Bristol South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Karin Smyth of the Labour Party, with the seat being Labour-held since 1935.
Constituency profile
The Bristol South constituency is located in the city of Bristol in South West England. It covers the areas to the south of the city centre, including the inner-city districts of Southville and Bedminster and the suburban neighbourhoods of Bishopsworth, Hartcliffe, Knowle West and Hengrove. Bristol is a major port city and has a long history of trade, including the slave trade. The areas of Bishopsworth, Hartcliffe and Knowle West contain a large proportion of social housing and are amongst the 10% most deprived parts of the country, whilst the areas closer to the city centre are wealthier.
Compared to national averages, residents of Bristol South are young, irreligious and have average levels of wealth, education and professional employment. White people make up 90% of the population. At the city council, areas close to the city centre are represented by Green Party councillors like much of the rest of Bristol. Suburban areas of the constituency elected a mixture of Labour Party, Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors. Voters in Bristol South were estimated to have been marginally in favour of remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, with the option receiving 51% of the vote compared to 48% nationally.
:To bring the electorate within the permitted range, the Knowle ward was moved to Bristol East.
History
The seat has elected Labour MPs at every election since 1935, the only seat in the south of England outside Greater London with such a record. The closest result, giving a marginal majority, was the 1987 election where Dawn Primarolo won a majority of 2.7% of the vote — in that election the Social Democratic Party, a 'moderate' breakaway party from the Labour Party, won 19.6% of the vote.
The incumbent prior to Smyth was Baroness Dawn Primarolo who held the seat for 28 years. She was a Minister of the Crown in the Blair Ministry and throughout the Coalition Government 2010 was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.
Members of Parliament
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
!Party
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1885
| Sir Joseph Dodge Weston
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1886
| Sir Edward Stock Hill
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1900
| Walter Long
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1906
|rowspan="3"| Sir Howell Davies
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1916
| Coalition Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Jan 1922
| National Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1922
|rowspan="2"|Sir Beddoe Rees
| National Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1923
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1929
| Alexander Walkden
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1931
| Noel Ker Lindsay <!-- NB might be Ker-Lindsay -->
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1935
| Alexander Walkden
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1945
| William Wilkins
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1970
| Michael Cocks
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1987
| <!-- Not a DBE until 2014, Dame would be anachronistic. --> Dawn Primarolo
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2015
| Karin Smyth
| Labour
|}
Elections
thumb|centre|750px|Election results 1950–2024
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| 24,917 ||align=right| 51.6
|-
|
|Conservative ||align=right| 15,840 ||align=right| 32.8
|-
|
|Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 3,012 ||align=right| 6.2
|-
|
|Green ||align=right| 2,445 ||align=right| 5.1
|-
|
|Brexit Party ||align=right| 2,054 ||align=right| 4.3
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|48,268
|align=right|64.6
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|74,696
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
thumb|120px|Davies
See also
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon
Notes
References
External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Bristol South — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
- Bristol South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Bristol South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Bristol South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK