Swindon South (UK Parliament constituency)

"South Swindon" redirects here. For the parish, see South Swindon (parish).

Swindon South is a constituency in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Heidi Alexander of the Labour Party. Alexander had previously been MP for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018.

Swindon South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Swindon South in South West England
County	Wiltshire
Electorate	72,468 (2023)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Heidi Alexander (Labour Party)
Seats	One
Created from	Swindon and Devizes

In the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was renamed from South Swindon to Swindon South, first contested at the 2024 general election.^[2]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries from 2024

1997–2010: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Central, Chiseldon, Dorcan, Eastcott, Freshbrook, Lawns, Park, Ridgeway, Toothill, Walcot, and Wroughton.

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the Swindon and Devizes seats. It covered the southern half of the town as well as farms, villages and hamlets to the immediate south and east of Swindon.

2010–2024: The Borough of Swindon wards of Central, Covingham and Dorcan (part), Eastcott, Liden + Eldene and Park South, Lydiard and Freshbrook, Old Town, Chiseldon and Lawn, Ridgeway, Shaw, Mannington and Western (part), Walcot and Park North, and Wroughton and Wichelstowe.

There were slightly amended boundaries for the 2010 election, which saw it lose South Marston to North Swindon. The boundary ran from Dorcan across to Bishopstone and then down to Russley Park before turning west to Barbury Castle. From there it ran north to the Roughmoor area and looped back down to incorporate West Swindon, before following the railway east through the town and back to Dorcan. Settlements outside the Swindon built-up area include Wroughton, Chiseldon, Wanborough, and Liddington.^[3]

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

• The Borough of Swindon wards of: Central; Chiseldon and Lawn (polling districts CLA, CLC and CLD); Covingham and Dorcan; Eastcott; Liden, Eldene and Park South; Lydiard and Freshbrook; Mannington and Western; Old Town; Shaw; Walcot and Park North.^[4]

The changes included the transfer of the Covingham and Nythe districts from Swindon North; the adjustment of the boundary around Nythe ensured that the whole of the parish of Nythe, Eldene and Liden falls within the constituency. At the same time, a substantial semi-rural area in the south, namely the Chiseldon and Wroughton districts, was transferred to the new constituency of East Wiltshire; this involved the parishes of Bishopstone, Chiseldon, Liddington, Wanborough and Wroughton.

History

Swindon is a railway town, and until the latter part of the 20th century the related works were the primary employer.^[5] Today, Swindon is the home of a number of large companies: examples specific to South Swindon include Intel's European headquarters,^[6] Nationwide's headquarters^[7] and Zurich Financial Services' UK headquarters.

Created in 1997, the Swindon South constituency, swinging in line with the national average in the New Labour landslide, produced a fairly safe majority for the Labour winner. Julia Drown had a majority of more than 5,000 which was extended in 2001 to more than 7,000 but then dropped dramatically on a new candidate's selection, to 1,353 in 2005. In 2010, Robert Buckland, a Conservative, gained South Swindon at the general election with a majority of just over 3,500. In 2015, the Conservative majority increased to 5,785; in 2017, the Conservative majority fell to 2,464 on a 3.5% swing to Labour. In 2019, Buckland's majority rose to 6,625 (13%) and 52% of the vote, with a swing of 4.1% to Conservative. These patterns suggest a seat that is more marginal than its neighbour Swindon North, and one which has acted as a bellwether of the national result. Buckland was the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice between July 2019 and September 2021, and Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022.

At the 2024 election, the result again aligned with the national result: Heidi Alexander won the seat for Labour with a 16% swing.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[9]	Party
	1997	Julia Drown	Labour
	2005	Anne Snelgrove	Labour
	2010	Robert Buckland	Conservative
	2024	Heidi Alexander	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Swindon South^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Heidi Alexander[11]	21,676	48.4	+8.2
	Conservative	Robert Buckland[12]	12,070	26.9	–24.7
	Reform UK	Catherine Kosidowski[13]	6,194	13.8	N/A
	Green	Rod Hebden[14]	2,539	5.7	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Matt McCabe[15]	1,843	4.1	–3.5
	Independent	Martin Costello[10]	472	1.1	N/A
Majority			9,606	21.5	N/A
Turnout			44,794	61.7	–6.6
Registered electors			72,596
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	16.5

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[16]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	25,564	51.6
	Labour	19,914	40.2
	Liberal Democrats	3,788	7.6
	Green	261	0.5
Turnout		49,527	68.3
Electorate		72,468

General election 2019: South Swindon^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	26,536	52.3	+3.9
	Labour Co-op	Sarah Church	19,911	39.2	–4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stan Pajak	4,299	8.5	+4.4
Majority			6,625	13.1	+8.2
Turnout			50,746	69.4	–1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.1

General election 2017: South Swindon^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	24,809	48.4	+2.2
	Labour Co-op	Sarah Church	22,345	43.5	+9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stan Pajak	2,079	4.1	+0.4
	UKIP	Martin Costello	1,291	2.5	–9.5
	Green	Talis Kimberley-Fairbourn	747	1.5	–2.1
Majority			2,464	4.9	–6.8
Turnout			51,358	71.0	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	–3.5

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § South Swindon

General election 2015: South Swindon^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	22,777	46.2	+4.4
	Labour	Anne Snelgrove	16,992	34.5	+0.2
	UKIP	John Short[21]	5,920	12.0	+7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Damon Hooton[22]	1,817	3.7	–13.9
	Green	Talis Kimberley-Fairbourn[23]	1,757	3.6	+2.3
Majority			5,785	11.7	+4.2
Turnout			49,263	66.6	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 2010: South Swindon^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	19,687	41.8	+4.9
	Labour	Anne Snelgrove	16,143	34.3	–6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Damon Hooton	8,305	17.6	+0.6
	UKIP	Robert Tingley	2,029	4.3	+2.1
	Green	Jenni Miles	619	1.3	–1.6
	Christian	Alistair Kirk	176	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Karsten Evans	160	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,544	7.5	N/A
Turnout			47,119	64.9	+5.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.51

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Swindon^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Snelgrove	17,534	40.3	–11.0
	Conservative	Robert Buckland	16,181	37.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Stebbing	7,322	16.8	+4.9
	Green	Bill Hughes	1,234	2.8	N/A
	UKIP	Stephen Halden	955	2.2	+0.6
	Independent	Alan Hayward	193	0.4	N/A
	Independent	John Williams	53	0.1	N/A
Majority			1,353	3.1	–13.8
Turnout			43,472	60.2	–0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	–6.9

General election 2001: South Swindon^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Drown	22,260	51.3	+4.5
	Conservative	Simon Coombs	14,919	34.4	–1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Brewer	5,165	11.9	–2.5
	UKIP	Vicki Sharp	713	1.6	N/A
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Roly Gillard	327	0.8	N/A
Majority			7,341	16.9	+5.9
Turnout			43,384	61.0	–11.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Swindon^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Drown	23,943	46.8
	Conservative	Simon Coombs	18,298	35.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stanley Pajak	7,371	14.4
	Referendum	David McIntosh	1,273	2.5
	Independent	Richard Charman	181	0.2
	Natural Law	Keith Buscombe	96	0.2
Majority			5,645	11.0
Turnout			51,162	72.9
	Labour win (new seat)

Neighbouring constituencies

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire

Notes

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
3. "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF).
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.
5. "Swindon History - the GWR Works - SwindonWeb". www.swindonweb.com.
6. "!company_name! - Company Profile from Hoover's".
7. "About Nationwide - Accessibility - Admin centres". Archived from the original on 14 May 2006.
8. "Swindon South - General election results 2024". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
10. "Swindon South". BBC News. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
11. "Labour selections: parliamentary candidates selected so far for the general election". LabourList. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
12. "Sir Robert Buckland reselected as Tory candidate for Swindon South". The Swindonian. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
13. "Swindon South Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
14. "Stand at the next general election". South West Green Party. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
15. Pack, Mark (10 May 2024). "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
16. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
17. Council, Swindon Borough. "Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations South Swindon | Swindon Borough Council". www.swindon.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
18. "Swindon South parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News".
19. "Labour announce candidate to contest General Election in South Swindon". Swindon Advertiser.
20. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "UKIP names general election candidates". Swindon Advertiser.
22. "General Election 2015 Candidates - Liberal Democrats". Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
23. "General Election 2015". southwest.greenparty.org.uk.
24. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
25. Taylor, Stephen P (20 April 2010). "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). Returning Officer. Swindone Borough Council. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
26. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• South Swindon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• South Swindon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Swindon South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

51.559°N 1.782°W / 51.559; -1.782