Southampton Itchen (UK Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southampton Itchen
Borough constituency

Southampton Itchen shown within Hampshire, and Hampshire shown within England
Created: 1950
MP: John Denham
Party: Labour
Type: House of Commons
County: Hampshire
EP constituency: South East England

Southampton Itchen is a parliamentary constituency which returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons. It is currently represented by John Denham of the Labour Party. The seat covers the eastern part of the City of Southampton, in southern England. It is named after the River Itchen, the lesser of the two major rivers that flow through the city.

Contents

[edit] History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-member Southampton constituency was abolished.

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency covers the city centre, the eastern port areas (the Port of Southampton is one of the principal ports of the UK), the exclusive Ocean Village quarter and the inner city council estates including the impoverished Thornhill area. It is seen as the more working class of the two constituencies in the city (the other is Southampton Test - named after the other major river).

Southampton Itchen is traditionally a safe Labour constituency. It has only elected a Conservative MP, Christopher Chope in 1983 and 1987 after the then sitting MP Bob Mitchell left Labour in 1981 for the SDP. The combination of a strong Alliance candidate and Conservative landslides made Southampton Itchen highly competitive. The current MP, John Denham, narrowly defeated Chope by 551 votes in 1992 but has safely held the seat since.

Southampton Itchen covers the city wards of (with their associated neighbourhoods):

The constituency is bounded to the west by Southampton Test (Labour), to the north and east by Eastleigh (Liberal Democrat) and in the far north by Romsey (Liberal Democrat).

[edit] Members of Parliament

  • Constituency created (1950)
Election Member Party
1950 Ralph Morley Labour
1955 Dr Horace King Labour
1965 Speaker
1971 Bob Mitchell Labour
1981 Social Democratic
1983 Christopher Chope Conservative
1992 John Denham Labour

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Denham
Conservative Royston Smith
General Election 2005: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Denham 20,871 48.3 -6.2
Conservative Flick Drummond 11,569 26.8 -0.6
Liberal Democrat David Goodall 9,162 21.2 +6.2
UK Independence Kim Rose 1,623 3.8 +1.8
Majority 9,302 21.5
Turnout 43,225 55.5 1.5
Labour hold Swing -2.8
General Election 2001: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Denham 22,553 54.5 -0.3
Conservative Caroline Nokes 11,330 27.4 -1.0
Liberal Democrat Mark Cooper 6,195 15.0 +3.3
UK Independence Kim Rose 829 2.0 +1.7
Socialist Alliance Gavin Marsh 241 0.6
Socialist Labour Michael Holmes 225 0.5
Majority 11,223 27.1
Turnout 41,373 54.0
Labour hold Swing +0.37

Electorate: 76,603

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Denham 29,498 54.8
Conservative Peter Fleet 15,269 28.4
Liberal Democrat David Harrison 6,289 11.7
Referendum Party John Clegg 1,660 3.1
Socialist Labour Ken Rose 628 1.2
UK Independence Clive Hoar 172 0.3
Socialist Alternative Gavin Marsh 113 0.2
Natural Law Rosemary Barry 110 0.2
ProLife Alliance Ferdi McDermott 99 0.2
Majority 14,220 26.4
Turnout 53,838 70.0
Labour hold Swing +12.29

Electorate: 76,869

General Election 1992: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Denham 24,402 44.0
Conservative Christopher Chope 23,851 43.0
Liberal Democrat James Hodgson 7,221 13.0
Majority 551
Turnout 76.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Chope 24,419 44.3
Labour John Denham 17,703 32.1
Social Democrat Bob Mitchell 13,006 23.6
Majority 6,716 12.2
Turnout 75.9
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Chope 21,937 41.5
Social Democrat Bob Mitchell 16,647 31.5
Labour John Denham 14,324 27.1
Majority 5,290 10.0
Turnout 73.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Mitchell 28,036 46.3
Conservative Andrew Hunter 26,434 43.6
Liberal J. Pinder 6,132 10.1
Majority 1,602 2.6
Turnout 74.7
Labour hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Mitchell 28,168 48.9
Conservative P. T. James 20,373 35.4
Liberal Joseph Cherryson 9,071 15.7
Majority 7,795 13.5
Turnout 70.3
Labour hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Mitchell 27,557 44.0
Conservative P. T. James 21,967 35.0
Liberal Joseph Cherryson 13,173 21.0
Majority 5,590 8.9
Turnout 77.2
Labour hold Swing
Southampton Itchen by-election, 1971
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bob Mitchell 22,575 N/A
Conservative James Spicer 12,900 N/A
National Democratic Edwin Bray 3,090
Liberal Joseph Cherryson 2,214
Majority 9,675
Turnout
Labour gain from Speaker Swing
General Election 1970: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Speaker Horace King 29,417 67.2
National Democratic Edwin Bray 9,581 21.9
Independent B. H. Phillips 4,794 11.0
Majority 19,836 45.3
Turnout 54.1
Speaker hold Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Speaker Horace King 30,463 85.4
Independent K. D. Hunt 5,217 14.6
Majority 25,246 70.8
Turnout 49.0
Speaker gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1964: Southampton Itchen
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Horace King 28,949 52.7
Conservative G. G. Olson 18,974 34.5
Liberal Joseph Cherryson 7,007 12.8
Majority 9.975 18.2
Turnout 76.1
Labour hold Swing

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Southampton Itchen, UKPollingReport