Reading South was a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by ...

represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covered an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.

History

The Reading South parliamentary constituency was first created for the 1950 general election by splitting the previous parliamentary constituency of Reading into North and South divisions. These constituencies were merged back into a single Reading constituency in for the 1955 general election. The Reading South constituency was recreated in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, when the majority comprised areas outside the County Borough. In 1983 the constituencies in Reading were reorganised, creating the new constituencies of

Reading East Reading East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party. The seat is one of two won (held or gained) by a Labour candidate in 2017 from a total of eight covering ...

and Reading West.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1950–1955: The County Borough of Reading wards of Church, East, Katesgrove, Minster, Redlands, and West. It was then abolished and absorbed into the re-established Borough Constituency of Reading, with the exception of the East ward, which was transferred to Wokingham. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Reading wards of Christchurch, Park, Redlands, and Whitley, and in the Rural District of Wokingham the parishes of Arborfield and Newland, Barkham, Earley, Finchampstead, Shinfield, Sonning, Swallowfield, Winnersh, and Woodley and Sandford. The Park ward of the County Borough of Reading was transferred from Wokingham, along with western parts of the Rural District thereof. The remaining wards of the County Borough were previously part of the abolished Borough Constituency of Reading. The constituency was abolished for the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general e ...

, with the majority forming the basis of the new County Constituency of

. The north-western parts transferred back to Wokingham.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1950–1955

MPs 1974–1983

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1950s

Politics and history of the constituency

The Reading South parliamentary constituency was first created for the 1950 general election by splitting the previous parliamentary constituency of Reading into North and South divisions. The seat was contested and won for the Labour Party by Ian Mikardo, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency, who held the seat until it was merged back into a single Reading constituency for the 1955 general election. The Reading South constituency was recreated in

, when it was contested and won for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

by Gerard Vaughan, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency. For the

the constituencies in Reading were reorganised, creating the new constituencies of

and Reading West. Gerard Vaughan went on to hold the Reading East constituency until he stood down at the 1997 general election.

References

*{{Rayment-hc, r, 1, date=March 2012