The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-member Southampton constituency was abolished. The boundaries of the seat have changed at most of the Boundary Commissions' periodic reviews.
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 third 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 from 2010 to 2015 was one of four Labour seats in South East England and since 2017 is among two of eighteen in Hampshire won by Labour candidates.[2] Whitehead was elected in 2017 with a majority of over 10,000 votes, and in 2019 over 6,000, making Southampton Test a relatively comfortable Labour seat. Whitehead has announced that he will not be standing at the next general election.[3]
Constituency profileedit
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.[4]
The seat is home to Southampton FC's football ground at St Mary's.
Boundariesedit
Map of current 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 (which was then in the Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District).[5]
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.[6]
2010–present: The City of Southampton wards of Bevois, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.
^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.
Referencesedit
^. 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
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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 Southampton TestBorough constituencyfor the House of CommonsBoundary of Southampton Test in HampshireLocation of Hampshire within EnglandCountyHampshireElectorate71 263 December 2010 1 Major settlementsSouthamptonCurrent constituencyCreated1950Member of ParliamentAlan Whitehead Labour SeatsOneCreated fromSouthampton Contents 1 History 2 Constituency profile 3 Boundaries 3 1 Proposed 4 Members of Parliament 5 Elections 5 1 Elections in the 2020s 5 2 Elections in the 2010s 5 3 Elections in the 2000s 5 4 Elections in the 1990s 5 5 Elections in the 1980s 5 6 Elections in the 1970s 5 7 Elections in the 1960s 5 8 Elections in the 1950s 6 See also 7 Notes 8 ReferencesHistory editThe constituency was created for the 1950 general election when the previous two member Southampton constituency was abolished The boundaries of the seat have changed at most of the Boundary Commissions periodic reviews 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 third 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 from 2010 to 2015 was one of four Labour seats in South East England and since 2017 is among two of eighteen in Hampshire won by Labour candidates 2 Whitehead was elected in 2017 with a majority of over 10 000 votes and in 2019 over 6 000 making Southampton Test a relatively comfortable Labour seat Whitehead has announced that he will not be standing at the next general election 3 Constituency profile editThe 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 4 The seat is home to Southampton FC s football ground at St Mary s Boundaries edit nbsp Map of current 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 which was then in the Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District 5 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 6 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 Proposed edit Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023 the composition of the constituency from the next general election due by January 2025 will be unchanged 7 Following a review of local authority ward boundaries which became effective in May 2023 8 9 the constituency now comprises the following The City of Southampton wards of Banister amp Polygon majority Bevois Coxford Freemantle Millbrook Portswood Redbridge Shirley Swaythling small part 10 Members of Parliament editElection Member 11 Party1950 Horace King Labour1955 John Howard Conservative1964 John Fletcher Cooke Conservative1966 Bob Mitchell Labour1970 James Hill ConservativeOctober 1974 Bryan Gould Labour1979 James Hill Conservative1997 Alan Whitehead LabourElections editElections in the 2020s edit Next general election Southampton Test Party Candidate Votes Reform UK John Edwards 12 Labour Satvir Kaur 13 MajorityTurnoutRegistered electorsSwingElections in the 2010s edit General election 2019 Southampton Test 14 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 22 256 49 5 9 2Conservative Steven Galton 16 043 35 7 1 6Liberal Democrats Joe Richards 3 449 7 7 3 7Brexit Party Philip Crook 1 591 3 5 NewGreen Katherine Barbour 1 433 3 2 NewIndependent Kev Barry 222 0 5 NewMajority 6 213 13 8 10 8Turnout 44 994 64 2 2 6Labour hold Swing 5 4General election 2017 Southampton Test Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 27 509 58 7 17 4Conservative Paul Holmes 16 006 34 1 1 6Liberal Democrats Thomas Gravatt 1 892 4 0 0 9Southampton Independents Andrew Pope 816 1 7 NewIndependent Keith Morrell 680 1 4 NewMajority 11 508 24 6 15 8Turnout 46 908 66 8 4 7Labour hold Swing 7 9General election 2015 Southampton Test 15 16 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 18 017 41 3 2 8Conservative Jeremy Moulton 14 207 32 5 0 5UKIP Pearline Hingston 5 566 12 8 8 9Green Angela Mawle 2 568 5 9 3 9Liberal Democrats Adrian Ford 2 121 4 9 17 4Independent Chris Davis 770 1 8 NewTUSC Nick Chaffey 403 0 9 NewMajority 3 810 8 8 3 3Turnout 43 652 62 1 0 7Labour hold Swing 1 7General election 2010 Southampton Test 17 18 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 17 001 38 5 5 7Conservative Jeremy Moulton 14 588 33 0 8 0Liberal Democrats Dave Callaghan 9 865 22 3 1 8UKIP Pearline Hingston 1 726 3 9 0 9Green Chris Bluemel 881 2 0 1 6Majority 2 413 5 5 11 3Turnout 44 187 61 4 5 4Labour hold Swing 6 9Elections in the 2000s edit General election 2005 Southampton Test 19 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 17 845 42 7 9 8Conservative Stephen MacLoughlin 10 827 25 9 0 4Liberal Democrats Steve Sollitt 10 368 24 8 6 7Green John Spottiswoode 1 482 3 5 NewUKIP Peter Day 1 261 3 0 1 1Majority 7 018 16 8 10 2Turnout 41 783 53 7 2 6Labour hold Swing 5 1General election 2001 Southampton Test 20 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 21 824 52 5 1 6Conservative Richard Gueterbock 10 617 25 5 2 6Liberal Democrats John Shaw 7 522 18 1 4 4UKIP Garry Rankin Moore 792 1 9 1 5Socialist Alliance Mark Abel 442 1 1 NewSocialist Labour Paramjit Bahia 378 0 9 NewMajority 11 207 27 0 1 0Turnout 41 575 56 3 15 6Labour hold SwingElections in the 1990s edit General election 1997 Southampton Test 21 Party Candidate Votes Labour Alan Whitehead 28 396 54 1 11 7Conservative James Hill 14 712 28 1 15 3Liberal Democrats Alan Dowden 7 171 13 7 0 6Referendum Peter Day 1 397 2 7 NewLegalise Cannabis Howard Marks 388 0 7 NewUKIP Anthony McCabe 219 0 4 NewIndependent Paul Taylor 81 0 2 NewNatural Law John Sinel 77 0 1 NewMajority 13 684 26 0 N ATurnout 52 441 71 9 5 5Labour gain from Conservative SwingGeneral election 1992 Southampton Test 22 23 24 Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 24 504 43 4 2 2Labour Alan Whitehead 23 919 42 4 9 1Liberal Democrats Diana Maddock 7 391 13 1 8 1Green Jonathan M Michaelis 535 0 9 NewNatural Law David Plummer 101 0 2 NewMajority 585 1 0 11 3Turnout 56 450 77 4 1 0Conservative hold Swing 5 6Elections in the 1980s edit General election 1987 Southampton Test 25 Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 25 722 45 6 0 4Labour Alan Whitehead 18 768 33 3 5 2Liberal Vivienne Rayner 11 950 21 2 5 5Majority 6 954 12 3 4 8Turnout 56 440 76 4 3 3Conservative hold Swing 2 4General election 1983 Southampton Test 26 Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 24 657 45 2Labour Alan Whitehead 15 311 28 1SDP Adrian Vinson 14 592 26 7Majority 9 346 17 1Turnout 54 560 73 1 3 2Conservative hold SwingElections in the 1970s edit General election 1979 Southampton Test Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 27 198 46 36Labour Bryan Gould 25 075 42 74Liberal D Hughes 6 393 10 90Majority 2 123 3 62 N ATurnout 58 666 76 30Conservative gain from Labour SwingGeneral election October 1974 Southampton Test Party Candidate Votes Labour Bryan Gould 22 780 42 17Conservative James Hill 22 250 41 19Liberal J R Wallis 8 994 16 65Majority 530 0 98 N ATurnout 54 024 73 11Labour gain from Conservative SwingGeneral election February 1974 Southampton Test Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 23 742 40 88Labour Bryan Gould 22 339 38 46Liberal J R Wallis 12 000 20 66Majority 1 403 2 42Turnout 58 081 79 21Conservative hold SwingGeneral election 1970 Southampton Test 27 Party Candidate Votes Conservative James Hill 24 660 47 54Labour Bob Mitchell 22 858 44 07Liberal Jack Wallis 4 349 8 38Majority 1 802 3 47 N ATurnout 51 867 73 33Conservative gain from Labour SwingElections in the 1960s edit General election 1966 Southampton Test 28 Party Candidate Votes Labour Bob Mitchell 24 628 48 37Conservative John Fletcher Cooke 22 188 43 58Liberal Graham Cleverley 4 102 8 06 NewMajority 2 440 4 79 N ATurnout 51 918 78 13Labour gain from Conservative SwingGeneral election 1964 Southampton Test 29 Party Candidate Votes Conservative John Fletcher Cooke 25 700 50 34Labour Bob Mitchell 25 352 49 66Majority 348 0 68Turnout 51 052 76 69Conservative hold SwingElections in the 1950s edit General election 1959 Southampton Test 30 Party Candidate Votes Conservative John Howard 30 176 56 31Labour Shirley Williams 23 410 43 69Majority 6 766 12 62Turnout 53 586 79 88Conservative hold SwingGeneral election 1955 Southampton Test 31 Party Candidate Votes Conservative John Howard 26 707 51 21Labour Anthony Crosland 22 865 43 84Liberal Stanley Little 2 583 4 95 NewMajority 3 842 7 37Turnout 52 155 78 72Conservative gain from Labour SwingGeneral election 1951 Southampton Test 32 Party Candidate Votes Labour Horace King 26 430 50 44National Liberal John Paul 25 965 49 56Majority 465 0 88Turnout 52 395 83 52Labour hold SwingGeneral election 1950 Southampton Test 33 Party Candidate Votes Labour Horace King 25 052 47 08National Liberal P Brembridge 23 663 45 15Liberal Stephen Fry 3 697 7 05Majority 1 389 1 93Turnout 52 412 84 39Labour win new seat See also editList of parliamentary constituencies in HampshireNotes edit 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 References edit Electorate Figures Boundary Commission for England 2011 Electorate Figures Boundary Commission for England 4 March 2011 Archived from the original on 6 November 2010 Retrieved 13 March 2011 South East Results after 84 of 84 BBC News Southampton Test Labour MP Alan Whitehead to step down BBC News 14 January 2022 Retrieved 5 July 2023 Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian Representation of the People Act 1948 Sch 1 The Parliamentary Constituencies England Order 1995 SI 1995 No 1626 The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023 Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region LGBCE Southampton LGBCE lgbce org uk Retrieved 1 April 2024 The Southampton Electoral Changes Order 2023 New Seat Details Southampton Test electoralcalculus co uk Retrieved 1 April 2024 Leigh Rayment s Historical List of MPs Constituencies beginning with T part 1 Reform UK reveal candidates in city for next general election 26 September 2023 Council leader to fight Southampton Test seat at next general election 10 July 2022 Southampton Test Parliamentary constituency BBC News Retrieved 27 November 2019 Election Data 2015 Electoral Calculus Archived from the original on 17 October 2015 Retrieved 17 October 2015 BBC NEWS Election 2015 Southampton Test BBC News Election Data 2010 Electoral Calculus Archived from the original on 26 July 2013 Retrieved 17 October 2015 BBC NEWS Election 2010 Southampton Test BBC News 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 Politics Resources Election 1992 Politics Resources 9 April 1992 Retrieved 6 December 2010 This was an unusual election where an incumbent was challenged by two people who later became MPs 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 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1970 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1966 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1964 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1959 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1955 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1951 The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1950 50 56 N 1 25 W 50 933 N 1 417 W 50 933 1 417 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Southampton Test UK Parliament constituency amp oldid 1217163077, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
