Southall (UK Parliament constituency)
Southall was a constituency containing Hanwell, Southall, Norwood Green and Dormers Wells 1945-1983 and a further area to the southwest in its first five years. It returned one member (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. After five years it shed a large minority of its population and area to form a new seat, Hayes and Harlington. Its voters elected the Labour Party candidate at each election.
Southall | |
---|---|
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
1945–1983 | |
Number of members | one |
Replaced by | Ealing Southall |
Created from | Uxbridge (parts of, as to bulk) Spelthorne (small part of, namely Harlington and Cranford) |
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of: | Hayes and Harlington (all of new seat, later expanded westwards) |
Summary of results
Its voters, on the national first-past-the-post system, elected a series of three Labour Party candidates during its thirty-eight-year currency. Winning majorities ranged from 41.2% in 1945 - the landslide election for the party in which the seat included industrial Hayes to the west to 5.1% at the 1964 election which saw the start of the First Wilson Ministry when its second incumbent, Pargiter, who retired two years later, was aged 67. Its final winning majority (in 1979) was 21.5%.
![](../I/Southall1945.png.webp)
Boundaries
- 1945–1950:
- 1950–1974:The borough of Southall and the Hanwell North and Hanwell South wards of the Borough of Ealing.[1][2]
- 1974–1983: The London Borough of Ealing wards of Dormers Wells, Elthorne, Glebe, Northcote, Northfields, Walpole, and Waxlow Manor.
In the first five years the seat was largest containing Hayes, Yeading, Harlington in the west[3]
Local government body change
The seat was in local terms for 20 years in Middlesex and for the following 18 years in London — a change in county took place in 1965.
Constituency profile
The Quaker Oats Company built a factory in Southall in 1936. Part of the operation that made pet foods was sold to Spiller's in 1994, and the remainder to Big Bear Group in 2006. The site continues to produce brands such as Sugar Puffs. Other engineering, paint and food processing factories prospered for many years, mostly alongside the railway and/or canal. A collection of Martinware – Salt glazed pottery in stoneware, and birds – is on display at Southall Library
Southall was the home of Southall Studios, one of the earliest British film studios. It played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959. There has been a locomotive works at the Southall Depot for nearly 150 years. Originally a Great Western Railway shed, it was possibly the last London steam depot, outlasting Old Oak Common and Stewarts Lane depots. The depot was later used for DMU maintenance and as a base for the electrification programme. Currently the site, now referred to as the Southall Railway Centre, is used by three independent groups, including Locomotive Services (where volunteers can contribute to the preservation and restoration of mainline locomotives) and the Great Western Railway Preservation Group.
![](../I/Southall-Glassy-Junction-DMS-2005-11-10.jpg.webp)
The bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was based in Southall, on a 25 hectares (62 acres) triangular site between Windmill Lane, the main Great Western Railway and the branch to Brentford Dock. The company moved there from Walthamstow in 1926 and closed in 1979 after losing market share whilst part of the giant but inefficient British Leyland group. The site was noticeable to railway passengers and to motorists on Uxbridge Road due to large signs proclaiming "AEC - Builders of London's Buses for 50 years".
A major gas works manufacturing town gas was between the railway and the canal. In 1932 a large gasholder was built which has been a landmark from far away. Painted on the north east side of the gasholder are large letters 'LH' and an arrow to assist pilots toward Heathrow Airport's (closed) runway "23" when making visual approaches. The letters were painted in the mid 1960s after a fraction of pilots at a glance mistook RAF Northolt (which has a smaller gasholder under its approach at Harrow). Northolt has a much shorter runway and is not suitable for very large aircraft; one Boeing 707 did land at Northolt by mistake [4] and a number of other aircraft had to be warned off by air traffic control at the last minute. Since such gas production ceased in the 1970s upon tapping natural gas piped from the North Sea, much of the 36 ha (89-acre) site has been vacant, due to limited road access and remaining gas infrastructure.
The 1970s saw racial tensions in the area; in 1976 Sikh teenager Gurdip Singh Chaggar was killed in a racist attack.[5] On 23 April 1979, Blair Peach, a teacher and anti-racist activist, was killed after being knocked unconscious during a protest against the National Front (NF).[6][7] Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker – a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots, remained in a coma for five months.[8] More than 40 others—including 21 police—were injured, and 300 were arrested.[9]
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1945 | Walter Ayles | Labour | |
1950 | George Pargiter | Labour | |
1966 | Syd Bidwell | Labour | |
1983 | constituency abolished: see Ealing Southall |
Elections in the 1940s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Walter Ayles | 37,404 | 64.1 | ||
Conservative | George Baker | 13,347 | 22.9 | ||
Liberal | Wilfred Ashlin Wakefield | 7,598 | 13.0 | ||
Majority | 24,057 | 41.2 | |||
Turnout | 58,349 | 74.2 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
Elections in the 1950s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Pargiter | 27,107 | 53.9 | -10.2 | |
Conservative | Norman Cole | 18,392 | 36.6 | +13.7 | |
Liberal | Walter T Andrews | 3,917 | 7.8 | -5.2 | |
Communist | J. A. Purton | 839 | 1.7 | New | |
Majority | 8,715 | 17.4 | -23.8 | ||
Turnout | 50,255* | 82.7 | +8.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
*Note: major loss of territory to west to new seat, Hayes and Harlington
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Pargiter | 29,123 | 57.9 | +4.0 | |
Conservative | Humphry Berkeley | 21,169 | 42.1 | +5.5 | |
Majority | 7,954 | 15.8 | -1.6 | ||
Turnout | 50,292 | 84.0 | +1.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Pargiter | 25,207 | 57.2 | -0.7 | |
Conservative | Arthur Tickler | 18,872 | 42.8 | +0.7 | |
Majority | 6,335 | 14.4 | -1.4 | ||
Turnout | 44,079 | 76.5 | -7.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Pargiter | 22,285 | 52.7 | -4.5 | |
Conservative | Michael Thomas Ben Underhill | 19,966 | 47.3 | +4.5 | |
Majority | 2,319 | 5.4 | -9.0 | ||
Turnout | 44,251 | 76.4 | -0.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1960s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Pargiter | 18,041 | 48.0 | -3.7 | |
Conservative | Barbara Maddin | 16,144 | 42.9 | -4.3 | |
British National | John Bean | 3,410 | 9.1 | New | |
Majority | 1,897 | 5.1 | -0.3 | ||
Turnout | 37,595 | 70.2 | -6.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Syd Bidwell | 19,989 | 53.5 | +5.5 | |
Conservative | Barbara Maddin | 14,642 | 39.2 | -3.7 | |
British National | John Bean | 2,768 | 7.4 | -1.7 | |
Majority | 5,347 | 14.3 | +9.2 | ||
Turnout | 37,399 | 70.8 | +0.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1970s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Syd Bidwell | 19,389 | 53.7 | +0.2 | |
Conservative | Kenneth G. Reeves | 15,166 | 41.9 | +2.7 | |
National Front | James Shaw | 1,572 | 4.4 | -3.0 | |
Majority | 4,223 | 11.8 | -2.5 | ||
Turnout | 37,399 | 64.5 | -6.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Syd Bidwell | 25,726 | 49.9 | -3.8 | |
Conservative | W. A. Gilbey | 16,914 | 32.8 | -9.1 | |
Liberal | C. I. N. Arnold | 8,640 | 16.8 | New | |
Anti-Helmet | B. S. Chahal | 310 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 8,812 | 17.1 | +5.3 | ||
Turnout | 51,590 | 73.4 | +8.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Syd Bidwell | 24,218 | 53.8 | +3.9 | |
Conservative | R. C. Patten | 14,235 | 31.6 | -1.2 | |
Liberal | C. I. N. Arnold | 6,557 | 14.6 | -2.2 | |
Majority | 9,983 | 22.2 | +5.1 | ||
Turnout | 45,010 | 63.6 | -9.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Syd Bidwell | 28,498 | 54.4 | +0.6 | |
Conservative | R. C. Patten | 17,220 | 32.9 | +1.3 | |
Liberal | Dick Hains | 3,920 | 7.5 | -7.1 | |
National Front | J. Fairhurst | 1,545 | 3.0 | New | |
Independent | S. Gupta | 637 | 1.2 | New | |
Socialist Unity | Tariq Ali | 477 | 0.9 | New | |
Independent Businessman | S. Paul | 115 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 11,278 | 21.5 | -0.7 | ||
Turnout | 52,412 | 71.7 | +8.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
References
- Specific
- Representation of the People Act 1948, Sch. 1, at Middlesex (B) Borough Constituencies (page 108) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1948/65/pdfs/ukpga_19480065_en.pdf
- Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 number 1674), Schedule 1 at page 5459 (or 16 of 76) and as to new definition in Schedule 2
- Boundary A vision of Britain, University of Portsmouth and Others, Accessed 11 June 2017]
- "Boeing 707-321, N725PA, Pan American World Airways (PA / PAA)". Abpic.co.uk. 1960-10-25. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Kettle, Martin; Hodges, Lucy (1982). Uprising! Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities. Pan Books. p. 60,156. ISBN 0330268457.
- "BBC ON THIS DAY | 23 | 1979: Teacher dies in Southall race riots". BBC News. 1979-04-23. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. ISBN 1-898927-10-3. p.107
- "Blair Peach: killed by police". Socialistworker.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- "Blair Peach: A 30-year campaign". BBC News. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2015-07-29.