than doubling their vote share in the constituency and coming behind the SNP by 8.5% of the vote.

Ross Thomson of the Conservatives went on to gain the seat at the 2017 snap general election with a majority of 4,752 votes (10.6%) ahead of the sitting SNP MP Callum McCaig.

In 2019, the seat went back to the SNP when Thomson declined to stand again after a scandal. Stephen Flynn became the MP with a majority of 3,990 votes with 44.7% of the vote. This means that in the 10 years between 2010 and 2019, four MPs from three different parties had represented the seat. Notably, since 1964 no candidate has ever managed to secure an absolute majority – 50% of the vote or more.

At the 2024 election, Flynn held on to the seat despite a significant drop in his share of the vote, as the Conservative vote also fell, resulting in Labour gaining second place for the first time since 2015.