Southampton Test (UK Parliament constituency)

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Southampton Test
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Southampton Test in Hampshire.
Outline map
Location of Hampshire within England.
County Hampshire
Electorate 71,263 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Southampton
Current constituency
Created 1950
Member of parliament Alan Whitehead (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Southampton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency South East England

Southampton Test is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Alan Whitehead, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-member Southampton constituency was abolished. Although the name of the seat has been retained since 1950, the precise boundaries of the seat have changed during that time.

Horace King, after being the member in the first half of the 1950s, would later become the first Speaker of the House of Commons from the Labour Party.

Southampton Test proved to be a bellwether (mirroring the national result) from 1966 until 2010, with the exception of the minority government of Harold Wilson from February to October 1974 (see Second Wilson Ministry).

Whitehead for Labour performed better here than John Denham in Southampton Itchen, the other Southampton seat, which the party also held in the 2010 general election. The area is, from 2010, one of only four Labour seats left in South East England.[2]

Constituency profile

The seat covers the western part of the City of Southampton and is named after the River Test, one of the city's two rivers. It covers some of the leafy northern suburbs (though the northernmost Bassett Ward ceased to form part of the constituency in 1997) and the western port areas as well as the social housing estates of the western fringes. It is traditionally the marginally more affluent of the two constituencies in the city, before 2010 having a higher number of Tory representatives than its neighbour Southampton Itchen — named after the other major river. The area includes the University of Southampton, though its halls of residence fall almost entirely within Romsey and Southampton North or Southampton Itchen. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 close to but slightly below than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.4% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, above the average for the South East seats of 2.5% but below, for example, five seats in East Kent.[3]

The seat is home to Southampton FC's football ground at St Mary's.

Boundaries

1950-1955: The County Borough of Southampton wards of All Saints, Banister, Freemantle, Millbrook, St Nicholas, Shirley, and Town, and the civil parish of Millbrook in the Rural District of Romsey and Stockbridge.

1955-1983: The County Borough of Southampton wards of Banister, Bargate, Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

1983-1997: The City of Southampton wards of Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

1997-2010: The City of Southampton wards of Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, St Luke's, and Shirley.

2010-present: The City of Southampton wards of Bevois, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

The constituency is bounded to the east by Southampton Itchen, to the north by Romsey and Southampton North and to the west by New Forest East.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[4] Party Notes
1950 Horace King Labour Speaker of the House of Commons from 1965 to 1971
1955 John Howard Conservative
1964 John Fletcher-Cooke Conservative
1966 Bob Mitchell Labour
1970 James Hill Conservative
Oct 1974 Bryan Gould Labour Member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1986 to 1994
1979 James Hill Conservative
1997 Alan Whitehead Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Southampton Test [5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Whitehead 18,017 41.3 +2.8
Conservative Jeremy Moulton 14,207 32.5 -0.5
UKIP Pearline Hingston[7] 5,566 12.8 +8.8
Green Angela Mawle 2,568 5.9 +3.9
Liberal Democrat Adrian Ford 2,121 4.9 -17.5
Independent Chris Davis[8] 770 1.8 N/A
TUSC Nick Chaffey 403 0.9 +0.9
Majority 3,810 8.7 +3.2
Turnout 43,652 62.1 +0.7
Labour hold Swing +1.7
General Election 2010: Southampton Test[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Whitehead 17,001 38.5 -5.7
Conservative Jeremy Moulton 14,588 33.0 +8.0
Liberal Democrat Dave Callaghan 9,865 22.3 -1.8
UKIP Pearline Hingston 1,726 3.9 +0.9
Green Chris Bluemel 881 2.0 -1.6
Majority 2,413 5.5 -11.3
Turnout 44,187 61.4 +5.4
Labour hold Swing −6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Whitehead 17,845 42.7 −9.8
Conservative Stephen MacLoughlin 10,827 25.9 +0.4
Liberal Democrat Steve Sollitt 10,368 24.8 +6.7
Green John Spottiswoode 1,482 3.5 N/A
UKIP Peter Day 1,261 3.0 +1.1
Majority 7,018 16.8
Turnout 41,783 53.7 −2.6
Labour hold Swing −5.1
General Election 2001: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Whitehead 21,824 52.5 -1.7
Conservative Richard Gueterbock 10,617 25.5 -2.5
Liberal Democrat John Shaw 7,522 18.1 +4.4
UKIP Garry Rankin-Moore 792 1.9 +1.5
Socialist Alliance Mark Abel 442 1.1 N/A
Socialist Labour Paramjit Bahia 378 0.9 N/A
Majority 11,207 27.0
Turnout 41,575 56.3 -15.4
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Whitehead 28,396 54.1 +11.7
Conservative James Hill 14,712 28.1 −15.3
Liberal Democrat Alan Dowden 7,171 13.7 +0.6
Referendum Peter Day 1,397 2.7
Legalise Cannabis Howard Marks 388 0.7
UKIP A.M. McCabe 219 0.4 N/A
Independent P Taylor 81 0.2 N/A
Natural Law J Sinel 77 0.1 N/A
Majority 13,684
Turnout 71.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1992: Southampton Test[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 24,504 43.4 −2.2
Labour Alan Whitehead 23,919 42.4 +9.1
Liberal Democrat Diana Maddock 7,391 13.1 −8.1
Green Jonathan M. Michaelis 535 0.9 +0.9
Natural Law David Plummer 101 0.2 +0.2
Majority 585 1.0 −11.3
Turnout 56,450 77.4 +1.0
Conservative hold Swing −5.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 25,722 45.6 +0.4
Labour Alan Whitehead 18,768 33.3 +5.2
Liberal V. Rayner 11,950 21.2 -5.5
Majority 6,954 12.3 -4.8
Turnout 76.4 +3.3
Conservative hold Swing -2.4
General Election 1983: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 24,657 45.19
Labour Alan Whitehead 15,311 28.06
Social Democratic A. Vinson 14,592 26.74
Majority 9,346 17.13
Turnout 73.07
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 27,198 46.36
Labour Bryan Gould 25,075 42.74
Liberal D. Hughes 6,393 10.90
Majority 2,123 3.62
Turnout 76.30
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General Election October 1974: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bryan Gould 22,780 42.17
Conservative James Hill 22,250 41.109
Liberal J.R. Wallis 8,994 16.65
Majority 530 0.98
Turnout 73.11
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election February 1974: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 23,742 40.88
Labour Bryan Gould 22,339 38.46
Liberal J.R. Wallis 12,000 20.66
Majority 1,403 2.42
Turnout 79.21
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1970: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hill 24,660 47.54
Labour Bob Mitchell 22,858 44.07
Liberal J.R. Wallis 4,349 8.38
Majority 1,802 3.47
Turnout 73.33
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Mitchell 24,628 48.37
Conservative John Fletcher-Cooke 22,188 43.58
Liberal G.A.W. Cleverley 4,102 8.06
Majority 2,440 4.79
Turnout 78.13
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1964: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Fletcher-Cooke 25,700 50.34
Labour Bob Mitchell 25,352 49.66
Majority 348 0.68
Turnout 76.69
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Howard 30,176 56.31
Labour S.V.T.B. Williams 23,410 43.69
Majority 6,766 12.63
Turnout 79.88
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Howard 26,707 51.21
Labour C.A.R. Crosland 22,865 43.84
Liberal Stanley Little 2,583 4.95
Majority 3,842 7.37
Turnout 78.72
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1951: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Horace King 26,430 50.44
Liberal National J.A. Paul 25,965 49.56
Majority 465 0.89
Turnout 83.52
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1950: Southampton Test
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Horace King 25,052 47.08
Liberal National P. Brembridge 23,663 45.15
Liberal Stephen Fry 3,697 7.05
Majority 1,389 2.65
Turnout 84.39
Labour hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
  5. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/southamptontest/
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/southamptontest/
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ UKPollingReport Southampton Test
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ This was an unusual election, where an incumbent was challenged by two people who later became MPs.


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