Southampton, Itchen 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

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 suprem ...

since 2015 by

Royston Smith Royston Matthew Smith (born 13 May 1964) is a British Conservative Party politician and has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton Itchen since the 2015 general election. Smith was previously a councillor on the Southampton Ci ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member of parliament. Discounting the Speaker (of the House of Commons) returned in the early 1970s in two elections, local voters have elected the MP from only two parties alternately for various periods, with one party reaffiliation (defection) between elections when the Labour Party split in the 1980s. Since 1987, campaigns in the seat have resulted in a minimum of 26.8% of votes at each election consistently for the same two parties' choice for candidate, and the next highest-placed share having fluctuated between 3% and 23% of the vote. In those recent elections, save for 2015 when UKIP surged nationally, the third-placed candidate has been a Liberal Democrat, whose candidate lost their deposit in the result perhaps uniquely for an English university city seat in 2017, but which takes in far fewer of the university areas than Southampton Test. The seat attracted nine candidates in 1997; three in 1992. Oldest elections in the seat were sometimes a two-candidate contest, as in comparator mid-twentieth century English elections.

History

The constituency was created in 1950, when the two-member Southampton constituency was abolished. The constituency is named after the River Itchen, which flows through it and is the lesser of the two major rivers that reach the tidal estuary of Southampton Water at the city. Although until the 1970s it was a

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

Labour seat, it elected a Conservative MP,

Christopher Chope Sir Christopher Robert Chope (born 19 May 1947) is a British barrister and politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch in Dorset since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected in 1983 fo ...

in 1983 and 1987 after the sitting MP Bob Mitchell left Labour in 1981 for the SDP. The combination of Mitchell as a strong SDP-Liberal Alliance candidate in both 1983 and 1987, together with Conservative landslides, made Southampton Itchen highly competitive. Labour candidate

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Den ...

, defeated Chope by 551 votes in 1992 and held the seat with low-to-average majorities until 2010 when he won by 192 votes. From 2010 to 2017, the three general election results in the seat presented themselves as two-party ultra-

marginal Marginal may refer to: * ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * ''Marginal'' (manga) * '' El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal constituency or marginal, in polit ...

(finely-balanced) contests. Royston Smith gained the seat as a Conservative in 2015. He had led his party's group on the city council and first contested the seat in 2010. He retained the seat in the 2019 general election with a majority of over 4000 votes.

Boundaries

1950–1955: The County Borough of Southampton wards of Bevois, Bitterne and Peartree, Bitterne and Sholing, Newtown, Northam, Portswood, St Denys, St Mary's, Trinity, and Woolston. 1955–1983: The County Borough of Southampton wards of Bitterne, Harefield, Peartree and Bitterne Manor, St Denys and Bitterne Park, St Luke's, St Mary's, Sholing, Swaythling, and Woolston. 1983–1997: The City of Southampton wards of Bargate, Bitterne, Bitterne Park, Harefield, Peartree, St Luke's, and Sholing. 1997–present: The City of Southampton wards of Bargate, Bitterne, Bitterne Park, Harefield, Peartree, Sholing, and Woolston. The seat covers the eastern part of the

City of Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also cover ...

, in southern England, specifically the city centre, the eastern port areas (the Port of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

is one of the principal ports of the UK), the exclusive Ocean Village quarter, the inner city council estates and the economically deprived Thornhill estate on its eastern boundary. It is seen as the more working class of the two constituencies in the city. The other is Southampton Test – named after the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village of ...

. The constituency is bounded to the west by Southampton Test ( Labour), to the north and east by Eastleigh (

) and in the far north by

Romsey and Southampton North Romsey and Southampton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Caroline Nokes for the Conservative Party. For the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer i ...

(

Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 close to but slightly below than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', above the average for the South East seats of 2.5% but below, for example, five seats in East Kent.Unemployment claimants by constituency
''

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Electorate: 76,603

Elections in the 1990s

Electorate: 76,869

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southampton Itchen (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Politics of Southampton