Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1983

Bristol South East

Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–1983
Seats| one
Created from| Bristol East
Replaced by| Bristol East, Bristol South and Kingswood[1]

Bristol South East was a constituency[n 1] in the city of Bristol that returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[n 2]

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, mainly from the Bristol East constituency, and abolished for the 1983 general election which saw the reintroduction of Bristol East. In boundary changes for the February 1974 general election, part of the constituency's territory was transferred to the new seat of Kingswood.

Sir Stafford Cripps won the seat comfortably from holding its main predecessor in 1950 and continued in government with the new seat for just over six months (he was at the time Chancellor of the Exchequer) before resigning from Parliament for health reasons. The final MP for the constituency was Tony Benn who served as Secretary of State (for Industry from 1974 to 1975 then as Secretary of State For Energy from 1975 to 1979), in the latter role, the UK saw the Winter of Discontent and power shortages. Benn ran in the near-overlapping successor seat, Bristol East in 1983 and was defeated by Conservative candidate Jonathan Sayeed.[n 3]

## Boundaries

[edit]

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, Hengrove, St George East, and St George West.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, St George East, St George West, and Stockwood, and the Urban District of Kingswood.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, Knowle, St George East, St George West, Stockwood, and Windmill Hill.

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party

|
|

| 1950 | Sir Stafford Cripps | Labour
| 1950 by-election | Tony Benn | Labour
| 1961
(on petition) | Malcolm St Clair | Conservative
| 1963 by-election | Tony Benn | Labour
1983 | constituency abolished: see Bristol East

## Elections

[edit]

### Elections in the 1950s

[edit]

Cripps General election 1950: Bristol South East [2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Stafford Cripps | 29,393  | 62.6  |
| Conservative | R. E. Simms  | 12,590  | 26.8  |
| Liberal | Frederick John Goudge  | 4,463  | 9.5  |
| Communist | Jack Webb[4] | 524  | 1.1  |
Majority | 16,803  | 35.8  |
Turnout | 46,970  | 85.0  |
| Labour win (new seat)
1950 Bristol South East by-election Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 19,367  | 56.7  | −5.9
| Conservative | James Lindsay | 12,018  | 35.2  | +8.4
| Liberal | Doreen Gorsky | 2,752  | 8.1  | −1.4
Majority | 7,349  | 21.5  | −14.3
Turnout | 34,137  | 61.1  | −23.9
| Labour hold | Swing | −7.2  |
General election 1951: Bristol South East [2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 30,811  | 65.0  | +2.4
| Conservative | James Lindsay | 16,555  | 35.0  | +8.2
Majority | 14,256  | 30.0  | −5.8
Turnout | 47,366  | 83.8  | −1.2
| Labour hold | Swing | −2.9  |
General election 1955: Bristol South East [2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 25,257  | 59.5  | −5.5
| Conservative | Robert Cooke | 17,210  | 40.5  | +5.5
Majority | 8,047  | 19.0  | −11.0
Turnout | 42,467  | 77.9  | −5.9
| Labour hold | Swing | −5.5  |
General election 1959: Bristol South East [2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 26,273  | 56.2  | −3.3
| Conservative | Malcolm St Clair | 20,446  | 43.8  | +3.3
Majority | 5,827  | 12.4  | −6.6
Turnout | 46,739  | 81.4  | +3.5
| Labour hold | Swing | −3.3  |

### Elections in the 1960s

[edit]

Bristol South East by-election 1961 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 23,275  | 69.5  | +13.3
| Conservative | Malcolm St Clair | 10,231  | 30.5  | −13.3
Majority | -13,044 | -39.0 | N/A
Turnout | 33,506  | 56.7  | −24.7
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | −13.3 |

Tony Benn was declared ineligible to sit in the House of Commons due to him having inherited a peerage, and Malcolm St. Clair was declared elected instead.

Bristol South East by-election 1963 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 20,313  | 79.7  | +10.2
| National Fellowship Conservative  | Edward Martell | 4,834  | 19.0  | New
| Independent | M. P. Lloyd  | 287  | 1.1  | New
| Independent | G. Pearl  | 44  | 0.2  | New
Majority | 15,479  | 60.7  | N/A
Turnout | 25,478  | 42.2  | −14.5
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |  |
General election 1964: Bristol South East[2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 29,117  | 60.2  | +4.0
| Conservative | R. Stephen O'Brien  | 19,282  | 39.8  | −4.0
Majority | 9,835  | 20.4  | +8.0
Turnout | 48,399  | 77.9  | −1.5
| Labour hold | Swing | +4.0  |
General election 1966: Bristol South East[2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 30,851  | 61.4  | +1.2
| Conservative | Christopher J.R. Pope  | 19,435  | 38.6  | −1.2
Majority | 11,416  | 22.8  | +2.4
Turnout | 50,286  | 76.2  | −1.7
| Labour hold | Swing | +1.2  |

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

General election 1970: Bristol South East[2][3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 29,176  | 55.4  | −6.0
| Conservative | Norman G. Reece  | 23,488  | 44.6  | +6.0
Majority | 5,688  | 10.8  | −12.0
Turnout | 52,664  | 72.0  | −4.2
| Labour hold | Swing | −6.0  |
General election February 1974: Bristol South East [5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 26,540  | 47.0  | −8.4
| Conservative | Norman G. Reece  | 18,628  | 33.0  | −11.6
| Liberal | D. R. Grayson  | 9,870  | 17.5  | New
| National Front | R.J. Bale  | 757  | 1.3  | New
| Social Democrat | J.H. Robertson  | 668  | 1.2  | New
Majority | 7,912  | 14.0  | +4.2
Turnout | 56,463  | 81.9  | +9.9
| Labour hold | Swing | +1.6  |
General election October 1974: Bristol South East [5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 25,978  | 49.1  | +2.1
| Conservative | J.P. Godwin  | 16,605  | 31.4  | −1.6
| Liberal | R.S. Wardle  | 8,987  | 17.0  | −0.5
| National Front | R. J. Bale  | 775  | 1.5  | +0.2
| World Middle Classes Party (WMPC)  | R. R. Goding  | 457  | 0.9  | New
| Marxist-Leninist (England) | P. Rowe  | 79  | 0.2  | New
Majority | 9,373  | 17.7  | +2.7
Turnout | 52,881  | 76.2  | −5.7
| Labour hold | Swing | +1.9  |
General election 1979: Bristol South East [5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tony Benn | 24,878  | 45.4  | −3.7
| Conservative | J.P. Godwin  | 22,988  | 41.9  | +10.5
| Liberal | N.W.H. Tatam  | 6,371  | 11.6  | −5.4
| National Front | J.D. Dowler  | 523  | 1.0  | −0.5
| More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen  | 66  | 0.1  | New
Majority | 1,890  | 3.5  | −14.2
Turnout | 54,826  | 78.4  | +2.2
| Labour hold | Swing | −7.1  |

## Notes and references

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Notes

1. ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. ^ As with all constituencies from the 1950s the constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of elections which are held at least every five years.
3. ^ Tony Benn returned to the House of Commons at a by-election in 1984, elected to serve Chesterfield.

References

1. ^ "Parliamentary Elections for the City of Bristol, 1701-2000". University of the West of England. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
2. ^ a b c d e f g British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
3. ^ a b c d e f g The Times House of Commons, 1950-70
4. ^ Stevenson, Graham. "Webb Jack". Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
5. ^ a b c British Parliamentary Election Results, 1974-1983, FWS Craig