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.

Constituency profile

Southport is a constituency in North West England, partly within Merseyside and partly within Lancashire. It covers the town of Southport and the rural villages to its east, including Banks, Rufford, Tarleton and Hesketh Bank.

Southport is a large coastal town located between Liverpool and Preston. This was an area of mostly-uninhabited sand dunes prior to the 19th century when the town was founded as a seaside resort. The area is often referred to as England's "Golf Coast" due to its high concentration of golf courses. The constituency has average levels of wealth overall; the town centre is highly-deprived with most residents living in dense flats or shared houses whilst the outer suburbs and rural villages are wealthier. House prices here are generally similar to the rest of North West England but lower than the UK average.

Southport has low proportions of young and middle-aged adults and a large retired population. Residents have below-average rates of income but above-average levels of homeownership. The child poverty rate is in line with the overall UK figure. Residents have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the health, retail and tourism sectors. The percentage claiming unemployment benefits is low. White people made up 95% of the population at the 2021 census.

Most of the constituency is represented by Liberal Democrats at the local council level with some Reform UK councillors elected in Blowick and Conservatives elected in the rural villages. An estimated 54% of voters in Southport supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.

Boundaries

Historic

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 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.

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

Following local government boundary reviews in West Lancashire and Sefton which came into effect in May 2023 and May 2026 respectively, the constituency currently comprises the following:

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. 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%. Given its demography, it is estimated that Southport voted to remain by 54%.

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.

Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty 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

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Caused by Naylor-Leyland's death.

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

Elections in the 1880s

See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside

Notes

References

Sources Election results, 1950 – 2005 F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885 – 1918 F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949

External links Southport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Southport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Southport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK