Southport (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Electoral district of Southport.

Southport is a constituency in Merseyside which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Patrick Hurley of the Labour Party.

Southport
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Southport in North West England
County	Merseyside
Electorate	74,168 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Southport, Ainsdale-on-Sea
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of Parliament	Patrick Hurley (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	South West Lancashire

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 1974 to 1983

Historic

Southport in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974-83

1885–1918: The Borough of Southport, the Sessional Division of Southport, and the parishes of Blundell, Great and Little Crosby, Ince, and Thornton.

1918–1983: The County Borough of Southport.

1983–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton wards of Ainsdale, Birkdale, Cambridge, Dukes, Kew, Meols, and Norwood.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton wards of: Birkdale; Cambridge; Duke’s; Kew; Meols; Norwood.

• The Borough of West Lancashire wards of: Hesketh-with-Becconsall; North Meols; Rufford; Tarleton.^[2]

The four, largely rural, West Lancashire Borough wards were transferred from South Ribble, offset by the loss of Ainsdale ward to Sefton Central.

Following a local government boundary review in West Lancashire which came into effect in May 2023,^[3][4] the constituency will now comprise the following from the 2024 general election:

• The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton wards of: Birkdale; Cambridge; Duke’s; Kew; Meols; Norwood.

• The Borough of West Lancashire wards of: Burscough Bridge & Rufford (part); North Meols & Hesketh Bank; Tarleton Village.^[5]

The constituency covers the whole town of Southport and the localities of Birkdale, Blowick, Churchtown, Crossens, Highpark, Hillside, Kew, Marshside, Meols Cop, and Woodvale. It also now includes the West Lancashire villages of Banks, Hesketh Bank, Becconsall, Tarleton and Rufford. It is bordered to the north by Fylde (across the Ribble estuary), to the east by South Ribble, and to the south by Sefton Central and West Lancashire .

History

Prominent members

In the 19th century, the constituency was represented by George Nathaniel Curzon, who later became the Viceroy of India. Trial barrister Edward Marshall Hall represented the seat from 1900 to 1906, while Sir John Brunner, 2nd Baronet held the seat from 1923 until 1924.

Robert Hudson held the seat from 1931 to 1952. During World War II he was the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. He was made a viscount in 1952.

Political history

Until 2024, the constituency had been a Liberal or Conservative seat throughout its history, and marginal for much of that time. It changed hands 11 times between the parties after it was created in 1885, with nine Conservative MPs and eight Liberal or Liberal Democrat MPs in its history.

During the nadir of the Liberal Party, from the 1930s to the 1960s, the constituency became a safe Conservative seat, with absolute majorities from 1931 until 1970 inclusive.

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was the Labour Party candidate for the seat in 1966 and came in second place.

With the revival the Liberal Party's fortunes in the early 1970s, elections became close contests once again. The constituency changed hands in the 1987 general election, when it was won by Ronnie Fearn of the Liberal Party, for the SDP-Liberal Alliance, shortly before the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrats. Fearn had contested the seat unsuccessfully for the Liberals throughout the 1970s.

Fearn lost the seat to the Conservatives' Matthew Banks at the 1992 election, one of the few Conservative gains at that election, only to regain it at the 1997 election. The Liberal Democrats held the seat, under John Pugh (after Fearn stood down) in 2001 until 2017.

The seat was one of the eight Liberal Democrat seats that survived its national vote share collapse at the 2015 general election, although there was a higher-than-average drop in the Liberal Democrats' vote share. Pugh opted not to re-contest the seat in the 2017 general election, at which it returned to the Conservatives, the only seat the Tories gained from the Liberal Democrats in 2017 (aside from Richmond Park, which they had gained at a 2016 by-election).

In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, of which the constituency is a part, voted to remain in the European Union by 51.9%.^[6] Given its demography, it is estimated that Southport voted to remain by 54%.^[7]

In 2019, a resurgent Labour vote pushed the Liberal Democrats into third place for the first time since 1966 with the seat becoming a Tory-Labour marginal. Labour won the seat from the Conservatives in 2024, making it the first time Labour has held the seat, as well as the first time Labour has held every seat in Merseyside.

Constituency profile

This is a generally affluent seaside town in the borough of Sefton which has not suffered from significant deprivation compared to its Lancashire counterpart Blackpool. Workless claimants (registered jobseekers) were in November 2012 close to the national average of 3.8%, at 4.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[8] Southport is home to the Royal Birkdale Golf Club, and Ainsdale Beach is part of the Sefton Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[9]	Party
	1885	George Augustus Pilkington	Liberal
	1886	George Curzon	Conservative
	1898 by-election	Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland	Liberal
	1899 by-election	George Augustus Pilkington	Liberal
	1900	Edward Marshall Hall	Conservative
	1906	John Meir Astbury	Liberal
	1910	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	Conservative
	1923	John Brunner	Liberal
	1924	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	Conservative
	1931	Robert Hudson	Conservative
	1952 by-election	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	Conservative
	1959	Ian Percival	Conservative
	1987	Ronnie Fearn	Liberal
	1988		Liberal Democrats
	1992	Matthew Banks	Conservative
	1997	Ronnie Fearn	Liberal Democrats
	2001	John Pugh	Liberal Democrats
	2017	Damien Moore	Conservative
	2024	Patrick Hurley	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Southport^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Hurley	17,252	38.3	+1.5
	Conservative	Damien Moore	11,463	25.4	−25.0
	Reform UK	Andrew Lynn	7,395	16.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Erin Harvey	5,868	13.0	+0.5
	Green	Edwin Black	2,159	4.8	+4.4
	Independent	Sean Halsall	922	2.1	N/A
Majority			5,789	12.9	N/A
Turnout			45,059	61.2	−6.8
Registered electors			73,641
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Southport^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Damien Moore	22,914	47.6	+8.9
	Labour	Liz Savage	18,767	39.0	+6.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Wright	6,499	13.5	―12.9
Majority			4,147	8.6	+2.5
Turnout			48,180	68.0	―1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 2017: Southport^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Damien Moore	18,541	38.7	+10.7
	Labour	Liz Savage	15,627	32.6	+13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sue McGuire	12,661	26.4	―4.6
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	1,127	2.4	―14.4
Majority			2,914	6.1	N/A
Turnout			47,956	69.1	+3.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	―1.4

General election 2015: Southport^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Pugh	13,652	31.0	―18.6
	Conservative	Damien Moore	12,330	28.0	―7.8
	Labour	Liz Savage	8,468	19.2	+9.8
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	7,429	16.8	+11.7
	Green	Laurence Rankin	1,230	2.8	New
	Southport Party	Jacqueline Barlow	992	2.2	New
Majority			1,322	3.0	―10.8
Turnout			44,101	65.5	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	―5.4

General election 2010: Southport^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Pugh	21,707	49.6	+3.3
	Conservative	Brenda Porter	15,683	35.8	―1.2
	Labour	Jim Conalty	4,116	9.4	―3.4
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	2,251	5.1	+3.3
Majority			6,024	13.8	+4.5
Turnout			43,757	65.1	+4.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+2.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Southport^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Pugh	19,093	46.3	+2.5
	Conservative	Mark S. Bigley	15,255	37.0	+0.5
	Labour	Paul Brant	5,277	12.8	―3.8
	UKIP	Terry Durrance	749	1.8	+0.5
	Your Party	Bill Givens	589	1.4	New
	Veritas	Harry Forster	238	0.6	New
Majority			3,838	9.3	+2.0
Turnout			41,201	61.0	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 2001: Southport^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Pugh	18,011	43.8	―4.3
	Conservative	Laurence Jones	15,004	36.5	+0.6
	Labour	Paul Brant	6,816	16.6	+4.5
	Liberal	David Green	767	1.9	+1.1
	UKIP	Gerry Kelley	555	1.3	New
Majority			3,007	7.3	―4.9
Turnout			41,153	58.6	―13.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Southport^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ronnie Fearn	24,356	48.1	+6.6
	Conservative	Matthew Banks	18,186	35.9	―11.1
	Labour	Sarah Norman	6,129	12.1	+1.9
	Referendum	Frank Buckle	1,368	2.7	New
	Liberal	Susan Ashton	386	0.8	New
	Natural Law	Elizabeth Lines	93	0.2	―0.1
	National Democrats	Michael Middleton	92	0.2	New
Majority			6,170	12.2	N/A
Turnout			50,610	72.1	―5.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.9

General election 1992: Southport^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Matthew Banks	26,081	47.0	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ronnie Fearn	23,018	41.5	―6.4
	Labour	James King	5,637	10.2	+3.8
	Green	Justin Walker	545	1.0	―0.2
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Clements	159	0.3	New
Majority			3,063	5.5	N/A
Turnout			55,440	77.6	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+4.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Southport^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ronnie Fearn	26,110	47.9	+7.4
	Conservative	Nigel Thomas	24,261	44.5	―5.9
	Labour	Audrey Moore	3,483	6.4	―1.9
	Green	Justin Walker	653	1.2	New
Majority			1,849	3.4	N/A
Turnout			54,507	76.3	+3.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.7

General election 1983: Southport^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	25,612	50.4	―0.4
	Liberal	Iain Brodie Browne	20,573	40.5	+2.5
	Labour	Francis Brady	4,233	8.3	―2.9
	Independent	Kevin Wood	374	0.7	New
Majority			5,039	9.9	―2.9
Turnout			50,792	72.5	―2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	25,953	50.8	+3.6
	Liberal	Ronnie Fearn	19,426	38.0	+2.3
	Labour	I.Gari James	5,725	12.8	―4.3
Majority			6,527	12.8	+1.3
Turnout			51,104	74.7	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	23,014	47.2	±0.0
	Liberal	Ronnie Fearn	17,387	35.7	―3.9
	Labour	I.Gari James	8,323	17.1	+3.9
Majority			5,627	11.5	+3.9
Turnout			48,724	73.7	―3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	23,975	47.2	―3.0
	Liberal	Ronnie Fearn	20,093	39.6	+9.4
	Labour	Peter R. Ward	6,690	13.2	―6.4
Majority			3,882	7.6	―12.4
Turnout			50,758	77.4	+6.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	―6.2

General election 1970: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	22,950	50.2	―0.8
	Liberal	Ronnie Fearn	13,809	30.2	+10.5
	Labour	Bruce George	8,950	19.6	―9.6
Majority			9,141	20.0	―1.2
Turnout			45,709	70.5	―2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	22,324	51.0	―0.9
	Labour	John Prescott	12,798	29.2	+4.1
	Liberal	C. Jack Coleman	8,630	19.7	―3.3
Majority			9,526	21.8	―5.0
Turnout			43,752	72.7	―3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.5

General election 1964: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	23,917	51.9	―4.1
	Labour	Leonard Goldwater	11,572	25.1	+4.7
	Liberal	C. Jack Coleman	10,609	23.0	―0.5
Majority			12,345	26.8	―5.7
Turnout			46,098	76.5	―0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	―4.4

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Percival	26,905	56.0	―14.2
	Liberal	Sam Goldberg	11,292	23.5	+23.5
	Labour	Charles W Hadfield	9,805	20.4	―9.4
Majority			15,613	32.5	―8.0
Turnout			48,002	76.8	+8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	30,268	70.2	+10.0
	Labour	Peter Cameron	12,827	29.8	+5.0
Majority			17,441	40.4	+4.9
Turnout			43,095	68.8	―8.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

By-election 1952: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	24,589	62.0	+1.8
	Labour	Alan Lever Tillotson	11,310	28.5	+3.7
	Liberal	Hubert Bentliff	3,776	9.5	―5.5
Majority			13,279	33.5	―1.9
Turnout			39,675
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hudson	30,388	60.2	+3.9
	Labour	H Owen Ellis	12,535	24.8	―2.0
	Liberal	Hubert Bentliff	7,576	15.0	―1.9
Majority			17,853	35.4	+5.9
Turnout			50,499	77.7	―4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

General election 1950: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hudson	29,766	56.3	+3.6
	Labour	J P Bonney	14,159	26.8	0.0
	Liberal	Harry Ellington	8,933	16.9	―3.6
Majority			15,607	29.5	+3.6
Turnout			52,858	81.8	+7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hudson	26,792	52.7	−19.5
	Labour	William Hamling	13,596	26.8	−1.0
	Liberal	Robert Martin	10,404	20.5	New
Majority			13,196	25.9	−18.5
Turnout			50,792	74.2	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hudson	29,652	72.2	+3.8
	Labour	Robert Carrington-Willis	11,419	27.8	New
Majority			18,233	44.4	+7.6
Turnout			41,071	70.9	−8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hudson	30,307	68.4	+20.1
	Liberal	Moelwyn Hughes	13,983	31.6	−7.8
Majority			16,324	36.8	+27.9
Turnout			44,290	79.7	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	21,161	48.3	−12.7
	Liberal	Cecil Ramage	17,220	39.4	+0.4
	Labour	Arthur Leonard Williams	5,380	12.3	New
Majority			3,941	8.9	−13.1
Turnout			43,761	79.6	+0.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-6.6

General election 1924: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	17,430	61.0	+12.8
	Liberal	John Brunner	11,158	39.0	−12.8
Majority			6,272	22.0	N/A
Turnout			28,588	78.7	+2.8
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Brunner

General election 1923: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Brunner	13,704	51.8	+5.0
	Unionist	Thomas Comyn-Platt	12,776	48.2	−5.0
Majority			928	3.6	N/A
Turnout			26,480	75.9	−0.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.0

General election 1922: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	13,733	53.2	−18.8
	Liberal	John Brunner	12,068	46.8	New
Majority			1,665	6.4	−37.6
Turnout			25,801	76.3	+14.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	14,707	72.0	+19.7
	Labour	Arthur Greenwood	5,727	28.0	New
Majority			8,980	44.0	+39.4
Turnout			20,434	61.6	−24.0
	Unionist hold		Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Woodcock

General election December 1910: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	7,467	52.3	+0.9
	Liberal	H. B. D. Woodcock	6,798	47.7	−0.9
Majority			669	4.6	+1.8
Turnout			14,265	85.6	−3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election January 1910: Southport

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Godfrey Dalrymple-White	7,637	51.4	+2.3
	Liberal	Maurice de Forest	7,218	48.6	−2.3
Majority			419	2.8	N/A
Turnout			14,855	89.2	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Astbury

General election 1906: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Astbury	6,607	50.9	+1.9
	Conservative	Edward Marshall Hall	6,367	49.1	−1.9
Majority			240	1.8	N/A
Turnout			12,974	87.3	+5.0
Registered electors			14,854
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.9

General election 1900: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Marshall Hall	5,522	51.0	−3.0
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	5,313	49.0	+3.0
Majority			209	2.0	−6.0
Turnout			10,835	82.3	−0.7
Registered electors			13,164
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1890s

Pilkington

By-election 30 May 1899: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	5,635	52.7	+6.7
	Conservative	Charles Balfour	5,052	47.3	−6.7
Majority			583	5.4	N/A
Turnout			10,687	84.4	+1.4
Registered electors			12,656
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.7

• Caused by Naylor-Leyland's death.

By-election 24 Aug 1898: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herbert Naylor-Leyland	5,100	51.4	+5.4
	Conservative	Edward Bootle-Wilbraham	4,828	48.6	−5.4
Majority			272	2.8	N/A
Turnout			9,928	80.1	−2.9
Registered electors			12,395
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.4

• Caused by Curzon's appointment as Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

General election 1895: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Curzon	5,162	54.0	+0.6
	Liberal	Herbert Naylor-Leyland	4,399	46.0	−0.6
Majority			763	8.0	+1.2
Turnout			9,561	83.0	−1.6
Registered electors			11,523
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 1892: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Curzon	4,752	53.4	+0.1
	Liberal	George Pollard	4,148	46.6	−0.1
Majority			604	6.8	+0.2
Turnout			8,900	84.6	+1.8
Registered electors			10,514
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Curzon	3,723	53.3	+4.4
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	3,262	46.7	−4.4
Majority			461	6.6	N/A
Turnout			6,985	82.8	−4.0
Registered electors			8,437
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.4

General election 1885: Southport^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Augustus Pilkington	3,741	51.1
	Conservative	John Edwards-Moss	3,581	48.9
Majority			160	2.2
Turnout			7,322	86.8
Registered electors			8,437
	Liberal win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside

Notes