Portsmouth North (UK Parliament constituency)

Portsmouth North
Portsmouth North
Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundaries since 2010
	Boundary of Portsmouth North in South East England
County	Hampshire
Electorate	71,844 (2023)
Major settlements	Cosham; Hilsea; Farlington;
Current constituency
Created	1974
Member of Parliament	Amanda Martin (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Portsmouth West; Portsmouth Langstone;
1918–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Portsmouth
Replaced by	Portsmouth West

Portsmouth North is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Amanda Martin of the Labour Party since 2024.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Charles Dickens, Mile End, North End, and Portsea.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Portsmouth wards of Cosham, Farlington, Meredith, Nelson, North End, Paulsgrove, Portsea, and St Mary and Guildhall.

1983–1997: The City of Portsmouth wards of Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove, and the Borough of Havant wards of Purbrook and Stakes.

1997–2010: The City of Portsmouth wards of Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove.

2010–present: The City of Portsmouth wards of Baffins, Copnor, Cosham, Drayton and Farlington, Hilsea, Nelson, and Paulsgrove.

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the 2024 general election remained unchanged.^[2]

As its name suggests, the constituency covers the northern portion of the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire.

History

The constituency was created in 1918 when the two-seat Portsmouth constituency was split into three divisions: Central, North and South.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election and largely replaced by a new Portsmouth West constituency as the axis of division changed, but was re-established for the February 1974 general election.

Constituency profile

This urban seat is of average affluence^[3] and incomes, with relatively low unemployment compared to the national average measured at the end of 2012 at 3.8% (claimant count) as opposed to 2.3% average across the region.^[4]

Taken together with Portsmouth West, it has been one of the most long-standing bellwethers (of the national election winner), having that status since 1966.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Portsmouth prior to 1918

	Member	Party
1918	Sir Bertram Falle, Bt.	Coalition Conservative
1922	Sir Bertram Falle, Bt.	Conservative
1934 by-election	Admiral Sir Roger Keyes	Conservative
1943 by-election	Admiral Sir William James	Conservative
1945	Donald Bruce	Labour
1950	constituency abolished: see Portsmouth West

MPs since 1974

Portsmouth West and Portsmouth Langstone prior to 1974

	Member	Party
Feb 1974	Frank Judd	Labour
1979	Peter Griffiths	Conservative
1997	Syd Rapson	Labour
2005	Sarah McCarthy-Fry	Labour Co-operative
2010	Penny Mordaunt	Conservative
2024	Amanda Martin	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Portsmouth North ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Amanda Martin	14,495	34.8	+7.8
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	13,715	33.0	−28.4
	Reform UK	Melvyn Todd	8,501	20.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Dodd	3,031	7.3	−0.1
	Green	Duncan Robinson	1,851	4.5	+1.7
Majority			780	1.8	N/A
Turnout			41,593	59.0	−4.9
Registered electors			70,446
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	18.1

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Portsmouth North^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	28,172	61.4	+6.6
	Labour	Amanda Martin	12,392	27.0	−6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Antonia Harrison	3,419	7.4	+1.9
	Green	Lloyd Day	1,304	2.8	+1.1
	Independent	George Madgwick	623	1.4	N/A
Majority			15,780	34.4	+13.3
Turnout			45,910	64.4	−1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7

General election 2017: Portsmouth North^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	25,860	54.8	+7.8
	Labour	Rumal Khan	15,895	33.7	+9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Sanders	2,608	5.5	−0.7
	UKIP	Mike Fitzgerald	1,926	4.1	−15.0
	Green	Ken Hawkins^[8]	791	1.7	−1.5
	Libertarian	Joe Jenkins	130	0.3	N/A
Majority			9,965	21.1	−2.1
Turnout			47,210	66.1	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.1

General election 2015: Portsmouth North^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	21,343	47.0	+2.7
	Labour	John Ferrett	10,806	23.8	−4.0
	UKIP	Mike Fitzgerald^[10]	8,660	19.1	+15.0
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Sanders	2,828	6.2	−13.9
	Green	Gavin Ellis ^[11]	1,450	3.2	+2.1
	TUSC	Jon Woods	231	0.5	+0.2
Majority			10,537	23.2	+6.7
Turnout			45,318	62.1	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

General election 2010: Portsmouth North^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	19,533	44.3	+6.5
	Labour Co-op	Sarah McCarthy-Fry	12,244	27.8	−13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Sanders	8,874	20.1	+3.4
	UKIP	Mike Fitzgerald	1,812	4.1	+0.5
	English Democrat	David Knight	1,040	2.4	N/A
	Green	Iain Maclennan	461	1.0	N/A
	TUSC	Mick Tosh	154	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,289	16.5	N/A
Turnout			44,118	62.7	+2.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Portsmouth North^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Sarah McCarthy-Fry	15,412	40.9	−9.8
	Conservative	Penny Mordaunt	14,273	37.8	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Lawson	6,684	17.7	+7.4
	UKIP	Mike Smith	1,348	3.6	+2.1
Majority			1,139	3.1	−10.9
Turnout			37,717	60.0	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.5

General election 2001: Portsmouth North^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Rapson	18,676	50.7	+3.6
	Conservative	Christopher Day	13,542	36.7	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Sanders	3,795	10.3	−0.3
	UKIP	William McCabe	559	1.5	+0.8
	Independent	Brian Bundy	294	0.8	+0.6
Majority			5,134	14.0	+4.5
Turnout			36,866	57.4	−12.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Portsmouth North^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Rapson	21,339	47.1	+13.9
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	17,016	37.6	−13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Sollitt	4,788	10.6	−4.5
	Referendum	Shaun Evelegh	1,757	3.9	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Coe	298	0.7	N/A
	Wessex Regionalist	Colin Bex	72	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,323	9.5	N/A
Turnout			45,270	70.1	–7.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.5

General election 1992: Portsmouth North^[16]^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	32,240	52.6	−2.7
	Labour	Alan D. Burnett	18,359	29.9	+9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alex M. Bentley	10,101	16.5	−8.2
	Green	Helen Palmer	628	1.0	N/A
Majority			13,881	22.7	−7.9
Turnout			61,328	77.1	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Portsmouth North^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	33,297	55.3
	SDP	Elizabeth Mitchell	14,896	24.7	+1.1
	Labour Co-op	David Miles	12,016	20.0	−1.1
Majority			18,401	30.6	−1.1
Turnout			60,209	74.8	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.6

General election 1983: Portsmouth North^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	31,413	55.3	+6.6
	SDP	Stuart Luxon	13,414	23.6	N/A
	Labour	Nigel Beard	12,013	21.1	−23.2
Majority			17,999	31.7	+27.4
Turnout			56,840	72.9	−5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	26,356	48.65	+5.32
	Labour	Frank Judd	24,045	44.38	−1.49
	Liberal	S Brewin	3,354	6.19	−3.72
	National Front	R Hadlow	298	0.55	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	T White	122	0.26	N/A
Majority			2,311	4.27	+2.74
Turnout			54,177	78.66	+1.81
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.4

General election October 1974: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Judd	24,352	45.87	+2.26
	Conservative	John Ward	23,007	43.33	+0.30
	Liberal	Eileen Brooks	5,208	9.81	−3.55
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	527	0.99	N/A
Majority			1,345	2.54	+1.96
Turnout			53,094	76.85	−3.00
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.28

General election February 1974: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Frank Judd	23,847	43.61
	Conservative	Peter Griffiths	23,527	43.03
	Liberal	A.J. Peaston	7,304	13.36
Majority			320	0.58
Turnout			54,678	79.85
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donald Bruce	15,352	51.09	+17.79
	Conservative	Greville Howard	14,310	47.62	−19.0
	Democratic	John Edward Vincent Keast	388	1.29	N/A
Majority			1,042	3.47	+36.23
Turnout			30,050	75.36	+10.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	18.88

1943 Portsmouth North by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William James	6,735	59.7	−6.9
	Common Wealth	Thomas Sargant	4,545	40.3	N/A
Majority			2,190	19.4	−13.8
Turnout			11,280
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Keyes	22,956	66.62	+7.02
	Labour	Edward Thomas Humby	11,502	33.38	−7.02
Majority			11,454	33.24	+14.04
Turnout			34,458	64.86	−9.63
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.02

1934 Portsmouth North by-election^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Keyes	17,582	59.6	−8.8
	Labour	Edward Thomas Humby	11,904	40.4	+8.8
Majority			5,678	19.2	−17.5
Turnout			29,486	55.7	−18.79
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.8

General election 1931: Portsmouth North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bertram Falle	26,331	69.37	+24.87
	Labour	Kenneth Dewar	12,182	31.63	−4.57
Majority			14,149	36.74	+28.44
Turnout			38,513	74.49	+3.69
	Conservative hold		Swing	+14.87

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Portsmouth North ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Bertram Falle	15,352	44.5	−18.6
	Labour	Edward Archbold	12,475	36.2	−0.7
	Liberal	Archibald William Palmer	6,643	19.3	N/A
Majority			2,877	8.3	−27.9
Turnout			34,470	70.8	−4.2
Registered electors			48,688
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.0

General election 1924: Portsmouth North ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Bertram Falle	17,597	63.1	+12.9
	Labour	Olaf Gleeson	10,279	36.9	+0.7
Majority			7,318	26.2	+12.2
Turnout			27,876	75.0	+3.3
Registered electors			37,168
	Unionist hold		Swing	+6.1

General election 1923: Portsmouth North ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Bertram Falle	13,229	50.2	−5.7
	Labour	Olaf Gleeson	9,523	36.2	+9.3
	Liberal	William Llewellyn Williams	3,584	13.6	−3.6
Majority			3,706	14.0	−15.0
Turnout			26,336	71.7	−0.2
Registered electors			36,717
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.5

General election 1922: Portsmouth North ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Bertram Falle	14,168	55.9	−5.9
	Labour	Arthur Henderson	6,808	26.9	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Henry Field Lapthorn	4,368	17.2	N/A
Majority			7,360	29.0	+5.4
Turnout			25,344	71.9	+19.6
Registered electors			35,236
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Portsmouth North ^[21]^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Unionist	Bertram Falle	11,427	61.8
	Naval and Lower-Deck	Lionel Yexley*	7,063	38.2
Majority			4,364	23.6
Turnout			18,490	52.3
Registered electors			35,367
	Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

* Yexley (real name, James Woods) was supported by the Lower-Deck Parliamentary Committee, and also the local Liberal association.

Notes

^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
^ "Unemployment claimants by constituency". The Guardian. 17 November 2010.
^ "Portsmouth North Statement of Persons Nominated". Portsmouth City Council. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
^ "Portsmouth North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
^ "Microsoft Word - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll - Portsmouth North.docx" (PDF). portsmouth.gov.uk. 11 May 2017.
^ "Portsmouth Green Party Candidates 2019 Local Elections". portsmouth.greenparty.org.uk.
^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "UK Polling Report".
^ https://portsmouth.greenparty.org.uk/people/^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49, p.218
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922

Sources

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.