Portsmouth South (UK Parliament constituency)

Portsmouth South is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Stephen Morgan of the Labour Party. Morgan is the first Labour MP to represent the seat.

Portsmouth South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2010
Boundary of Portsmouth South in South East England
County	Hampshire
Electorate	73,711 (2024)
Major settlements	Southsea Fratton HMNB Portsmouth
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Stephen Morgan (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Portsmouth

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Portsmouth 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 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.

The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.^[1]

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the southern part of the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, including Fratton, the seaside resort of Southsea and HMNB Portsmouth (Portsmouth Naval Dockyard) within the city bounds. The University of Portsmouth is within the constituency. The northern part is represented by Portsmouth North.

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.^[2] 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 and brutalist 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^[3] and excellent amenities.^[4]

History

The constituency was created in 1918 when the larger Portsmouth constituency was split into three divisions: Central, North 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 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) in an election where Labour's vote share fell in all but 13 constituencies.^[5]

Morgan's vote share remained steady in the 2024 election, with the Conservatives falling significantly behind both Labour and Reform. Portsmouth South can be considered a safe Labour seat. From a high of 45.9% in 2010, the Lib Dems are now in fourth position in a seat they held between 1997 and 2015, despite holding the majority of councillors in this constituency.

Members of Parliament

Portsmouth prior to 1918

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1918	Herbert Cayzer	Conservative
	1922 by-election	Leslie Wilson	Conservative
	1923 by-election	Herbert Cayzer	Conservative
	1939 by-election	Jocelyn Lucas	Conservative
	1966	Bonner Pink	Conservative
	1984 by-election	Mike Hancock	SDP
	1987	David Martin	Conservative
	1997	Mike Hancock	Liberal Democrat
	2013		Independent
	2015	Flick Drummond	Conservative
	2017	Stephen Morgan	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Portsmouth South^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Morgan	18,857	48.4	−0.2
	Reform UK	Mark Zimmer	5,702	14.6	+12.6
	Conservative	Signe Biddle	5,643	14.5	−22.8
	Liberal Democrats	Charlie Murphy	4,886	12.6	+1.1
	Green	Elliott Lee	3,107	8.0	N/A
	PIP	Jacob Short	733	1.9	N/A
Majority			13,155	33.8	+22.5
Turnout			38,928	52.8	−11.1
Registered electors			73,711
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.4

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Portsmouth South^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Morgan	23,068	48.6	+7.6
	Conservative	Donna Jones	17,705	37.3	−0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Gerald Vernon-Jackson	5,418	11.4	−5.9
	Brexit Party	John Kennedy	994	2.1	N/A
	JAC	Steven George	240	0.5	N/A
Majority			5,363	11.3	+7.9
Turnout			47,425	63.9	±0.0
Registered electors			74,186
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 2017: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Morgan	18,290	41.0	+21.5
	Conservative	Flick Drummond	16,736	37.6	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Gerald Vernon-Jackson	7,699	17.3	−5.0
	UKIP	Kevan Chippindall-Higgin	1,129	2.5	−10.8
	Green	Ian McCulloch	712	1.6	−5.9
Majority			1,554	3.5	N/A
Turnout			44,566	63.9	+5.4
Registered electors			69,785
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.4

General election 2015: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Flick Drummond	14,585	34.8	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gerald Vernon-Jackson	9,344	22.3	−23.6
	Labour	Sue Castillon	8,184	19.5	+5.9
	UKIP	Steve Harris	5,595	13.4	+11.2
	Green	Ian McCulloch	3,145	7.5	+5.8
	Independent	Mike Hancock	716	1.7	N/A
	TUSC	Sean Hoyle	235	0.6	N/A
	JAC	Don Jerrard	99	0.2	±0.0
Majority			5,241	12.5	N/A
Turnout			41,903	58.5	−0.3
Registered electors			71,639
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+12.6

General election 2010: Portsmouth South^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hancock	18,921	45.9	+3.5
	Conservative	Flick Drummond	13,721	33.3	−0.3
	Labour	John Ferrett	5,640	13.7	−8.6
	UKIP	Robert Robinson	876	2.1	+0.2
	BNP	Geoff Crompton	873	2.1	N/A
	Green	Tim Dawes	716	1.7	N/A
	English Democrat	Ian Ducain	400	1.0	N/A
	JAC	Les Cummings	117	0.3	N/A
Majority			5,200	12.6	+3.8
Turnout			41,264	58.7	+1.8
Registered electors			70,242
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+1.9

Elections in the 2000s

2005 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Liberal Democrats	15,652	42.3
	Conservative	12,394	33.5
	Labour	8,228	22.2
	Others	714	1.9
Turnout		36,988	56.9
Electorate		64,981

General election 2005: Portsmouth South^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hancock	17,047	42.2	−2.4
	Conservative	Caroline Dinenage	13,685	33.9	+4.8
	Labour	Mark Button	8,714	21.6	−2.3
	UKIP	Dennis Pierson	928	2.3	+1.5
Majority			3,362	8.3	−7.2
Turnout			40,374	56.9	+6.0
Registered electors			70,969
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−3.6

General election 2001: Portsmouth South^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hancock	17,490	44.6	+5.1
	Conservative	Philip Warr	11,396	29.1	−2.1
	Labour	Graham Heaney	9,361	23.9	−1.4
	Socialist Alliance	Jonathan Molyneux	647	1.6	N/A
	UKIP	Michael Tarrant	321	0.8	+0.5
Majority			6,094	15.5	+7.2
Turnout			39,215	50.9	−12.9
Registered electors			77,095
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Portsmouth South^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hancock	20,421	39.5	−2.5
	Conservative	David Martin	16,094	31.1	−11.4
	Labour	Alan Burnett	13,086	25.3	+10.7
	Referendum	Christopher Trim	1,629	3.2	N/A
	Liberal	John Thompson	184	0.4	N/A
	UKIP	Jill Evans	141	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	William Trend	140	0.3	+0.1
Majority			4,327	8.4	N/A
Turnout			51,695	63.8	−5.3
Registered electors			81,014
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.4

General election 1992: Portsmouth South^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Martin	22,798	42.5	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hancock	22,556	42.0	−0.9
	Labour	Syd Rapson	7,857	14.6	+1.7
	Green	Aleksander Zivkovic	349	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	William Trend	91	0.2	N/A
Majority			242	0.5	+0.1
Turnout			53,651	69.1	−2.2
Registered electors			77,645
	Conservative hold		Swing	±0.0

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Portsmouth South^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Martin	23,534	43.3	−6.7
	SDP (Alliance)	Mike Hancock	23,329	42.9	+17.5
	Labour	Keith Gardiner	7,047	13.0	−9.6
	657 Party	Martyn Hughes	455	0.8	N/A
Majority			205	0.4	N/A
Turnout			54,365	71.3	+3.9
Registered electors			76,292
	Conservative gain from SDP		Swing	+12.1

1984 Portsmouth South by-election^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP (Alliance)	Mike Hancock	15,358	37.6	+12.1
	Conservative	Patrick Rock	14,017	34.3	−15.7
	Labour	Sally Thomas	10,846	26.5	+4.0
	National Front	Gordon Knight	226	0.6	±0.0
	Ecology	Terry Mitchell	190	0.5	N/A
	Independent Liberal	Alan Evens	113	0.3	−0.8
	Independent Ecology	Thomas Layton	50	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Anthony Andrews	42	0.1	N/A
	New National Party	Peter Smith	41	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,341	3.3	N/A
Turnout			40,523	54.5	−12.8
Registered electors			74,976
	SDP gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.9

General election 1983: Portsmouth South^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	25,101	50.0	−3.8
	SDP (Alliance)	Mike Hancock	12,766	25.4	+13.2
	Labour	Sally Thomas	11,324	22.6	−10.5
	Independent Liberal	Alan Evens	554	1.1	N/A
	National Front	Gordon Knight	279	0.6	−0.3
	Traditional English Food	D. W. Fry	172	0.3	N/A
Majority			12,335	24.6	+3.8
Turnout			50,196	67.3
Registered electors			74,537
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5

Elections in the 1970s

1979 notional result[22]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	28,990	53.8
	Labour	17,813	33.1
	Liberal	6,566	12.2
	Others	485	0.9
Turnout		53,854
Electorate

General election 1979: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	26,835	54.7	+7.1
	Labour	Sally Thomas	15,306	31.2	±0.0
	Liberal	Jack Wallis	6,487	13.2	−6.8
	National Front	W. Donkin	457	0.9	N/A
Majority			11,529	23.5	+7.1
Turnout			49,085	72.9	+3.5
Registered electors			67,346
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

General election October 1974: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	23,379	47.6	−2.7
	Labour	A. M. Halmos	15,308	31.2	+1.5
	Liberal	M. Tribe	9,807	20.0	+0.7
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	A. D. Rifkin	612	1.2	+0.5
Majority			8,071	16.4	−4.1
Turnout			49,106	69.4	−6.5
Registered electors			70,773
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

General election February 1974: Portsmouth South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	26,824	50.3	−10.3
	Labour	S. Lloyd	15,842	29.7	−9.8
	Liberal	John Williams[23]	10,307	19.3	N/A
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	A. D. Rifkin	394	0.7	N/A
Majority			10,982	20.6	−0.5
Turnout			53,367	75.9	+8.1
Registered electors			70,345
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.2

1970 notional result[24]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	29,600	60.5
	Labour	19,300	39.5
Turnout		48,900	67.7
Electorate		72,213

General election 1970: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	23,962	63.4	+2.7
	Labour	John White	13,847	36.6	−2.7
Majority			10,115	26.8	+5.5
Turnout			37,809	67.4	−3.4
Registered electors			56,126
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonner Pink	22,713	60.6	−3.0
	Labour	Patten Bridge Smith	14,738	39.4	+3.0
Majority			7,975	21.3	−6.1
Turnout			37,451	70.7	−0.3
Registered electors			52,941
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

General election 1964: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	24,387	63.7	−6.3
	Labour	Richard Pryke	13,904	36.3	+6.3
Majority			10,483	27.4	−12.5
Turnout			38,291	71.0	−1.3
Registered electors			53,915
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.3

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	27,892	70.0	+2.7
	Labour	Frank Towell	11,979	30.0	−2.7
Majority			15,913	39.9	+5.5
Turnout			39,871	72.3	−0.1
Registered electors			55,121
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

General election 1955: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	27,887	67.2	+3.4
	Labour	Lawrence W. Carroll	13,600	32.8	−3.4
Majority			14,287	34.4	+6.8
Turnout			41,487	72.4	−8.4
Registered electors			57,311
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.4

General election 1951: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	30,548	63.8	−0.2
	Labour	Douglas Wallace	17,350	36.2	+0.2
Majority			13,198	27.6	−0.2
Turnout			47,898	80.8	−2.7
Registered electors			59,306
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 1950: Portsmouth South^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	31,124	64.0
	Labour	Leslie Merrion	17,545	36.0
Majority			13,579	27.9
Turnout			48,669	83.5
Registered electors			58,288
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Portsmouth South^{[26][n 2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	15,810	55.3	−19.9
	Labour	J. F. Blitz	12,783	44.7	+19.9
Majority			3,027	10.6	−39.8
Turnout			28,593	74.9	+8.0
Registered electors			38,150
	Conservative hold		Swing	−19.9

Elections in the 1930s

1939 Portsmouth South by-election^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1935: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	27,416	75.20	−5.68
	Labour	John W. Fawcett	9,043	24.80	+5.68
Majority			18,373	50.40	−11.36
Turnout			36,459	66.94	−5.78
Registered electors			54,463
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.68

General election 1931: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	32,634	80.88	+44.06
	Labour	W. J. Beck	7,715	19.12	−5.63
Majority			24,919	61.76	+49.68
Turnout			40,349	72.72	−2.42
Registered electors			55,488
	Conservative hold		Swing	+24.85

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	15,068	36.82	−36.14
	Labour	Jessie Stephen	10,127	24.75	−2.29
	Ind. Conservative	Frank Privett	9,505	23.23	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Rudkin	6,214	15.19	N/A
Majority			4,941	12.07	−33.84
Turnout			40,914	75.14	+0.94
Registered electors			54,449
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1924: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	22,423	72.96	+17.00
	Labour	Jessie Stephen	8,310	27.04	+2.17
Majority			14,113	45.92	+14.83
Turnout			30,733	74.20	+1.48
Registered electors			41,417
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.42

General election 1923: Portsmouth South^{[26][n 3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	16,625	55.96	−12.77
	Labour	Jessie Stephen	7,388	24.87	N/A
	Liberal	Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe	5,698	19.18	−12.09
Majority			9,237	31.09	−6.38
Turnout			29,711	72.72	−1.94
Registered electors			40,854
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.82

1923 Portsmouth South by-election^{[26][n 4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	11,884	54.90	−13.83
	Liberal	Henry Merrick Lawson	9,763	45.10	N/A
Majority			2,121	9.80	−17.66
Turnout			21,647	54.90	−18.76
Registered electors			39,426
	Conservative hold		Swing

1922 Portsmouth South by-election^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Wilson	14,301	62.90	−5.83
	Ind. Conservative	G. C. Thomas	8,434	37.10	N/A
Majority			5,867	25.80	−11.66
Turnout			22,735	57.66	−16.00
Registered electors			39,426
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1922: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Cayzer	19,960	68.73	+0.43
	Liberal	Henry Merrick Lawson	9,080	31.27	+12.80
Majority			10,880	37.46	−12.37
Turnout			29,040	73.66	+11.69
Registered electors			39,426
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.19

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Portsmouth South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Herbert Cayzer	15,842	68.3
	Liberal	Alison Vickers Garland	4,283	18.5
	Labour	James Lacey	3,070	13.2
Majority			11,559	49.8
Turnout			23,195	61.97
Registered electors			37,427
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. Results compared to the 1935 general election, not the 1939 by-election
3. Results compared to the 1922 general election, not the 1922 or the 1923 by-elections
4. Results compared to the 1922 general election, not the 1922 by-election