Portsmouth South is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

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. ...

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 supremac ...

since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

by Stephen Morgan of the Labour Party. Morgan is the first Labour MP to represent the seat.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The

County Borough of Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dense ...

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 Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dense ...

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.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the southern part of the city of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in Hampshire, including

Fratton Fratton is a residential and formerly industrial area of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. Victorian style terraced houses are dominant in the area, typical of most residential areas of Portsmouth. Fratton has many discount shops and "greasy spoo ...

, the seaside resort of

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

and

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...

(Portsmouth Naval Dockyard) within the city bounds. The northern part is represented by

Portsmouth North Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP. Boundaries 191 ...

. 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. Notwithstanding this, following the Second World War the city has a large proportion of flats, increasingly in a more aesthetic apartment style, some being affordable

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

and

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

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 and excellent amenities.

History

The constituency was created in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

when the larger Portsmouth constituency was split into three divisions:

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South. The Portsmouth Central constituency was abolished in 1950. During the 2010 general election campaign, independent candidate Les Cummings distributed a leaflet claiming that sitting MP Mike Hancock was a paedophile, which was later proven in court to be false. Cummings was subsequently convicted under the

Representation of the People Act 1983 The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways: * Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969. * Stated that a convicted pe ...

for distributing material which was known to be false with the intention of smearing or defaming to affect the return of a Member of Parliament, and was fined £500 as a result. Stephen Morgan won the seat at the 2017 general election, the first time ever that the Labour Party have held the seat. Morgan's win was one of 30 net gains made by Labour at that election. At the 2019 general election Labour increased its vote share by 7.6%. This was the second-highest increase in Labour vote share in any seat in the United Kingdom (after

Bradford West Bradford West is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom gene ...

) in an election where Labour's vote share fell in all but 13 constituencies.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portsmouth South (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Politics of Portsmouth