Luton South (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton South is a constituency[n 1] in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Luton South
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Luton South in Bedfordshire
Location of Bedfordshire within England
Local government in EnglandBedfordshire
Electorate66,055 (2018)[1]
Major settlementsLuton
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentRachel Hopkins (Labour Party)
Number of membersOne
Created fromLuton East, Luton West and Bedfordshire South[2]

History

This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton East.

The constituency and its predecessors the Luton East and Luton constituencies were long considered a bellwether (they had elected an MP from the winning party in each election since the 1951 general election). Margaret Moran, who was the Labour MP from 1997, stood down at the 2010 general election after falsifying claims for her expenses.[3]

Bellwether status ended in the 2010 general election, when the constituency elected a Labour MP while the Conservatives were the largest party in the House of Commons. As a result, its new MP Gavin Shuker became one of just two Labour MPs elected in 2010 in the East of England, alongside Kelvin Hopkins, the MP for the Luton North seat. Shuker and Hopkins have served as MPs for the two divisions of Luton since then, with their majorities increasing in both elections since, although the majority in South has not been larger than that of North since 2001.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997: The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, Saints, South, and Stopsley, and the District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End.[4]

This was a new Borough Constituency incorporating the abolished Borough Constituency of Luton East. It included the southernmost parts of the abolished Borough Constituency of Luton West and a small part from the south-east of the abolished County Constituency of South Bedfordshire.

1997–2010: The Borough of Luton wards of Biscott, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Putteridge, South, and Stopsley, and the District of South Bedfordshire wards of Caddington and Slip End.[5]

The Saints ward of the Borough of Luton transferred to Luton North.

2010–present: The Borough of Luton wards of Biscot, Crawley, Dallow, Farley, High Town, Round Green, South, Stopsley, and Wigmore, and the District of South Bedfordshire ward of Caddington, Hyde and Slip End.[6]

There were marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

NB: the wards of the district of South Bedfordshire now form the bulk of the Caddington ward of the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority, the former wards having been abolished at the conversion to unitary councils in Bedfordshire in 2009.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the southern and eastern areas of Luton, inclusive of the town centre and London Luton Airport. It also comprises the rural country house estate of Luton Hoo, in addition to the late medieval Someries Castle, and the villages/hamlets, extending south to the border of Hertfordshire and the town of Harpenden. The areas of Luton it spans include Stopsley, Wigmore, Butterfield Green, Hart Hill, Wardown Park, Bury Park, Dallow, Farley Hill, New Town, and Stockwood Park.

Outside of the actual Borough of Luton, it also encompasses the small village of East Hyde on the Hertfordshire border, as well as Slip End and Caddington, which are near the M1 motorway.

Demographically, the constituency is mixed, with large southern Asian communities in the Bury Park and Farley Hill areas. The largest community is White British, though Africans and Afro-Caribbeans, as well as newer immigrant arrivals from Eastern Europe, form substantial parts of the population.

The town centre features The Mall Luton (the town's main shopping centre), the University of Bedfordshire Luton campus, and various amenities such as The Galaxy entertainment complex, and Luton railway station on the Midland Main Line. Luton Town FC, currently of the Championship, is within the constituency, as would be their intended new home stadium at Power Court (to the immediate east of The Mall Luton). The railway station serving London Luton Airport, Luton Airport Parkway, is also within the constituency. A new rail link is being constructed between this station and the airport, which is due to be opened in 2021.

Vauxhall still makes vehicles in this area, although the operations have reduced greatly since a large part of the facility closed in the early 2000s.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[7]Party
1983 Graham BrightConservative
1997 Margaret MoranLabour
2010 Gavin ShukerLabour Co-op
2019 Change UK
Independent
The Independents
2019 Rachel HopkinsLabour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Incumbent MP Gavin Shuker (formerly Labour) unsuccessfully sought reelection as an Independent candidate. On 2 November 2019, the Liberal Democrats decided not to stand a candidate and endorsed Shuker.[8]

General election 2019: Luton South[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rachel Hopkins 21,787 51.8 10.6
Conservative Parvez Akhtar 13,031 31.0 1.3
Independent Gavin Shuker 3,893 9.2 N/A
Brexit Party Garry Warren 1,601 3.8 N/A
Green Ben Foley 995 2.4 1.4
Independent Mohammed Ashraf 489 1.2 N/A
Best4Luton John French 268 0.6 N/A
Majority 8,756 20.8 9.3
Turnout 42,064 60.7 8.1
Labour hold Swing -4.7
General election 2017: Luton South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Gavin Shuker 28,804 62.4 +18.2
Conservative Dean Russell 14,879 32.3 +1.6
Liberal Democrats Andy Strange 1,056 2.3 -5.3
UKIP Ujjawal Ub 795 1.7 -10.4
Green Marc Scheimann 439 1.0 -2.0
Independent Abid Ali 160 0.3 N/A
Majority 13,925 30.1 +16.6
Turnout 46,233 68.8 +6.0
Labour Co-op hold Swing +8.3
General election 2015: Luton South[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Gavin Shuker 18,660 44.2 +9.3
Conservative Katie Redmond 12,949 30.7 +1.3
UKIP Muhammad Rehman 5,129 12.1 +9.8
Liberal Democrats Ashuk Ahmed 3,183 7.5 −15.1
Green Simon Hall 1,237 2.9 +2.1
Independent Attiq Malik 900 2.1 N/A
Liberty GB Paul Weston 158 0.4 N/A
Majority 5,711 13.5 +8.0
Turnout 42,216 62.8 −2.0
Labour Co-op hold Swing
General election 2010: Luton South[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Gavin Shuker 14,725 34.9 −7.9
Conservative Nigel Huddleston 12,396 29.4 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Qurban Hussain 9,567 22.7 +0.1
Independent Esther Rantzen 1,872 4.4 N/A
BNP Tony Blakey 1,299 3.1 N/A
UKIP Charles Lawman 975 2.3 −0.1
Independent Stephen Rhodes 463 1.1 N/A
Green Marc Scheimann 366 0.9 −1.2
Independent Joe Hall 264 0.6 N/A
Independent Faruk Choudhury 130 0.3 N/A
Independent Stephen Lathwell 84 0.2 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Frank Sweeney 75 0.2 −0.1
Majority 2,329 5.5 -9.0
Turnout 42,216 64.8 +11.0
Labour Co-op hold Swing −4.6

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Luton South[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 16,610 42.7 −12.5
Conservative Richard Stay 10,960 28.2 −1.2
Liberal Democrats Qurban Hussain 8,778 22.6 +11.7
UKIP Charles Lawman 957 2.5 +1.0
Green Marc Scheimann 790 2.0 +0.0
Respect Mohammed Ilyas 725 1.9 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Arthur Lynn 98 0.3 +0.0
Majority 5,650 14.5 -11.3
Turnout 38,918 54.1 −1.0
Labour hold Swing −5.6
General election 2001: Luton South[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 21,719 55.2 +0.3
Conservative Gordon Henderson 11,586 29.4 −1.9
Liberal Democrats Rabi Martins 4,292 10.9 +1.3
Green Marc Scheimann 798 2.0 +1.3
UKIP Charles Lawman 578 1.5 +0.7
Socialist Alliance Joseph Hearne 271 0.7 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Robert Bolton 107 0.3 N/A
Majority 10,133 25.8 +2.3
Turnout 39,351 55.1 −15.4
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Luton South[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Moran 26,428 54.8 +11.6
Conservative Graham Bright 15,109 31.4 −12.9
Liberal Democrats Keith Fitchett 4,610 9.6 −1.6
Referendum Clive Jacobs 1,205 2.5 N/A
UKIP Charlie Lawman 390 0.8 N/A
Green Marc Scheimann 356 0.7 −0.3
Natural Law Claire Perrin 86 0.2 −0.1
Majority 11,319 23.4 N/A
Turnout 48,184 70.4 -8.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1992: Luton South[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Bright 25,900 44.8 −1.4
Labour Bill McKenzie 25,101 43.5 +6.8
Liberal Democrats David W. Rogers 6,020 10.4 −6.7
Green Lyn Bliss 550 1.0 +1.0
Natural Law David Cooke 191 0.3 +0.3
Majority 799 1.4 −8.2
Turnout 57,762 79.1 +3.5
Conservative hold Swing −4.1

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Luton South[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Bright 24,762 46.2 +4.3
Labour Bill McKenzie 19,647 36.7 +3.4
Liberal Peter Chapman 9,146 17.1 −7.8
Majority 5,115 9.6 +1.0
Turnout 53,555 75.2 −0.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Luton South[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Graham Bright 22,531 41.9 N/A
Labour Ivor Clemitson 17,910 33.3 N/A
Liberal David Franks 13,395 24.9 N/A
Majority 4,621 8.6 N/A
Turnout 53,836 75.8 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references
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.
References
  1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. "'Luton South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  3. Williams, Rob (14 December 2012). "Former Labour MP Margaret Moran escapes jail and criminal conviction despite fiddling £53,000 of expenses from taxpayer". The Independent. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)
  8. Peers, Steve (2 November 2019). "LibDems also standing down in Luton South, where Gavin Shuker is running as an independent. They were 3rd, with 2.3% of the vote, in 2017.https://twitter.com/AndyHolmesMedia/status/1190332520841261056?s=19 …". External link in |title= (help)
  9. "Statement of persons nominated and notice of poll" (PDF). Luton Borough Council. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. Statement of Persons Nominated Archived 4 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Luton Borough Council
  13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. Vote 2001: Luton South, BBC News
  16. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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