Reading South (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading South
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Reading South in Berkshire, boundaries 1974-83
County	Berkshire
Major settlements	Reading
1950–1955
Created from	Reading
Replaced by	Reading
1974 (1974)–1983
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Reading
Replaced by	Reading East, Reading West and Wokingham

Reading South was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covered an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.

History

The Reading South parliamentary constituency was first created for the 1950 general election by splitting the previous parliamentary constituency of Reading into North and South divisions. These constituencies were merged back into a single Reading constituency in for the 1955 general election.

The Reading South constituency was recreated in 1974, when the majority comprised areas outside the County Borough. In 1983 the constituencies in Reading were reorganised, creating the new constituencies of Reading East and Reading West.

Boundaries

1950–1955

The County Borough of Reading wards of Church, East, Katesgrove, Minster, Redlands, and West.

It was then abolished and absorbed into the re-established constituency of Reading, with the exception of the East ward, which was transferred to Wokingham.

1974–1983

• The County Borough of Reading wards of Christchurch, Park, Redlands, and Whitley; and
• The Rural District of Wokingham parishes of Arborfield and Newland, Barkham, Earley, Finchampstead, Shinfield, Sonning, Swallowfield, Winnersh, and Woodley and Sandford.

The Park ward of the County Borough of Reading was transferred from Wokingham, along with western parts of the Rural District thereof. The remaining wards of the County Borough were previously part of the abolished constituency of Reading.

The constituency was abolished again for the 1983 general election, with the majority forming the basis of the new County Constituency of Reading East. The north-western areas transferred back to Wokingham.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1950–1955

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1950	Ian Mikardo	Labour	Contested Reading following redistribution
	1955	constituency abolished – see Reading

MPs 1974–1983

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	Feb 1974	Gerard Vaughan	Conservative	Member for main predecessor seat (1970–1974) Contested Reading East following redistribution
	1983	constituency abolished – see Reading East, Reading West and Wokingham

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Reading South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	30,067	53.9	+11.3
	Labour	Bernard Gale	14,422	25.8	–2.0
	Liberal	Keith Watts	10,642	19.1	–10.6
	Ecology	Peter Dunn	700	1.3	New
Majority			15,645	28.0	+15.1
Turnout			55,831	76.5	+1.8
Registered electors			73,001
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.67

General election October 1974: Reading South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	21,959	42.5	–0.3
	Liberal	Paul Burall	15,293	29.6	–3.5
	Labour	Lawrence Silverman	14,375	27.8	+3.8
Majority			6,666	12.9	+3.3
Turnout			51,627	74.7	–6.3
Registered electors			69,124
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

General election February 1974: Reading South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerard Vaughan	23,735	42.8	–4.7
	Liberal	Paul Burall	18,376	33.1	+17.0
	Labour	Gerd Kaufman	13,358	24.1	–12.4
Majority			5,349	9.7	–1.4
Turnout			55,469	81.0	+8.4
Registered electors			68,500
	Conservative hold		Swing	–10.8

1970 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	22,400	47.5
	Labour	17,200	36.4
	Liberal	7,600	16.1
Turnout		47,200	72.5
Electorate		65,074

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1951: Reading South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mikardo	18,570	51.4	+2.7
	Conservative	Harold Pryce	17,561	48.6	+6.1
Majority			1,009	2.8	–3.4
Turnout			36,131	86.7	–1.4
Registered electors			41,694
	Labour hold		Swing	–1.7

General election 1950: Reading South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Ian Mikardo	17,704	48.7
	Conservative	DC Rissik	15,450	42.5
	Liberal	Gerald Opperman	3,225	8.9
Majority			2,254	6.2
Turnout			36,379	88.1
Registered electors			41,307
	Labour win (new seat)

Politics and history of the constituency

The Reading South parliamentary constituency was first created for the 1950 general election by splitting the previous parliamentary constituency of Reading into North and South divisions. The seat was contested and won for the Labour Party by Ian Mikardo, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency, who held the seat until it was merged back into a single Reading constituency for the 1955 general election.

The Reading South constituency was recreated in 1974, when it was contested and won for the Conservative Party by Gerard Vaughan, the sitting MP for the Reading constituency. For the 1983 general election the constituencies in Reading were reorganised, creating the new constituencies of Reading East and Reading West. Gerard Vaughan went on to hold the Reading East constituency until he stood down at the 1997 general election.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire