Luton South (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton South
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Luton South in Bedfordshire.

Location of Bedfordshire within England.
County Bedfordshire
Electorate 65,889 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Luton
Current constituency
Created 1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament Gavin Shuker (Labour Co-op)
Number of members One
Created from Luton East
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East of England

Luton South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton East.

The constituency and its predecessors the Luton East and Luton constituencies had been called a bellwether constituency; they had elected an MP from the winning party in each election since the 1951 general election. However, the run was broken in the 2010 general election, when the constituency elected a Labour MP while the Conservatives were the largest party.

Contents

Boundaries

Following the latest[2] review into parliamentary representation in Bedfordshire and Luton, the Boundary Commission for England made only insignificant changes to the existing constituencies.

Luton South currently consists of electoral wards within the town of Luton, and also part of one ward from Central Bedfordshire district:

The other constituency in Luton is Luton North.

Members of Parliament

Margaret Moran, who was the Labour MP from 1997, announced that she would stand down at the 2010 general election due to controversy over her expenses claims.

Election Member [3] Party
1983 Graham Bright Conservative
1997 Margaret Moran Labour
2010 Gavin Shuker Labour Co-op

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Luton South[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Gavin Shuker 14,725 34.9 -7.9
Conservative Nigel Huddleston 12,396 29.4 +1.3
Liberal Democrat Qurban Hussain 9,567 22.7 +0.1
Independent Esther Rantzen 1,872 4.4 N/A
BNP Tony Blakey 1,299 3.1 N/A
UKIP Charles Lawman 975 2.3 -0.1
Independent Stephen Rhodes 463 1.1 N/A
Green Marc Scheimann 366 0.9 -1.2
Independent Joe Hall 264 0.6 N/A
Independent Faruk Choudhury 130 0.3 N/A
Independent Stephen Lathwell 84 0.2 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Frank Sweeney 75 0.2 -0.1
Majority 2,329 5.5
Turnout 42,216 64.8 +11.0
Labour hold Swing -4.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Luton South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 16,610 42.7 −12.5
Conservative Richard Stay 10,960 28.2 −1.2
Liberal Democrat Qurban Hussain 8,778 22.6 +11.7
UKIP Charles Lawman 957 2.5 +1.0
Green Marc Scheimann 790 2.0 0.0
Respect Mohammed Ilyas 725 1.9 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Arthur Lynn 98 0.3 0.0
Majority 5,650 14.5
Turnout 38,918 54.1 -1.0
Labour hold Swing −5.6
General Election 2001: Luton South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 21,719 55.2 +0.3
Conservative Gordon Henderson 11,586 29.4 -1.9
Liberal Democrat Rabi Martins 4,292 10.9 +1.3
Green Marc Scheimann 798 2.0 +1.3
UKIP Charlie Lawman 578 1.5 +0.7
Socialist Alliance Jo Hearne 271 0.7 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Robert Bolton 107 0.3 N/A
Majority 10,133 25.8
Turnout 39,351 55.1 -15.4
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Luton South[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 26,428 54.8
Conservative Graham Bright 15,109 31.4
Liberal Democrat Keith Fitchett 4,610 9.6
Referendum Party Clive Jacobs 1,205 2.5 N/A
UKIP Charlie Lawman 390 0.8
Green Marc Scheimann 356 0.7
Natural Law Claire Perrin 86 0.2 N/A
Majority 11,319 23.5
Turnout 48,184 70.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1992: Luton South[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Bright 25,900 44.8 -1.4
Labour WD McKenzie 25,101 43.5 +6.8
Liberal Democrat DW Rogers 6,020 10.4 -6.7
Green Miss L Bliss 550 1.0 +1.0
Natural Law DRH Cooke 191 0.3 +0.3
Majority 799 1.4 -8.2
Turnout 57,762 79.1 +3.5
Conservative hold Swing -4.1

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Boundary Commission for England
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)
  4. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated Luton Borough Council
  5. ^ a b Vote 2001: Luton South, BBC News
  6. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010. 


Constituencies in the East of England (58)
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Liberal Democrats (4)
Labour (2)