A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Coventry South | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
 | |
 Boundary of Coventry South in West Midlands region | |
| County | West Midlands |
| Electorate | 75,705 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Zarah Sultana (Labour) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Coventry South East, Coventry South West |
| 1950–1974 | |
| Seats | One |
| Type of constituency | Borough constituency |
| Created from | Coventry East and Coventry West |
| Replaced by | Coventry South East, Coventry South West |
Coventry South is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Zarah Sultana of the Labour Party.[n 2]
Members of Parliament
MPs 1950–1974
| Election | Member[2] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Elaine Burton | Labour | |
| 1959 | Philip Hocking | Conservative | |
| 1964 | Bill Wilson | Labour | |
| Feb 1974 | constituency abolished | ||
MPs 1997–present
| Election | Member[2] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jim Cunningham | Labour | |
| 2019 | Zarah Sultana | Labour | |
Constituency profile and boundaries
Coventry city centre is in the north of the constituency, with its cathedral, expanses of concrete offices and the university, which leads to a significant student vote in the seat.[3] The residential tower blocks in St Michael's ward lie amid one of the most deprived areas in the country but south of the city centre it is more mixed, with the more middle-class areas of Cheylesmore, Earlsdon and Whoberley, Cannon Park, Gibbet Hill (aka Wainbody) and Westwood Heath among areas with large numbers of professionals, comfortably self-employed and academics.
1997–present: The City of Coventry wards of Binley and Willenhall, Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, St Michael's, Wainbody, and Westwood.
1950–1974: The County Borough of Coventry wards of Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, Godiva, St Michael's, Westwood, and Whoberley.
From 1974 to 1997, the city centre was part of the now abolished Coventry South East constituency.
Proposed
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 general election, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
- The City of Coventry wards of: Cheylesmore; Earlsdon; Lower Stoke; St. Michael’s; Wainbody; Westwood.[4]
The Binley and Willenhall ward will be transferred to the re-established seat of Coventry East in exchange for the Lower Stoke ward from Coventry North East (to be abolished).
History
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, abolished for the February 1974 general election and recreated for the 1997 general election by the merger of the former seats of Coventry South East and Coventry South West. Since 1964 the various forms of the seat, excluding the gap period, have elected the Labour candidate. The Conservative candidates, since a win in 1959, have consistently taken second place. In 2019, following the retirement of Jim Cunningham, Labour narrowly held onto the seat by 401 votes; the Conservatives made their best performance since the seat's recreation,
In 2015, the local UKIP party originally selected Mark Taylor as candidate, but he stood aside when instructed to by "party bosses."[5] UKIP wanted to replace Taylor with "anti-gay Christian preacher"[6] George Hargreaves.[5] The following week, Taylor was reinstated as candidate.[7]
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform UK | Chris Baddon[9] | ||||
| Conservative | Mattie Heaven[10] | ||||
| SDP | Alastair Mellon[11] | ||||
| Independent | Joshua Morland | ||||
| Independent | Niko Omilana | ||||
| Green | Anne Patterson[12] | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Stephen Richmond[13] | ||||
| Labour | Zarah Sultana[14] | ||||
| Workers Party | Mohammed Ali Syed[15] | ||||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Swing | |||||
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Zarah Sultana | 19,544 | 43.4 | -11.6 | |
| Conservative | Mattie Heaven | 19,143 | 42.5 | +4.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Stephen Richmond | 3,398 | 7.5 | +4.6 | |
| Brexit Party | James Crocker | 1,432 | 3.2 | New | |
| Green | Becky Finlayson | 1,092 | 2.4 | +1.1 | |
| Independent | Ed Manning | 435 | 1.0 | New | |
| Majority | 401 | 0.9 | -16.0 | ||
| Turnout | 45,044 | 63.5 | -2.9 | ||
| Registered electors | 70,970 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | -8.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Jim Cunningham[18] | 25,874 | 55.0 | +12.7 | |
| Conservative | Michelle Lowe[19] | 17,927 | 38.1 | +3.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Greg Judge | 1,343 | 2.9 | -1.2 | |
| UKIP | Ian Rogers | 1,037 | 2.2 | -10.9 | |
| Green | Aimee Challenor[20] | 604 | 1.3 | -2.6 | |
| Independent | Sandra Findlay | 224 | 0.5 | New | |
| Majority | 7,947 | 16.9 | +9.6 | ||
| Turnout | 47,009 | 66.4 | +5.2 | ||
| Registered electors | 70,754 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | +4.8 | |||