Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Amanda Martin of the Labour Party since 2024.
Boundaries and boundary changes
As its name suggests, the constituency covers the northern portion of the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire.
{| class=wikitable
|-
!Dates!!Local authority
!Maps!!Wards
|-
|1918–1950
|County Borough of Portsmouth
|frameless
|Charles Dickens, Mile End, North End, and Portsea.
|-
|1974–1983
|County Borough of Portsmouth
|frameless
|Cosham, Farlington, Meredith, Nelson, North End, Paulsgrove, Portsea, and St Mary and Guildhall.
|-
|1983–1997
|City of Portsmouth<br>Borough of Havant
|
|City of Portsmouth wards of Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove, and the Borough of Havant wards of Purbrook and Stakes.
|-
|1997–2010
|rowspan="2"|City of Portsmouth
|frameless
|Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove.
|-
|2010–present
|frameless
|Baffins, Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove.
|}
1918–1950
The constituency was formed from splitting the existing of constituency Portsmouth
Abolition
After the First periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the Cosham and Meredith ward forming part of the new constituency of Portsmouth Langstone, while the rest formed the new constituency of Portsmouth West.
1974–1983
The constituency was reformed from the abolished constituencies of Portsmouth West and Portsmouth Langstone
1983–1997
Portsea, and St Mary and Guildhall wards were transferred to Portsmouth South with Purbrook and Stakes transferred from the abolished constituency of Havant and Waterloo.
1997–2010
Purbrook and Stakes were transferred to Havant
2010–present
Ward boundary changes and renaming
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.
History
The constituency was created in 1918 when the two-seat Portsmouth constituency was split into three divisions: Central, North and South.
It was abolished for the 1950 general election and largely replaced by a new Portsmouth West constituency as the axis of division changed, but was re-established for the February 1974 general election.
Constituency profile
This urban seat is of average affluence and incomes, with relatively low unemployment compared to the national average measured at the end of 2012 at 3.8% (claimant count) as opposed to 2.3% average across the region.
Compared to Portsmouth South, it has a lower proportion of public sector workers, students and ethnic minorities. This explains the divergence between the two Portsmouth seats in voting patterns. The seat is currently in Labour hands, but very narrowly, with the former Conservative MP and leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt commanding a large personal following.
The seat has been one of the most long-standing bellwethers (of the national election winner), having that status since its creation in February 1974 (1970 if notional results are taken into account); only the Dartford constituency have a longer-standing status, which has been a bellwether since 1964.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1918–1950
Portsmouth prior to 1918
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election
!Member
!Party
!Notes
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1918
|rowspan="2"| Sir Bertram Falle, Bt.
| Coalition Conservative
|rowspan="2"| Member for Portsmouth (1910–1918)
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1922
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1934 by-election
| Admiral Sir Roger Keyes
| Conservative
| Elevated to the peerage as Baron Keyes in January 1943
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1943 by-election
| Admiral Sir William James
| Conservative
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1945
| Donald Bruce
| Labour
| Contested Portsmouth West following redistribution
|-
| colspan="2" align="center"|1950
| colspan="3"| constituency abolished: see Portsmouth West and Portsmouth Langstone
|}
MPs since 1974
Portsmouth West and Portsmouth Langstone prior to 1974
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election
!Member
!Party
!Notes
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Feb 1974
| Frank Judd
| Labour
| Member for Portsmouth West (1966–1974)
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1979
| Peter Griffiths
| Conservative
| Member for Smethwick (1964–1966)
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1997
| Syd Rapson
| Labour
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2005
| Sarah McCarthy-Fry
| Labour Co-operative
| Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (2009–2010)
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2010
| Penny Mordaunt
| Conservative
| Secretary of State for International Development (2017–2019)<br>Secretary of State for Defence (2019)<br>Leader of the House of Commons (2022–2024)
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2024
| Amanda Martin
| Labour
|
|}
Elections
thumb|centre|750px|Election results 1950-2024
Election in the 1910s
Yexley (real name, James Woods) was supported by the Lower-Deck Parliamentary Committee, and also the local Liberal association.
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1970s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1970 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 24,000 ||align=right| 46.0
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 21,500 ||align=right| 41.2
|-
|
| Liberal ||align=right| 6,700 ||align=right| 12.8
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|52,200
|align=right|71.3
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|73,238
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1979 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 30,139 ||align=right| 51.4
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 23,229 ||align=right| 39.6
|-
|
| Liberal ||align=right| 4,922 ||align=right| 8.4
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 381 ||align=right| 0.6
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|58,671
|align=right|
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|
|}
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1992 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 25,368 ||align=right| 50.7
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 16,610 ||align=right| 33.2
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 7,529 ||align=right| 15.1
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 511 ||align=right| 1.0
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|50,018
|align=right|76.2
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|65,614
|}
Elections in the 2000s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2005 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 15,897 ||align=right| 38.7
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 15,564 ||align=right| 37.9
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 8,080 ||align=right| 19.7
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 1,563 ||align=right| 3.8
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|41,104
|align=right|59.7
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|68,872
|}
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2020s
See also
- Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire
- Parliamentary constituencies in South East England
Notes
References
Sources
External links
- Portsmouth North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Portsmouth North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Portsmouth North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK