South Ribble is a
constituency represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
since 2019 by
Katherine Fletcher
Katherine Fletcher (born 18 February 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician who serves as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble in Lancashire, following the 2019 general election. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
.
History
The seat of South Ribble was created for the
1983 general election, following the local government changes in the 1970s which saw the creation of the main constitutive borough of the same name.
Former
Preston North MP
Robert Atkins won the South Ribble constituency in 1983 and fought the seat in every election up to the 1997 general election. At that time, in dramatic
bellwether
A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.[bellwether]
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...
fashion, Labour's
David Borrow gained the seat on a clear majority, with nearly 26,000 votes, 2,000 less than Robert Atkins' victory in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
which was the equally unusual landslide result. From the 1997 "landslide year" until 2010, David Borrow's vote total and majority consistently shrunk with a swing back to the Conservatives at every election. In terms of the other parties,
Liberal Democrats have not thus far achieved better than third and 2005 saw
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...
nominating a candidate for the first time, and taking just over 1,200 votes. Borrow finally lost South Ribble in
2010 on a large two-party
swing to Conservative
Lorraine Fullbrook.
Boundaries
1983–1997: The
Borough of South Ribble.
1997–2010: The Borough of South Ribble wards of Charnock, Farington, Howick, Hutton and New Longton, Kingsfold, Leyland Central, Leyland St Ambrose, Leyland St John's, Leyland St Mary's, Little Hoole and Much Hoole, Longton Central and West, Lostock Hall, Manor, Middleforth Green, Moss Side, Priory, and Seven Stars, and the District of West Lancashire wards of Hesketh with Becconsall, North Meols, Rufford, and Tarleton.
2010–present: The Borough of South Ribble wards of Broad Oak, Charnock, Earnshaw Bridge, Golden Hill, Howick and Priory, Kingsfold, Leyland Central, Leyland St Ambrose, Leyland St Mary's, Little Hoole and Much Hoole, Longton and Hutton West, Lowerhouse, Middleforth, Moss Side, New Longton and Hutton East, Seven Stars, and Whitefield, the District of West Lancashire wards of Hesketh with Becconsall, North Meols, Rufford, and Tarleton, and the Borough of Chorley wards of Eccleston and Mawdesley, and Lostock.
The seat's original boundaries were coterminous with the South Ribble borough. Due to its population figures, the borough of South Ribble and its parliamentary constituency have not shared the same boundaries since, although the towns of
Leyland and
Penwortham have always featured at the centre of the constituency.
For the 1997 general election, the eastern villages of
Bamber Bridge
Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 at ...
and
Walton-le-Dale were moved to the
Preston constituency. Following the review of parliamentary representation in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
prior to the 2010 general election, Walton-le-Dale and Bamber Bridge were subsequently transferred into the
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. ...
seat, along with the villages of
Samlesbury
Samlesbury () is a village and civil parish in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. Samlesbury Hall, a historic house, is in the village, as is Samlesbury Aerodrome and a large modern brewery owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The population at the ...
,
Higher Walton,
Coupe Green,
Gregson Lane,
Lostock Hall
Lostock Hall is a suburban village within the South Ribble borough of Lancashire, England. It is located on the south side of the River Ribble, some south of Preston and north of Leyland. It is bordered on its southeastern side by the ...
,
Farington
Farington is a village and civil parish in the South Ribble local government district of Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,674.
History
The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughou ...
and
Farington Moss. This means the borough of South Ribble is now split between the South Ribble and Ribble Valley parliamentary seats.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire
The ceremonial county of Lancashire, which includes the unitary authorities of
Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool,
is divided into sixteen parliamentary constituencies
- eight borough constituencies
and eight county constituencies.
Constituenc ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribble South
Parliamentary constituencies in North West England
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983
Politics of South Ribble
Politics of the Borough of West Lancashire