Southport (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°38′49″N 3°00′25″W / 53.647°N 3.007°W / 53.647; -3.007

Southport
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Southport in Merseyside.
Location of Merseyside within England.
County	Merseyside
Electorate	67,803 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Southport
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	John Pugh (Liberal Democrat)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Southport is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by John Pugh, a Liberal Democrat.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

Settlements

The constituency covers the whole town of Southport and the localities of Ainsdale, Birkdale, Blowick, Churchtown, Crossens, Highpark, Hillside, Kew, Marshside, Meols Cop, and Woodvale.

Neighbouring constituencies

The constituency is bordered to the north by South Ribble, to the east by West Lancashire, and to the south by Sefton Central.

Wards

The electoral wards used in the Southport constituency are in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton: Ainsdale · Birkdale · Cambridge · Dukes · Kew · Meols · Norwood.

History

Prominent members

In the 19th century a notable representative was George Nathaniel Curzon, future Viceroy of India.

In the 20th century, outside politics, Edward Marshall-Hall was a notable trial barrister (KC) and Sir John Fowler Leece Brunner was the son of the leading industrialist Sir John Tomlinson Brunner.

As a frontbencher, long-serving representative Robert Hudson was recognised at the time of World War II as a competent Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in charge of that department, and was made, to give him a peerage, a viscount.^{[n 3]}

Former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott ran for the seat in 1966 and came in second place in a three-party battle, which was an early general election fight for the official at the National Union of Seamen brought up in South Yorkshire, for a seat in Lancashire at the time, now only its traditional county.

Political history

The constituency has been a Liberal - Conservative seat throughout its history, and marginal for much of this, enabling it to change hands 10 times between the parties since it was created in 1885.

During the nadir of the Liberal Party (from the 1930s to the 1960s) the constituency became a safe Conservative seat, with absolute majorities from 1931 until 1970 inclusive.

With the rise again of the Liberal Party in the early 1970s, election results proved to be close contests. The constituency changed hands in the 1987 general election, when it was taken by Ronnie Fearn of the Liberal Party for the SDP-Liberal Alliance (shortly before the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrats).

Fearn lost the seat to the Conservatives' Matthew Banks at the 1992 election, only to regain it at the 1997 election. The Liberal Democrats have held the seat since then, with John Pugh representing the constituency since Fearn stood down in 2001.

Constituency profile

Workless claimants (registered jobseekers) were in November 2012 close to the national average of 3.8%, at 4.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[2]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[3]	Party
1885	George Augustus Pilkington	Liberal
1886	George Nathaniel Curzon	Conservative
1898 by-election	Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland	Liberal
1899 by-election	George Augustus Pilkington	Liberal
1900	Edward Marshall-Hall	Conservative
1906	John Meir Astbury	Liberal
1910	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	Conservative
1923	John Fowler Leece Brunner	Liberal
1924	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	Conservative
1931	Robert Hudson	Conservative
1952 by-election	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	Conservative
1959	Ian Percival	Conservative
1987	Ronnie Fearn	Liberal
1988	Ronnie Fearn	Liberal Democrats
1992	Matthew Banks	Conservative
1997	Ronnie Fearn	Liberal Democrats
2001	John Pugh	Liberal Democrats

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Southport is number 26 on UKIP's target list for the 2020 election, a swing of 11.11% would see the party gain the seat from fourth place.^[4] The seat is also at number 15 on the Conservatives target list, a swing of 1.5% would be sufficient.^[5] Even Labour may also be competitive, they would need a swing of 8.76% to gain the seat; it is number 96 on their target list.^[6]

General Election 2015: Southport^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Pugh	13,652	31.0	−18.7
	Conservative	Damien Moore	12,330	28.0	−7.9
	Labour	Liz Savage	8,468	19.2	+9.8
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	7,429	16.8	+11.7
	Green	Laurence Rankin	1,230	2.8	N/A
	Southport Party	Jacqueline Barlow	992	2.2	N/A
Majority			1,322	3.0	-10.8
Turnout			44,101	65.5	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−5.4

General Election 2010: Southport^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Pugh	21,707	49.6	+3.3
	Conservative	Brenda Porter	15,683	35.8	−1.2
	Labour	Jim Conalty	4,116	9.4	−3.4
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	2,251	5.1	+3.3
Majority			6,024	13.8
Turnout			43,757	65.1	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Southport^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Pugh	19,093	46.3	+2.5
	Conservative	Mark S. Bigley	15,255	37.0	+0.5
	Labour	Paul David Brant	5,277	12.8	−3.8
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	749	1.8	+0.5
	Your Party	Bill Givens	589	1.4	N/A
	Veritas	Harry Forster	238	0.6	N/A
Majority			3,838	9.3
Turnout			41,201	61.0	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+1.0

General Election 2001: Southport^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Pugh	18,011	43.8	−4.3
	Conservative	Laurence Cresswell Jones	15,004	36.5	+0.5
	Labour	Paul David Brant	6,816	16.6	+4.4
	Liberal	David William Green	767	1.9	+1.1
	UKIP	Gerry David Kelley	555	1.3	N/A
Majority			3,007	7.3
Turnout			41,153	58.6	−13.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Southport^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Ronald Cyril Fearn	24,356	48.1	+6.6
	Conservative	Matthew Gordon Banks	18,186	35.9	−11.1
	Labour	Sarah Norman	6,129	12.1	+1.9
	Referendum	Frank Buckle	1,368	2.7	N/A
	Liberal	Susan Ashton	386	0.8	N/A
	Natural Law	Elizabeth Lines	93	0.2	−0.1
	National Democrats	Michael Middleton	92	0.2	N/A
Majority			6,170	12.2
Turnout			50,610	72.1	−5.5
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	8.9

General Election 1992: Southport^[13]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Matthew Gordon Banks	26,081	47.0	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Ronald Cyril Fearn	23,018	41.5	−6.4
	Labour	James King	5,637	10.2	+3.8
	Green	Justin Raymond Gilchrist Walker	545	1.0	−0.2
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Clements	159	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,063	5.5	+2.1
Turnout			55,440	77.6	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	4.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Southport^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Ronald Cyril Fearn	26,110	47.9	+7.4
	Conservative	Nigel Matthew Thomas	24,261	44.5	−5.9
	Labour	Audrey Moore	3,483	6.4	−1.9
	Green	Justin Raymond Gilchrist Walker	653	1.2	N/A
Majority			1,849	3.4
Turnout			54,507	76.3
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	6.7

General Election 1983: Southport^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	25,612	50.4	−0.4
	Liberal	Iain Brodie Browne	20,573	40.5	+2.5
	Labour	Francis Brady	4,233	8.3	−2.9
	Independent	Kevin Wood	374	0.7	N/A
Majority			5,039	9.9	−2.9
Turnout			50,792	72.5	−2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	25,953	50.8	+3.6
	Liberal	Ronald Cyril Fearn	19,426	38.0	+2.3
	Labour	I.Gari James	5,725	12.8	−4.3
Majority			6,527	12.8	+1.3
Turnout			51,104	74.7	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	23,014	47.2	0.0
	Liberal	Ronald Cyril Fearn	17,387	35.7	-3.9
	Labour	I.Gari James	8,323	17.1	+3.9
Majority			5,627	11.5	+3.9
Turnout			48,724	73.7	-3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	23,975	47.2	-3.0
	Liberal	Ronald Cyril Fearn	20,093	39.6	+9.4
	Labour	Peter R. Ward	6,690	13.2	-6.4
Majority			3,882	7.6	-12.8
Turnout			50,758	77.4	+6.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.2

General Election 1970: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	22,950	50.2	-0.8
	Liberal	Ronald Cyril Fearn	13,809	30.2	+10.5
	Labour	Bruce Thomas George	8,950	19.6	-9.6
Majority			9,141	20.4	-1.4
Turnout			45,709	70.5	-2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	22,324	51.0	-0.9
	Labour	John Leslie Prescott	12,798	29.2	+4.1
	Liberal	C. Jack Coleman	8,630	19.7	-3.3
Majority			9,526	21.8	-4.9
Turnout			43,752	72.7	-3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.5

General Election 1964: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	23,917	51.9	-4.1
	Labour	Leonard Goldwater	11,572	25.1	+4.7
	Liberal	C. Jack Coleman	10,609	23.0	-0.5
Majority			12,345	26.7	-5.8
Turnout			46,098	76.5	-0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.4

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Ian Percival	26,905	56.0	-14.2
	Liberal	Sam Goldberg	11,292	23.5	+23.5
	Labour	Charles W Hadfield	9,805	20.4	-9.4
Majority			15,613	32.5	-8.0
Turnout			48,002	76.8	+8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	30,268	70.2	+10.0
	Labour	Peter Cameron	12,827	29.8	+5.0
Majority			17,441	40.5	+5.0
Turnout			43,095	68.8	-8.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

Southport by-election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	24,589	62.0	+1.8
	Labour	Alan Lever Tillotson	11,310	28.5	+3.7
	Liberal	Hubert David Bentliff	3,776	9.5	-5.5
Majority			13,279	33.5	-1.8
Turnout			39,675
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Spear Hudson	30,388	60.2	+3.9
	Labour	H Owen Ellis	12,535	24.8	-2.0
	Liberal	Hubert David Bentliff	7,576	15.0	-1.9
Majority			17,853	35.3	+5.8
Turnout			50,499	77.7	-4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

General Election 1950: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Spear Hudson	29,766	56.3	+3.6
	Labour	J P Bonney	14,159	26.8	+0.0
	Liberal	Maj. Harry Ellington	8,933	16.9	-3.6
Majority			15,607	29.5	+3.6
Turnout			52,858	81.8	+7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Spear Hudson	26,792	52.7	-19.5
	Labour	W Hamling	13,596	26.8	-1.0
	Liberal	Robert Martin	10,404	20.5
Majority			13,196	25.9	-18.5
Turnout			50,792	74.2	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Spear Hudson	29,652	72.2	+3.8
	Labour	Robert Carrington-Willis	11,419	27.8
Majority			18,233	44.4	+7.6
Turnout			41,071	70.9	-8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Spear Hudson	30,307	68.4	+20.1
	Liberal	Ronw Moelwyn Hughes	13,983	31.6	-7.8
Majority			16,324	36.8	+27.9
Turnout			44,290	79.7	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	21,161	48.3	-12.7
	Liberal	Cecil Beresford Ramage	17,220	39.4	+0.4
	Labour	Arthur Leonard Williams	5,380	12.3	n/a
Majority			3,941	8.9	-13.1
Turnout			43,761	79.6	+1.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-6.6

General Election 1924: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	17,430	61.0	+12.8
	Liberal	John Fowler Leece Brunner	11,158	39.0	-12.8
Majority			6,272	22.0
Turnout			28,588	78.7	+2.8
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Fowler Leece Brunner	13,704	51.8	+5.0
	Unionist	Sir Thomas W Comyn-Platt	12,776	48.2	-5.0
Majority			928	3.6
Turnout			26,480	75.9	-0.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.0

General Election 1922: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	13,733	53.2	-18.8
	Liberal	John Fowler Leece Brunner	12,068	46.8	n/a
Majority			1,665	6.4	-37.6
Turnout			25,801	76.3	+14.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	14,707	72.0	+19.7
	Labour	Arthur Greenwood	5,727	28.0	n/a
Majority			8,980	44.0	+39.4
Turnout			20,434	61.6	-24.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

endorsed by Coalition Government

Woodcock

General Election December 1910: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	7,467	52.3	+0.9
	Liberal	Hubert Bayley Drysdale Woodcock	6,798	47.7	-0.9
Majority			669	4.6	+1.8
Turnout			14,265	85.6	-3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election January 1910: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	7,637	51.4	+2.3
	Liberal	Baron de Forest	7,218	48.6	-2.3
Majority			419	2.8
Turnout			14,855	89.2	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

John Astbury

General Election 1906: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Meir Astbury	6,607	50.9	+1.9
	Conservative	Edward Marshall-Hall	6,367	49.1	-1.9
Majority			240	1.8
Turnout			12,974	87.3	+5.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1900: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Marshall-Hall	5,522	51.0	+3.7
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	5,313	49.0	-3.7
Majority			209	2.0
Turnout			10,835	82.3	-2.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

Southport by-election, 1899
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	5,635	52.7	+1.3
	Conservative	Charles Barrington Balfour	5,052	47.3	-1.3
Majority			583	5.4	+2.6
Turnout			10,687	84.4	+4.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Southport by-election, 1898
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland	5,100	51.4	+5.4
	Conservative	Lord Skelmersdale	4,828	48.6	-5.4
Majority			272	2.8
Turnout			9,928	80.1	-2.9
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1895: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Nathaniel Curzon	5,162	54.0	+0.6
	Liberal	Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland	4,399	46.0	-0.6
Majority			763	8.0	+1.2
Turnout			9,561	83.0	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1892: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Nathaniel Curzon	4,752	53.4	+0.1
	Liberal	George Herbert Pollard	4,148	46.6	-0.1
Majority			604	6.8	+0.2
Turnout			8,900	84.6	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Nathaniel Curzon	3,723	53.3	+4.4
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	3,262	46.7	-4.4
Majority			461	6.6
Turnout			6,985	82.8	-4.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1885: Southport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	3,741	51.1	N/A
	Conservative	John Edwards Edwards-Moss	3,581	48.9	N/A
Majority			160	2.2	N/A
Turnout			7,322	86.8	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
↑ This is above the usual barony in the peerage.

References

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)
↑
↑
↑
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Southport". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

Election results, 1950 - 2005
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885 - 1918
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 - 1949

Constituencies in North West England (75)

Labour (51)	Ashton-under-Lyne Barrow and Furness Birkenhead Blackburn Blackley and Broughton Blackpool South Bolton North East Bolton South East Bootle Burnley Bury South Chorley City of Chester Copeland Denton and Reddish Ellesmere Port and Neston Garston and Halewood Halton Heywood and Middleton Hyndburn Knowsley Lancaster and Fleetwood Leigh Liverpool Riverside Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool West Derby Makerfield Manchester Central Manchester Gorton Manchester Withington Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham West and Royton Preston Rochdale St Helens North St Helens South and Whiston Salford and Eccles Sefton Central Stalybridge and Hyde Stockport Stretford and Urmston Wallasey Warrington North West Lancashire Wigan Wirral South Wirral West Workington Worsley and Eccles South Wythenshawe and Sale East

Conservative (22)	Altrincham and Sale West Blackpool North and Cleveleys Bolton West Bury North Carlisle Cheadle Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Eddisbury Fylde Hazel Grove Macclesfield Morecambe and Lunesdale Pendle Penrith and The Border Ribble Valley Rossendale and Darwen South Ribble Tatton Warrington South Weaver Vale Wyre and Preston North

Liberal Democrats (2)	Southport Westmorland and Lonsdale

North West England European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (3) UKIP (3)

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