South Ribble (UK Parliament constituency)

South Ribble is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Paul Foster for Labour.

South Ribble
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Ribble in North West England
County	Lancashire
Electorate	72,092 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Leyland and Penwortham
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Paul Foster (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Preston South, Fylde South and Chorley[2]

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. It has been a classic bellwether seat since its creation, changing hands with the change of government.

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 fashion, Labour's David Borrow gained the seat on a clear majority, with nearly 26,000 votes, 2,000 less than Atkins' victory in the corresponding "landslide" year of 1983. From 1997 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 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. In 2024, the seat was regained by Labour with a swing of over 15%.

Boundaries

Map of 2010-2024 boundaries

Historic

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.

For the 1997 general election, the communities of Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale were moved to the Preston constituency. To partly compensate, the four mainly rural wards in the District of West Lancashire were transferred from the West Lancashire constituency.

2010–2024: 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.

Following the review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire prior to the 2010 general election, Walton-le-Dale and Bamber Bridge were subsequently transferred into the Ribble Valley seat, along with the villages of Samlesbury, Higher Walton, Coupe Green, Gregson Lane, Lostock Hall, Farington and Farington Moss. This meant that the borough of South Ribble was now split between the South Ribble and Ribble Valley parliamentary seats.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Chorley wards of: Croston, Mawdesley & Euxton South; Eccleston, Heskin & Charnock Richard.

• The Borough of South Ribble wards of: Broad Oak; Broadfield; Buckshaw & Worden; Charnock; Earnshaw Bridge; Farington East; Farington West; Hoole; Howick & Priory; Leyland Central; Longton & Hutton West; Middleforth; Moss Side; New Longton & Hutton East; St. Ambrose; Seven Stars.^[3]

The four West Lancashire Borough wards were transferred to Southport. To compensate, Farington was transferred back in from Ribble Valley and there was a small gain from Chorley due to ward boundary changes.

The seat's original boundaries were coterminous with the South Ribble borough.^[4] Due to population changes, 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.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1983	Robert Atkins	Conservative
	1997	David Borrow	Labour
	2010	Lorraine Fullbrook	Conservative
	2015	Seema Kennedy	Conservative
	2019	Katherine Fletcher	Conservative
	2024	Paul Foster	Labour

Elections

South Ribble election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: South Ribble^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Foster[8]	19,840	42.5	+6.3
	Conservative	Katherine Fletcher[9]	13,339	28.6	−24.9
	Reform UK	Andy Hunter[10]	8,995	19.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Turner[11]	2,972	6.4	−1.3
	Green	Stephani Mok[12]	1,574	3.4	+0.9
Majority			6,501	13.9	N/A
Turnout			46,720	63.9	−4.7
Registered electors			73,420
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.6

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Ribble^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Katherine Fletcher	30,028	55.8	+3.0
	Labour	Kim Snape	18,829	35.0	―4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Barton	3,720	6.9	+3.2
	Green	Andy Fewings	1,207	2.2	+1.3
Majority			11,199	20.8	+7.3
Turnout			53,784	71.4	―0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 2017: South Ribble^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seema Kennedy	28,980	52.9	+6.4
	Labour	Julie Gibson	21,559	39.3	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Wright	2,073	3.7	―0.7
	UKIP	Mark Smith	1,387	2.5	―11.6
	Green	Andrew Wight	494	0.9	New
	NHA	Mark Jamell	341	0.6	New
Majority			7,421	13.5	+2.2
Turnout			54,834	72.0	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General election 2015: South Ribble^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seema Kennedy	24,313	46.4	+0.9
	Labour	Veronica Bennett	18,368	35.1	+0.4
	UKIP	David Gallagher	7,377	14.1	+10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sue McGuire	2,312	4.4	―9.7
Majority			5,945	11.3	+0.5
Turnout			52,370	68.5	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: South Ribble^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lorraine Fullbrook	23,396	45.5	+7.1
	Labour	David Borrow	17,842	34.7	―9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Fisher	7,271	14.1	―0.6
	UKIP	David Duxbury	1,895	3.7	+1.5
	BNP	Rosalind Gauci	1,054	2.0	New
Majority			5,554	10.8	N/A
Turnout			51,458	67.9	+4.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Ribble^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Borrow	20,428	43.0	―3.4
	Conservative	Lorraine Fullbrook	18,244	38.4	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Alcock	7,634	16.1	+0.6
	UKIP	Kenneth Jones	1,205	2.5	New
Majority			2,184	4.6	―3.7
Turnout			47,511	63.0	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	―1.9

General election 2001: South Ribble^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Borrow	21,386	46.4	―0.4
	Conservative	Adrian Owens	17,584	38.1	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Alcock	7,150	15.5	+4.9
Majority			3,802	8.3	―0.9
Turnout			46,120	62.5	―14.6
	Labour hold		Swing	―0.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Ribble^{[20][21][22][23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Borrow	25,856	46.8	+12.0
	Conservative	Robert Atkins	20,772	37.6	―12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Farron	5,879	10.6	―4.2
	Referendum	Mark Adams	1,475	2.7	New
	Liberal	Nigel R. Ashton	1,127	2.0	New
	Natural Law	Bibette Leadbetter	122	0.2	―0.2
Majority			5,084	9.2	N/A
Turnout			55,231	77.1	―5.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.1

General election 1992: South Ribble^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Atkins	30,828	47.5	+0.3
	Labour	Geoffrey Smith	24,855	38.3	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Jones	8,928	13.8	―5.9
	Natural Law	Decter Ronald	269	0.4	New
Majority			5,973	9.2	―4.9
Turnout			64,880	83.0	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South Ribble^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Atkins	28,133	47.2	―1.6
	Labour	David Roebuck	19,703	33.1	+6.6
	Liberal	Joseph Alan Holleran	11,746	19.7	―5.0
Majority			8,430	14.1	―8.2
Turnout			59,582	82.5	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	―4.1

General election 1983: South Ribble^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Atkins	27,625	48.8
	Labour	Frank Duffy	14,966	26.5
	Liberal	Robert Walker	13,960	24.7
Majority			12,659	22.3
Turnout			56,551	78.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

Notes