Portsmouth South (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°47′13″N 1°04′44″W / 50.787°N 1.079°W

Portsmouth South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Portsmouth South in Hampshire.
Location of Hampshire within England.
County	Hampshire
Electorate	71,947 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Flick Drummond (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Portsmouth
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Portsmouth South is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Conservative Flick Drummond.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Havelock, Highland, St Paul, St Simon, and St Thomas.

1950-1955: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Havelock, Highland, Kingston, St Paul, St Simon, and St Thomas.

1955-1974: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Havelock, Highland, Kingston, St Jude, St Simon, and St Thomas.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Buckland, Fratton, Havelock, Highland, Kingston, St Jude, St Simon, and St Thomas.

1983-2010: The City of Portsmouth wards of Charles Dickens, Fratton, Havelock, Highland, Milton, St Jude, and St Thomas.

2010-present: The City of Portsmouth wards of Central Southsea, Charles Dickens, Eastney and Craneswater, Fratton, Milton, St Jude, and St Thomas.

As its name suggests the constituency covers the southern part of the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, including Fratton, the seaside resort of Southsea and HMNB Portsmouth (Portsmouth Naval Dockyard) within the city bounds. The northern part is represented by Portsmouth North.

History

The constituency was created in 1918 when the larger Portsmouth constituency was split into three divisions: Central, North and South. The Central constituency was abolished in 1950.

In the 2010 general election campaign independent candidate Les Cummings distributed a leaflet claiming that incumbent MP Mike Hancock was a paedophile. This was later proved in court to be false. Cummings was subsequently convicted under the 1983 Representation of the People Act for distributing material which was known to be false with the intention of smearing or defaming to affect the return of a member of parilament. Cummings was fined £500.

Constituency profile

This constituency is marginally less affluent than its neighbour, with in December 2012 slightly higher unemployment, but considerably below the national average of all constituencies in terms of the claimant count.^[2] Notwithstanding this following World War II the city has a large proportion of flats, increasingly in a more aesthetic apartment style, some being cheap social housing and brutalist tower blocks; however, the majority of the city is of semi-detached and terraced nature with a mixture of incomes centred around the national average^[3] and excellent amenities.^[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1918	Herbert Cayzer	Conservative
	1922 by-election	Leslie Wilson	Conservative
	1923 by-election	Sir Herbert Cayzer, Bt.	Conservative
	1939 by-election	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	Conservative
	1966	Bonner Pink	Conservative
	1984 by-election	Mike Hancock	SDP
	1987	David Martin	Conservative
	1997	Mike Hancock	Liberal Democrat
	2013		Independent
	2015	Flick Drummond	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Portsmouth South^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Flick Drummond[8]	14,585	34.8	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Gerald Vernon-Jackson[9]	9,344	22.3	−23.6
	Labour	Sue Castillon	8,184	19.5	+5.9
	UKIP	Steve Harris	5,595	13.4	+11.2
	Green	Ian McCulloch[10]	3,145	7.5	+5.8
	Independent	Mike Hancock	716	1.7	N/A
	TUSC	Sean Hoyle	235	0.6	N/A
	JAC	Don Jerrard	99	0.2	0.0
Majority			5,241	12.5
Turnout			41,903	58.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	−12.6

General Election 2010: Portsmouth South^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Thomas Hancock	18,921	45.9	+4.2
	Conservative	Flick Drummond	13,721	33.3	−0.4
	Labour	John Ferrett	5,640	13.7	−8.7
	UKIP	Robert Robinson	876	2.1	−0.2
	BNP	Geoff Crompton	873	2.1	N/A
	Green	Tim Dawes	716	1.7	N/A
	English Democrat	Ian Ducain	400	1.0	N/A
	JAC	Les Cummings	117	0.3	N/A
Majority			5,200	12.6
Turnout			41,264	58.7	+1.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Portsmouth South^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Thomas Hancock	17,047	42.2	−2.4
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	13,685	33.9	+4.8
	Labour	Mark Button	8,714	21.6	−2.3
	UKIP	Dennis Pierson	928	2.3	+1.5
Majority			3,362	8.3
Turnout			40,374	56.9	+6.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−3.6

General Election 2001: Portsmouth South^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Thomas Hancock	17,490	44.6	+5.1
	Conservative	Philip Henry Warr	11,397	29.1	−2.1
	Labour	Graham Philip Heaney	9,361	23.9	−1.4
	Socialist Alliance	Jonathan Christopher Molyneux	647	1.6	N/A
	UKIP	Michael Norman Alan Tarrant	321	0.8	+0.5
Majority			6,093	15.5
Turnout			39,216	50.9	−12.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Portsmouth South^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Thomas Hancock	20,421	39.5
	Conservative	David John Pattison Martin	16,094	31.1
	Labour	Alan Burnett	13,086	25.3
	Referendum	Christopher Trim	1,629	3.2
	Liberal	John Thompson	184	0.4
	UKIP	Jill Evans	141	0.3
	Natural Law	William Arthur Trend	140	0.3
Majority			4,327	8.4
Turnout				63.8
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+0.0

General Election 1992: Portsmouth South^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David John Pattison Martin	22,798	42.5	−0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Thomas Hancock	22,556	42.0	−0.9
	Labour	Syd Rapson	7,857	14.6	+1.7
	Green	Aleksander Zivkovic	349	0.7	+0.7
	Natural Law	William Arthur Trend	91	0.2	+0.2
Majority			242	0.5	+0.1
Turnout			53,651	69.1	−2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Portsmouth South^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David John Pattison Martin	23,534	43.3	−6.7
	Social Democratic	Michael Thomas Hancock	23,329	42.9	+17.5
	Labour	Keith Gardiner	7,047	13.0	−9.6
	657 Party	Martyn Ronald Hughes	455	0.8	N/A
Majority			205	0.4
Turnout			76,292	71.3	+3.9
	Conservative gain from Social Democratic		Swing

By-election 1984: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Social Democratic	Michael Thomas Hancock	15,358	37.6	+12.1
	Conservative	Patrick Rock	14,017	34.3	-15.7
	Labour	Sally Thomas	10,846	26.5	+4.0
	National Front	Gordon Knight	226	0.5	0.0
	Ecology	Terry Mitchell	190	0.5	N/A
	Independent Liberal	Alan Evens	113	0.3	-0.8
	Independent Ecology	Thomas Layton	50	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Anthony Andrews	42	0.1	N/A
	New National Party	Peter Smith	41	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,341	3.3	-21.3
Turnout				54.5	-12.8
	Social Democratic gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1983: Portsmouth South^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	25,101	50.01
	Social Democratic	Mike Hancock	12,766	25.43
	Labour	Sally T Thomas	11,324	22.56
	Independent Liberal	Alan J Evens	554	1.10
	National Front	Gordon A Knight	279	0.56
	Traditional English Food	DW Fry	172	0.34
Majority			12,335	24.57
Turnout				67.34
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	26,835	54.67
	Labour	Sally T. Thomas	15,306	31.18
	Liberal	J Wallis	6,487	13.22
	National Front	W Donkin	457	0.93
Majority			11,529	23.49
Turnout				72.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	23,379	47.61
	Labour	AM Halmos	15,308	31.17
	Liberal	M Tribe	9,807	19.97
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	AD Rifkin	612	1.25
Majority			8,071	16.44
Turnout				69.39
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	26,824	50.26
	Labour	S Lloyd	15,842	29.69
	Liberal	J Williams	10,307	19.31
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	AD Rifkin	394	0.74
Majority			10,982	20.58
Turnout				75.86
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	23,962	63.38
	Labour	J White	13,847	36.62
Majority			10,115	26.75
Turnout				67.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	22,713	60.65
	Labour	PB Smith	14,738	39.35
Majority			7,975	21.29
Turnout				70.74
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	24,387	63.69
	Labour	RWS Pryke	13,904	36.31
Majority			10,483	27.38
Turnout				71.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	27,892	69.96
	Labour	F Towell	11,979	30.04
Majority			15,913	39.91
Turnout				72.33
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	27,887	67.22
	Labour	LW Carroll	13,600	32.78
Majority			14,287	34.44
Turnout				72.39
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	30,548	63.78
	Labour	DS Wallace	17,350	36.22
Majority			13,198	27.55
Turnout				80.76
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt.	31,124	63.95
	Labour	Leslie Charles Merrion	17,545	36.05
Majority			13,579	27.90
Turnout				83.50
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections 1918–1945

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
General election, July 1945 [21] Electorate: 38,150 Turnout: 28,593 (74.9%) +8.0		Conservative hold Majority: 3,027 (10.6%) −39.8 Swing: 19.9% from Con to Lab		Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt	Conservative	15,810	55.3	−19.9
				J. F. Blitz	Labour	12,783	44.7	+19.9
By-election, July 1939 [21] Cayzer elevated to the peerage		Conservative hold		Sir Jocelyn Lucas, Bt	Conservative	unopposed
General election, November 1935 [21] Electorate: 54,463 Turnout: 36,459 (66.9%) −5.8		Conservative hold Majority: 18,373 (50.4%) −11.4 Swing: 5.7% from Con to Lab		Sir Herbert Cayzer, Bt	Conservative	27,416	75.2	−5.7
				John W Fawcett	Labour	9,043	24.8	+5.7
General election, October 1931 [21] Electorate: 55,488 Turnout: 40,349 (72.7%) −2.4		Conservative hold Majority: 24,919 (61.8%) +49.8 Swing: 24.9% from Lab to Con		Sir Herbert Cayzer, Bt	Conservative	32,634	80.9	+44.1
				W. J. Beck	Labour	7,715	19.1	−5.7
General election, May 1929 [21] First election with universal adult suffrage Electorate: 54,449 Turnout: 40,914 (75.1%) +0.9		Conservative hold Majority: 4,941 (12.0%) −34.0 Swing: 17.0% from Con to Lab		Sir Herbert Cayzer, Bt	Conservative	15,068	36.8	−36.2
				Jessie Stephen	Labour	10,127	24.8	−2.2
				Frank John Privett	Independent Conservative	9,505	23.2	N/A
				Charles Mark Clement Rudkin	Liberal	6,215	15.2	N/A
General election, October 1924 [21] Electorate: 41,417 Turnout: 74.2% (+1.5)		Conservative hold Majority: 14,113 (46.0%) +15.0		Sir Herbert Cayzer	Conservative	22,423	73.0	+17.1
				Jessie Stephen	Labour	8,310	27.0	+2.1
General election, December 1923 [21] Electorate: 40,854 Turnout: 72.7% (+17.8)		Conservative hold Majority: 9,237 (31.0%) +21.2		Herbert Cayzer	Conservative	16,625	55.9	+1.0
				Jessie Stephen	Labour	7,388	24.9
				S. R. Drury-Lowe	Liberal	5,698	19.2	−25.9
By-election, 13 August 1923 [21] Resignation of Wilson Electorate: 39,426 Turnout: 21,647 (54.9%) −2.8		Conservative hold Majority: 2,121 (9.8%) −14.0		Herbert Cayzer	Conservative	11,884	54.9	−8.0
				Sir Henry Merrick Lawson	Liberal	9,763	45.1	N/A
By-election, 13 December 1922 [21] Resignation of Cayzer Electorate: 39,426 Turnout: 22,735 (57.7%)		Conservative hold Majority: 5,867 (25.8%) −11.6		Leslie Orme Wilson	Conservative	14,301	62.9	−5.8
				G. C. Thomas	Independent Conservative	4,834	37.1	N/A
General election, November 1922 [21] Electorate: 39,426 Turnout: 20,040 (50.8%) −11.2		Conservative hold Majority: 10,880 (37.4%) −12.4 Swing: 6.2% from Con to Lib		Herbert Cayzer	Conservative	19,960	68.7	−0.8
				Sir Henry Merrick Lawson	Liberal	9,080	31.3	+12.8
General election, December 1918 [21] new seat, following division of Portsmouth Electorate: 37,427 Turnout: 23,195 (62.0%)		Coalition Conservative hold Majority: 11,559 (49.8%) N/A		Herbert Cayzer	Coalition Conservative	15,842	68.3	N/A
				Miss Alison Vickers Garland	Liberal	4,283	18.5	N/A
				James Lacey	Labour	3,070	13.2	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
3. 2001 Census
4. 2011 census interactive maps
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)
6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-32089077
8. http://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Prospective_Parliamentary_Candidates/Drummond_Flick.aspx
9. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/lib-dem-gerald-vernon-jackson-on-course-to-face-old-ally-mike-hancock-in-portsmouth-south-election-1-6267281
10. https://portsmouth.greenparty.org.uk/people/
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. Guardian, Portsmouth South
13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 219. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.