NORWICH SOUTH (UK PARLIAMENT CONSTITUENCY)

'Norwich South' is a parliamentary 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.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the 2-seat Norwich constituency was divided into Norwich North and Norwich South.

Contents

Boundaries

Boundary review

History

Members of Parliament

Election results

References

See also

Boundaries

The constituency is one of two covering the city of Norwich. It covers the central area of the city. The wards of Bowthorpe, Eaton, Lakenham, Nelson, Mancroft, Thorpe Hamlet, University and Wensum are within its boundaries.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in the Norwich environ, the Boundary Commission for England has created a modified Norwich South constituency. The previous oddity of having a Crome polling district included and a Thorpe Hamlet polling district excluded has been rationalised by having all of Crome in Norwich North and all of Thorpe Hamlet in Norwich South. Cringleford will cease to be part of the constituency but New Costessey will be included. All the Norwich City Council wards referred to above will remain part of Norwich South.

History

A seat with a high profile Labour MP and minister (Charles Clarke) until he was shamed in a Home Office Immigration/Prisons scandal and resigned from the position of Home Secretary because of the rule of Collective Responsibility, although he remains the MP for the constituency.
Norwich South was by far Labour's safest seat in Norfolk throughout the Thatcher years and up until 2005. Although it was lost to the Conservatives in 1983, it was regained by Labour in 1987 and was the only Labour seat in Norfolk until 1997. In 2005 a shift in the vote to the Liberal Democrats saw the Labour majority cut by over 5000 leaving Norwich North as the safest Labour seat in the county. The Liberal Democrats have earmarked Norwich South as a key target for the next general election and selected Simon Wright as their candidate. The Greens also see the seat as a target on the strength of the local elections when they had the highest share of the votes in the constituency, but they have never achieved more than 7% of the vote at Parliamentary level.[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Henry Strauss	Conservative
	1955	Geoffrey Rippon	Conservative
	1964	Christopher Norwood	Labour
	1970	Thomas Stuttaford	Conservative
	1974	John Garrett	Labour
	1983	John Powley	Conservative
	1987	John Garrett	Labour
	1997	Charles Clarke	Labour

Election results

References

See also

★ List of Parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk