Southampton Test is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

Satvir Kaur Satvir Kaur is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament for Southampton Test since 2024. She previously served as Leader of Southampton City Council from 2022 to 2023, being the first female Sikh leader of a local ...

, a member of the Labour Party since 2024.

History

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-member Southampton constituency was abolished. The boundaries of the seat have changed at most of the Boundary Commissions' periodic reviews. Horace King, the MP between 1950 and 1955, before switching to the neighbouring seat of Southampton Itchen, would later become the first

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

from the Labour Party. The seat was contested unsuccessfully in 1955 and 1959 respectively by

Anthony Crosland Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influe ...

and

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (''née'' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in ...

, who would both later be elected for other seats and become prominent ministers in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s. Southampton Test proved to be a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

(mirroring the national result) from 1966 until 2010, with the exception of the minority government of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

from February to October 1974 . In the 2010 general election,

Alan Whitehead Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead CBE (born 15 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton Test from 1997 to 2024. He served as Shadow Minister for Energy Security, previously Gr ...

for Labour performed better here than

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denh ...

in Southampton Itchen, the other Southampton seat, which the party also held more narrowly that year. The area from 2010 to 2015 was one of four Labour seats in South East England and from 2017 to 2019 among two of eighteen in Hampshire won by Labour candidates. Whitehead was re-elected in 2017 with a majority of over 10,000 votes, and in 2019 over 6,000, making Southampton Test a relatively comfortable Labour seat. Whitehead did not stand at the 2024 general election; he was succeeded by fellow Labour Party member,

, with a majority of over 9,000.

Constituency profile

The seat covers the western part of the City of Southampton and is named after the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's vall ...

, one of the city's two rivers. It covers some of the leafy northern suburbs (though the northernmost Bassett Ward ceased to form part of the constituency in 1997) and the western port areas as well as the

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

estates of the western fringes. It is traditionally the marginally more affluent of the two constituencies in the city, before 2010 having a higher number of Tory representatives than its neighbour Southampton Itchen – named after the other major river. The area includes the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, though its halls of residence fall almost entirely within

Romsey and Southampton North Romsey and Southampton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Caroline Nokes for the Conservative Party. For the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer i ...

or Southampton Itchen. The seat is home to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

's football ground at St Mary's.

Boundaries

Historic

1950–1955: The County Borough of Southampton wards of All Saints, Banister, Freemantle, Millbrook, St Nicholas, Shirley, and Town; and the (civil) Parish of Millbrook (which was then in the Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District). 1955–1983: The County Borough of Southampton wards of Banister, Bargate, Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley. 1983–1997: The City of Southampton wards of Bassett, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley. 1997–2010: The City of Southampton wards of Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, St Luke's, and Shirley. 2010–2023 The City of Southampton wards of Bevois, Coxford, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Redbridge, and Shirley.

Current

Following a review of local authority ward boundaries, which became effective in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following: * The City of Southampton wards of: Banister & Polygon (majority); Bevois; Coxford; Freemantle; Millbrook; Portswood; Redbridge; Shirley; Swaythling (small part). The

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, which was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged. The constituency is bounded to the east by Southampton Itchen, to the north by

and to the west by New Forest East.

Members of Parliament

prior to 1950''

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

Notes

References

External links

Southampton, Test UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord , 50, 56, N, 1, 25, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB-STH, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Politics of Southampton