Southampton Test (UK Parliament constituency)

Southampton Test is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Satvir Kaur, a member of the Labour Party since 2024.^{[n 2]}

Southampton Test
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2010
Boundary of Southampton Test in South East England
County	Hampshire
Electorate	69,960 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Southampton
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Satvir Kaur (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Southampton

History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-member Southampton constituency was abolished. The boundaries of the seat have changed at most of the Boundary Commissions' periodic reviews.

Horace King, the MP between 1950 and 1955, before switching to the neighbouring seat of Southampton Itchen, would later become the first Speaker of the House of Commons from the Labour Party. The seat was contested unsuccessfully in 1955 and 1959 respectively by Anthony Crosland and Shirley Williams, who would both later be elected for other seats and become prominent ministers in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s.

Southampton Test proved to be a bellwether (mirroring the national result) from 1966 until 2010, with the exception of the minority government of Harold Wilson from February to October 1974 (see third Wilson ministry).

In the 2010 general election, Alan Whitehead for Labour performed better here than John Denham in Southampton Itchen, the other Southampton seat, which the party also held more narrowly that year. The area from 2010 to 2015 was one of four Labour seats in South East England and from 2017 to 2019 among two of eighteen in Hampshire won by Labour candidates.^[2] Whitehead was re-elected in 2017 with a majority of over 10,000 votes, and in 2019 over 6,000, making Southampton Test a relatively comfortable Labour seat. Whitehead did not stand at the 2024 general election;^[3] he was succeeded by fellow Labour Party member, Satvir Kaur, with a majority of over 9,000.

Constituency profile

The seat covers the western part of the City of Southampton and is named after the River Test, one of the city's two rivers. It covers some of the leafy northern suburbs (though the northernmost Bassett Ward ceased to form part of the constituency in 1997) and the western port areas as well as the social housing estates of the western fringes. It is traditionally the marginally more affluent of the two constituencies in the city, before 2010 having a higher number of Tory representatives than its neighbour Southampton Itchen – named after the other major river. The area includes the University of Southampton, though its halls of residence fall almost entirely within Romsey and Southampton North or Southampton Itchen.

The seat is home to Southampton's football ground at St Mary's.

Boundaries

Historic

1950–1955: The County Borough of Southampton wards of All Saints, Banister, Freemantle, Millbrook, St Nicholas, Shirley, and Town; and the (civil) Parish of Millbrook (which was then in the Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District).^[4]

1955–1983: The County Borough of Southampton wards of Banister, Bargate, Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

1983–1997: The City of Southampton wards of Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

1997–2010: The City of Southampton wards of Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, St Luke's, and Shirley.^[5]

2010–2023 The City of Southampton wards of Bevois, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

Current

Following a review of local authority ward boundaries, which became effective in May 2023,^[6][7] the constituency now comprises the following:

• The City of Southampton wards of: Banister & Polygon (majority); Bevois; Coxford; Freemantle; Millbrook; Portswood; Redbridge; Shirley; Swaythling (small part).^[8]

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.^[9]

The constituency is bounded to the east by Southampton Itchen, to the north by Romsey and Southampton North and to the west by New Forest East.

Members of Parliament

Southampton prior to 1950

Election		Member[10]	Party
	1950	Horace King	Labour
	1955	John Howard	Conservative
	1964	John Fletcher-Cooke	Conservative
	1966	Bob Mitchell	Labour
	1970	James Hill	Conservative
	October 1974	Bryan Gould	Labour
	1979	James Hill	Conservative
	1997	Alan Whitehead	Labour
	2024	Satvir Kaur	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Southampton Test^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Satvir Kaur	15,945	44.5	−5.0
	Conservative	Ben Burcombe-Filer	6,612	18.5	−17.2
	Reform UK	John Edwards	5,261	14.7	+11.2
	Green	Katherine Barbour	3,594	10.0	+6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Gravatt	3,252	9.1	+1.4
	Workers Party	Wajahat Shaukat	775	2.2	N/A
	TUSC	Maggie Fricker	366	1.0	N/A
Majority			9,333	26.0	+12.2
Turnout			35,805	54.7	–9.6
Registered electors			65,520
	Labour hold		Swing	6.1

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Southampton Test^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	22,256	49.5	−9.2
	Conservative	Steven Galton	16,043	35.7	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Richards	3,449	7.7	+3.7
	Brexit Party	Philip Crook	1,591	3.5	N/A
	Green	Katherine Barbour	1,433	3.2	N/A
	Independent	Kev Barry	222	0.5	N/A
Majority			6,213	13.8	−10.8
Turnout			44,994	64.2	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.4

General election 2017: Southampton Test

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	27,509	58.7	+17.4
	Conservative	Paul Holmes	16,006	34.1	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Gravatt	1,892	4.0	−0.9
	Southampton Independents	Andrew Pope	816	1.7	N/A
	Independent	Keith Morrell	680	1.4	N/A
Majority			11,508	24.6	+15.8
Turnout			46,908	66.8	+4.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.9

General election 2015: Southampton Test^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	18,017	41.3	+2.8
	Conservative	Jeremy Moulton	14,207	32.5	−0.5
	UKIP	Pearline Hingston	5,566	12.8	+8.9
	Green	Angela Mawle	2,568	5.9	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Ford	2,121	4.9	−17.4
	Independent	Chris Davis	770	1.8	N/A
	TUSC	Nick Chaffey	403	0.9	N/A
Majority			3,810	8.8	+3.3
Turnout			43,652	62.1	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.7

General election 2010: Southampton Test^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	17,001	38.5	−5.7
	Conservative	Jeremy Moulton	14,588	33.0	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Callaghan	9,865	22.3	−1.8
	UKIP	Pearline Hingston	1,726	3.9	+0.9
	Green	Chris Bluemel	881	2.0	−1.6
Majority			2,413	5.5	−11.3
Turnout			44,187	61.4	+5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Southampton Test^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	17,845	42.7	−9.8
	Conservative	Stephen MacLoughlin	10,827	25.9	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Sollitt	10,368	24.8	+6.7
	Green	John Spottiswoode	1,482	3.5	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Day	1,261	3.0	+1.1
Majority			7,018	16.8	−10.2
Turnout			41,783	53.7	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.1

General election 2001: Southampton Test^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	21,824	52.5	−1.6
	Conservative	Richard Gueterbock	10,617	25.5	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Shaw	7,522	18.1	+4.4
	UKIP	Garry Rankin-Moore	792	1.9	+1.5
	Socialist Alliance	Mark Abel	442	1.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Paramjit Bahia	378	0.9	N/A
Majority			11,207	27.0	+1.0
Turnout			41,575	56.3	−15.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Southampton Test^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	28,396	54.1	+11.7
	Conservative	James Hill	14,712	28.1	−15.3
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Dowden	7,171	13.7	+0.6
	Referendum	Peter Day	1,397	2.7	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis	Howard Marks	388	0.7	N/A
	UKIP	Anthony McCabe	219	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Paul Taylor	81	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	John Sinel	77	0.1	N/A
Majority			13,684	26.0	N/A
Turnout			52,441	71.9	−5.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1992: Southampton Test^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	24,504	43.4	−2.2
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	23,919	42.4	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Diana Maddock	7,391	13.1	−8.1
	Green	Jonathan M. Michaelis	535	0.9	N/A
	Natural Law	David Plummer	101	0.2	N/A
Majority			585	1.0	−11.3
Turnout			56,450	77.4	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Southampton Test^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	25,722	45.6	+0.4
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	18,768	33.3	+5.2
	Liberal	Vivienne Rayner	11,950	21.2	−5.5
Majority			6,954	12.3	−4.8
Turnout			56,440	76.4	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.4

General election 1983: Southampton Test^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	24,657	45.2
	Labour	Alan Whitehead	15,311	28.1
	SDP	Adrian Vinson	14,592	26.7
Majority			9,346	17.1
Turnout			54,560	73.1	−3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Southampton Test

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	27,198	46.36
	Labour	Bryan Gould	25,075	42.74
	Liberal	D. Hughes	6,393	10.90
Majority			2,123	3.62	N/A
Turnout			58,666	76.30
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election October 1974: Southampton Test

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bryan Gould	22,780	42.17
	Conservative	James Hill	22,250	41.19
	Liberal	J.R. Wallis	8,994	16.65
Majority			530	0.98	N/A
Turnout			54,024	73.11
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election February 1974: Southampton Test

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	23,742	40.88
	Labour	Bryan Gould	22,339	38.46
	Liberal	J.R. Wallis	12,000	20.66
Majority			1,403	2.42
Turnout			58,081	79.21
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: Southampton Test^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hill	24,660	47.54
	Labour	Bob Mitchell	22,858	44.07
	Liberal	Jack Wallis	4,349	8.38
Majority			1,802	3.47	N/A
Turnout			51,867	73.33
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Southampton Test^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob Mitchell	24,628	48.37
	Conservative	John Fletcher-Cooke	22,188	43.58
	Liberal	Graham Cleverley	4,102	8.06	N/A
Majority			2,440	4.79	N/A
Turnout			51,918	78.13
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1964: Southampton Test^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Fletcher-Cooke	25,700	50.34
	Labour	Bob Mitchell	25,352	49.66
Majority			348	0.68
Turnout			51,052	76.69
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Southampton Test^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Howard	30,176	56.31
	Labour	Shirley Williams	23,410	43.69
Majority			6,766	12.62
Turnout			53,586	79.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Southampton Test^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Howard	26,707	51.21
	Labour	Anthony Crosland	22,865	43.84
	Liberal	Stanley Little	2,583	4.95	N/A
Majority			3,842	7.37
Turnout			52,155	78.72
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1951: Southampton Test^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Horace King	26,430	50.44
	National Liberal	John Paul	25,965	49.56
Majority			465	0.88
Turnout			52,395	83.52
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: Southampton Test^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Horace King	25,052	47.08
	National Liberal	P. Brembridge	23,663	45.15
	Liberal	Stephen Fry	3,697	7.05
Majority			1,389	1.93
Turnout			52,412	84.39
	Labour win (new seat)

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. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.