County Berkshire Created from Reading Created from Reading | Major settlements Reading Type of constituency Borough constituency Major settlement Reading | |
Replaced by Reading, Reading East, Reading West, Wokingham | ||
Reading South was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covered an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.
Contents
Boundaries
1950-1955: The County Borough of Reading wards of Church, East, Katesgrove, Minster, Redlands, and West.
1974-1983: The County Borough of Reading wards of Christchurch, Park, Redlands, and Whitley, and in the Rural District of Wokingham the civil parishes of Arborfield and Newland, Barkham, Earley, Finchampstead, Shinfield, Sonning, Swallowfield, Winnersh, and Woodley and Sandford.
Politics and history of the constituency
The Reading South parliamentary constituency was first created for the 1950 general election by splitting the previous parliamentary constituency of Reading into North and South divisions. The seat was contested and won for the Labour Party by Ian Mikardo, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency, who held the seat until it was merged back into a single Reading constituency for the 1955 general election.
The Reading South constituency was recreated in 1974, when it was contested and won for the Conservative Party by Gerard Vaughan, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency. For the 1983 general election the constituencies in Reading were reorganised, creating the new constituencies of Reading East and Reading West. Gerard Vaughan went on to hold the Reading East constituency until he stood down at the 1997 general election.