County City of Bristol Electorate 78,703 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency South West England Number of members 1 | Population 107,365 (2011 census) Created 1885 Member of parliament Karin Smyth | |
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Bristol South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Karin Smyth of the Labour Party.
Contents
Boundaries
1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards of Bedminster East, Bedminster West, Bristol, and Redcliffe, and part of the civil parish of Bedminster.
1918-1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Bedminster East, Bedminster West, and Southville, and part of Somerset ward.
1950-1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Bedminster, Somerset, Southville, and Windmill Hill.
1955-1983: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Hengrove, Somerset, and Southville.
1983-1997: The City of Bristol wards of Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Filwood, Hartcliffe, Knowle, Southville, Whitchurch Park, and Windmill Hill.
1997–present: The City of Bristol wards of Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Filwood, Hartcliffe, Hengrove, Knowle, Southville, Whitchurch Park, and Windmill Hill.
The constituency covers the south-west of Bristol, bounded by the Avon New Cut to the north, the A37 Wells Road to the east, and the city boundaries to the south and west.
History
The seat has elected Labour MPs since 1935. 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 Dame 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.