Derby South () is a constituency formed of part of the city of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

since 1983 by veteran MP

Margaret Beckett Dame Margaret Mary Beckett (''née'' Jackson; born 15 January 1943) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. A member of the Labour Party, she became Britain's first female Foreign S ...

of the Labour Party. She has served under the Labour governments of Harold Wilson, James Callaghan,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

. She became interim Leader of the Labour Party in 1994 when John Smith suddenly died. She has also served under

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

and

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

himself.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The County Borough of Derby wards of Alvaston, Arboretum, Castle, Dale, Litchurch, Normanton, Osmaston, and Peartree. 1955–1974: The County Borough of Derby wards of Alvaston, Arboretum, Castle, Dale, Litchurch, Normanton, Osmaston, and Peartree, and the parish of Littleover in the Rural District of Shardlow. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Derby wards of Alvaston, Arboretum, Babington, Chellaston, Litchurch, Littleover, Normanton, Osmaston, and Peartree. 1983–1997: The City of Derby wards of Alvaston, Babington, Blagreaves, Kingsway, Litchurch, Littleover, Normanton, Osmaston, and Sinfin. 1997–2010: The City of Derby wards of Alvaston, Babington, Blagreaves, Kingsway, Litchurch, Littleover, Mickleover, Normanton, Osmaston, and Sinfin. 2010–present: The City of Derby wards of Alvaston, Arboretum, Blagreaves, Boulton, Chellaston, Normanton, and Sinfin. Derby city centre has been in this constituency since 1974; from 1950 it had been in Derby North. The proposals made by the Boundary Commission in 2016 for new constituencies would have seen the wards Aston, Chaddesden, Spondon and Oakwood move into the seat while the wards Arboretum, Normanton and Blagreaves would move to the seat of Derby North. This would notionally make the seat a Conservative seat. If implemented, this would be the first time the city centre has been in Derby North since 1974.

Members of Parliament

Constituency profile

The constituency takes in Derby city centre including much of its varied income inner-city, a narrow majority of which used to be local council-built however which is offset by conservation areas including beside Derby Cathedral and Derby Catacombs. The remainder of the seat is generally more affluent suburbs, and much of the engineering industry traditionally associated with the city.

History

The constituency was created in 1950, when the former two-seat constituency of Derby was split into two single-member seats. Unlike the Derby North seat, this seat has to date been a Labour Party seat. A notable former MP for the seat was its first incumbent,

Philip Noel-Baker Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, (1 November 1889 – 8 October 1982), born Philip John Baker, was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a ...

of the Labour Party. He served as a Cabinet minister in the post-war Attlee government, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959 for his campaigning for disarmament. He had previously represented the former two-seat constituency of Derby since a by-election in 1936. The former Cabinet minister

, who had represented

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

(under her maiden name of Margaret Jackson) from 1974 to 1979, has represented Derby South for the Labour Party since 1983. At that election Beckett won the seat with one of the smallest majorities seen of just 421 over the Conservative Party, since which she has achieved only larger majorities than this. The most recent result, in line with other Leave-voting seats, is a reduced majority for Labour, with both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates increasing their vote share, however Beckett still won a majority (51%) of all votes cast, higher than in the elections between 2005 and 2015, suggesting the seat is a relatively safe seat for the Labour Party.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

The vote share changes on 2005 and the turnout figures were notional based on boundary changes.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derby South (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire Politics of Derby Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950