Bristol East is a constituency recreated in 1983 covering the eastern part of the city of Bristol, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Kerry McCarthy of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
The Bristol East constituency is located within the city of Bristol in South West England. It is almost entirely urban or suburban and covers the neighbourhoods to the east and south-east of the city centre including Easton, St George, Brislington, Knowle and Stockwood. Bristol is a major port city and has a long history of trade, including the slave trade.
Compared to national averages, residents of Bristol East are younger and less religious and have average levels of income, education and professional employment. Parts of the constituency close to the city centre around Easton are amongst the top 10% most deprived areas in England, although the suburban areas around St George and Brislington are wealthier. The constituency is slightly more ethnically diverse than the rest of the country; 77% of the population are White, 10% are Black and 7% are Asian. Local politics at the city council are mixed; the parts of the constituency near the city centre are represented by Green Party councillors similar to neighbouring Bristol Central, whilst Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors were all elected in the suburban areas. Most voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 56% opposed Brexit compared to 48% nationally. however, in 2017, incumbent MP Kerry McCarthy more than tripled her majority, winning the largest share of the vote in the seat's history and by the biggest margin since 1997.
Turnout
Turnout has ranged between 80.3% in 1992 to 57.4% in 2001.
Other parties
Five parties' candidates achieved more than the deposit-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote in 2015. Prior to the 2024 election the largest third-party share of the vote had been won by Liberal Democrat candidate Philip James in the 2005 election with 25.2% of the vote. This record was beaten by the Green Party candidate Ani Stafford-Townsend who won 30.7% of the vote, the Green Party’s first second place in the seat since its creation.
Boundaries
The constituency covers the eastern part of the city of Bristol, from neighbourhoods of the City Centre to outer neighbourhoods (excluding surrounding settlements in local government administratively).
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol ward of South, part of North ward, and the local government district of St George.
1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of St George East and St George West, and parts of Easton, and Somerset wards.
1983–1997: The City of Bristol wards of Brislington East, Brislington West, Easton, Eastville, Hengrove, Lawrence Hill, and Stockwood.
1997–2010: The City of Bristol wards of Brislington East, Brislington West, Easton, Eastville, Lawrence Hill, St George East, St George West, and Stockwood.
2010–2024: The City of Bristol wards of Brislington East, Brislington West, Eastville, Frome Vale, Hillfields, St George East, St George West, and Stockwood.
2024–present: The City of Bristol wards of: Brislington East; Brislington West; Easton; Knowle; Lawrence Hill; St. George Central; St. George Troopers Hill; St. George West; and Stockwood.
The seat was subject to major boundary changes in the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election. It gained the Easton and Lawrence Hill wards from Bristol West and Knowle from Bristol South. These gains were offset by the loss of Eastville, Frome Vale and Hillfields, which were included in the re-established Bristol North East constituency.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1885–1950
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
!Party
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1885
| Handel Cossham
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1890 by-election<!-- 9 May -->
| Sir Joseph Dodge Weston
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1895 by-election<!-- 21 March -->
| Sir William Wills, Bt
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1900
| Charles Hobhouse
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1918
|rowspan="2"| George Britton
| Coalition Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Jan 1922
| National Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Nov 1922
|rowspan="2"| Harold Morris
| National Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Nov 1923
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Dec 1923
| Walter Baker
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1931 by-election
|rowspan="3"| Sir Stafford Cripps
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1939
| Independent Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1945
| Labour
|-
|colspan="2" align="center"| 1950
|colspan="2"| constituency abolished – see Bristol South East
|}
MPs 1983–present
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
!Party
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1983
| Jonathan Sayeed
| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1992
| Jean Corston
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2005
| Kerry McCarthy
| Labour
|}
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 32,280 ||align=right| 58.4
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 12,887 ||align=right| 23.3
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 4,664 ||align=right| 8.4
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 3,840 ||align=right| 6.9
|-
|
| Brexit Party ||align=right| 1,615 ||align=right| 2.9
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|55,286
|align=right|72.8
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|75,936
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1979 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 23,693 ||align=right|48.2
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 19,397 ||align=right|39.5
|-
|
| Liberal ||align=right| 5,329 ||align=right|10.8
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 706 ||align=right|1.4
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|49,125
|align=right|
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|
|}
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1920s
Election results 1885–1918
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
- Liberal: Charles Hobhouse
- Unionist: Thomas Clarence Edward Goff
- Independent Labour Party: Walter Ayles
Elections in the 1900s
See also
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon
Notes
References
Sources
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974)
External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Bristol East — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
- Interviews with the 2005 parliamentary candidates
- Bristol East UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Bristol East UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Bristol East UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK