Bristol Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol Central is a parliamentary constituency located within the City of Bristol in South West England.^[2][3] It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 2024, it has been represented by Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party.

Bristol Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bristol Central in South West England
County	City of Bristol
Electorate	70,227 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Bristol
Current constituency
Created	2024
Member of Parliament	Carla Denyer (Green)
Seats	1
Created from	Bristol West
1918–1974
Seats	one
Created from	Bristol East Bristol North Bristol South Bristol West
Replaced by	Bristol North East Bristol South East

A constituency of this name existed from 1918 to 1974. The modern constituency was re-established in 2024 as a successor to Bristol West.^[4]

Constituency profile

Based on data from the 2021 census, the Electoral Calculus categorises the proposed seat as being part of the “strong left” demographic, those who have very economically left wing and socially liberal views, are composed of a largely student population and have an internationalist outlook including strong opposition to Brexit. For reference, the site gives a notional result of only 12% for those who voted Brexit back in 2016, indicating that Bristol Central is a heavily pro-Remain area. In addition to this, around 43% of the constituency is deprived, in terms of employment, income and education, which can be seen as considerably low in contrast to the national average of 52% deprivation, according to the site. For general statistics, the average age is 37.6, at least 65% of the local population owns a car, whilst 41% own a home, and the gross household income is £48,529.^[5]

Bristol Central has also been reported to be the most pro-immigration constituency in the United Kingdom; 55 per cent of voters wanted fewer controls and higher numbers in Bristol, a survey published by The Telegraph found.^[6]

History

Bristol Central was first created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election, after which it was absorbed into Bristol North East and Bristol South East.

During the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies in 2000-07, a proposal to rename Bristol West to "Bristol Central" was rejected.^[7]

Modern constituency

Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Bristol Central largely replaced Bristol West, comprising approximately 70% of the abolished constituency.^[8] It was first contested at the 2024 general election.^[9]

2024 election

In January 2022, Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire was reselected by the Labour Party to stand as their candidate for Bristol Central in the next general election; on 4 September 2023 she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Keir Starmer.^[10] London Mayor Sadiq Khan visited Clifton to show support for Debbonaire, claiming that Bristol would "have a strong champion as culture secretary in the next Labour government”.^[11]

In 2023, the Green Party said that Bristol Central would be a target seat for the party, and selected their co-leader, Carla Denyer, as their candidate.^[12][13][14] Following the May local elections, the Green Party became the biggest party in Bristol City Council.^[15] Denyer aimed to capitalise upon voters “feeling utterly uninspired by the potential of a Keir Starmer-led Labour party”.^[16] Former MP for Liverpool Riverside, Dame Louise Ellman accused the Green Party of stirring up divisions over the Gaza war as part of their electoral campaign, by including the Palestinian flag and images of destruction in Gaza on their distribution letters in Bristol.^[17]

Other running candidates included, Reform UK's Robert Clarke,^[18] the Liberal Democrats's Nicholas Coombes,^[19] and the Conservatives's Samuel Williams.^[20]

At the beginning of the campaign, The Economist and the Financial Times predicted Labour would win in Bristol Central, based upon poll tracking.^[21][22] Constituent Carol Vorderman predicted the Green Party would win the election with 52% of the vote share.^[23]

Boundaries

Historic

1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Central East, Central West, Redcliffe, St Augustine, St James, St Paul, and St Philip and Jacob South.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Easton, Knowle, Redcliffe, St Paul, St Philip and Jacob North, and St Philip and Jacob South.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Easton, Knowle, St Paul, St Philip and Jacob, and Windmill Hill.

Current

Map of boundaries from 2024

2024-present: The City of Bristol wards of Ashley, Central, Clifton, Clifton Down, Cotham, Hotwells and Harbourside, and Redland.^[24]

The seat comprises the former Bristol West constituency – minus the wards of Bishopston and Ashley Down, which was moved to Bristol North West, and Lawrence Hill and Easton, which were moved to Bristol East.^[25]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1918	Thomas Inskip	Conservative
	1929	Joseph Alpass	Labour
	1931	Lord Apsley	Conservative	Killed in action, 1942 as Commander of the Arab Legion in Malta
	1943 by-election	Lady Apsley	Conservative
	1945	Stan Awbery	Labour
	1964	Arthur Palmer	Labour
1974–2024		None		Constituency not in use 1974–2024.
	2024	Carla Denyer	Green	Co-leader of the Green Party

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Bristol Central^[26][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Carla Denyer	24,539	56.6	+30.6
	Labour	Thangam Debbonaire	14,132	32.6	−25.9
	Conservative	Samuel Williams	1,998	4.6	−9.7
	Reform UK	Robert Clarke	1,338	3.1	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Coombes	1,162	2.7	N/A
	Party of Women	Kellie-Jay Keen	196	0.5	N/A
Majority			10,407	24.0	N/A
Turnout			43,365	69.1	–4.1
Registered electors			62,735
	Green gain from Labour		Swing	+28.2

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[28]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	30,077	58.5
	Green	13,381	26.0
	Conservative	7,376	14.3
	Brexit Party	593	1.2
Turnout		51,427	73.2
Electorate		70,227

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	12,375	51.4	−7.5
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	9,130	37.9	+1.9
	Liberal	Antony Rider	2,569	10.7	New
Majority			3,245	13.5	−9.4
Turnout			24,074	66.7	−3.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	15,399	58.9	+3.4
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	9,410	36.0	−3.0
	Independent	Desmond H. R. Burgess	1,322	5.1	−1.4
Majority			5,989	22.9	+7.4
Turnout			26,131	70.0	−1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Palmer	16,207	54.5	+0.9
	Conservative	James R. E. Taylor	11,616	39.0	−7.4
	Independent	Desmond H. R. Burgess	1,936	6.5	New
Majority			4,591	15.5	+8.3
Turnout			29,759	71.9	−3.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	19,905	53.6	−6.9
	Conservative	L. G. Pine	17,209	46.4	+6.9
Majority			2,696	7.2	−13.8
Turnout			37,114	75.0	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	25,158	60.5	−1.9
	Conservative	Kenelm Antony Philip Dalby	16,406	39.5	+1.9
Majority			8,752	21.0	−3.8
Turnout			41,564	73.8	−9.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	26,091	62.4	+2.7
	Conservative	Kenelm Antony Philip Dalby	15,725	37.6	+6.6
Majority			10,366	24.8	−3.9
Turnout			41,816	83.1	−1.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	25,889	59.7	−4.2
	Conservative	John Peyton	13,461	31.0	−5.1
	Liberal	Donald David Oliver Jones	4,042	9.3	New
Majority			12,428	28.7	+0.9
Turnout			43,392	84.5	+14.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Awbery	13,045	63.9	+16.4
	Conservative	Violet Bathurst	7,369	36.1	−16.4
Majority			5,676	27.8	N/A
Turnout			20,414	70.0	−2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1943 Bristol Central by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Violet Bathurst	5,867	52.1	−0.4
	Independent Labour	Jennie Lee	4,308	38.2	New
	Ind. Labour Party	John McNair	830	7.4	New
	Independent	F. H. Dunn	258	2.3	New
Majority			1,559	13.9	+8.9
Turnout			11,263	32.9	−39.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	15,774	52.5	−7.1
	Labour	J. J. Taylor	14,258	47.5	+7.1
Majority			1,516	5.0	−14.2
Turnout			30,032	72.8	−7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	22,311	59.6	+15.3
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	15,143	40.4	−15.3
Majority			7,168	19.2	N/A
Turnout			37,454	80.4	+2.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	20,749	55.7	+10.8
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	16,524	44.3	−10.8
Majority			4,225	11.4	N/A
Turnout			37,273	77.5	0.0
Registered electors			48,081
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+10.8

General election 1924: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	17,177	55.1	+0.4
	Labour	James Lovat-Fraser	14,018	44.9	−0.4
Majority			3,159	10.2	+0.8
Turnout			31,195	77.5	+11.7
Registered electors			40,252
	Unionist hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 1923: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	14,386	54.7	−1.2
	Labour	Samuel Edward Walters	11,932	45.3	+1.2
Majority			2,454	9.4	−2.4
Turnout			26,318	65.8	−6.2
Registered electors			40,000
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.2

General election 1922: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	15,568	55.9	−6.3
	Labour	Christopher Thomson	12,303	44.1	+6.3
Majority			3,265	11.8	−12.6
Turnout			27,871	72.0	+18.3
Registered electors			38,709
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Bristol Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Thomas Inskip	12,232	63.2
	Labour	Ernest Bevin	7,137	36.8
Majority			5,095	26.4
Turnout			19,369	53.7
Registered electors			36,038
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• 1943 Bristol Central by-election
• Politics of Bristol