South Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Worcestershire was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

South Worcestershire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Worcestershire
1950–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	West Worcestershire, Mid Worcestershire
Created from	Evesham and Bewdley

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.

Boundaries

1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Evesham, the Urban District of Malvern, and the Rural Districts of Evesham, Pershore, and Upton-on-Severn.

1974–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.

1983–1997: The District of Wychavon wards of Badsey, Bredon, Bretforton and Offenham, Broadway, Eckington, Elmley Castle, Evesham East, Evesham Hampton, Evesham North, Evesham South, Evesham West, Fladbury, Harvington and Norton, Honeybourne and Pebworth, Pershore Holy Cross, Pershore St Andrew's, Somerville, South Bredon Hill, The Littletons, and Wickhamford, and the District of Malvern Hills wards of Chase, Kempsey, Langland, Link, Longdon, Morton, Powyke, Priory, Ripple, The Hanleys, Trinity, Upton-on-Severn, Wells, and West.

The main settlements in the seat were Great Malvern, Pershore, and the market town of Evesham. At the 1997 general election, Great Malvern and Pershore were transferred to the new seat of West Worcestershire and Evesham was transferred to the redrawn seat of Mid Worcestershire.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party	Notes
	1950	Rupert de la Bere	Conservative	Previously MP for Evesham from 1935
	1955	Peter Agnew	Conservative
	1966	Gerald Nabarro	Conservative	Died November 1973; no by-election held
	Feb 1974	Michael Spicer	Conservative	Subsequently MP for West Worcestershire
	1997	constituency abolished: see Mid Worcestershire & West Worcestershire

Election results

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: South Worcestershire[2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert de la Bère	26,948	63.23
	Labour	Patrick Tennyson-Hopwood	15,668	36.77
Majority			11,280	26.46
Turnout			42,616	80.18
Registered electors			53,148
	Conservative win (new seat)

1951 general election: South Worcestershire[5][6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert de la Bère	27,229	65.36	+2.13
	Labour	Patrick Tennyson-Hopwood	14,434	34.64	−2.13
Majority			12,795	30.72	+4.26
Turnout			41,663	75.91	−4.27
Registered electors			54,883
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.13

1955 general election: South Worcestershire[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Agnew	26,811	65.97	+0.61
	Labour	Eric LJ Thorne	13,831	34.03	−0.61
Majority			12,980	31.94	+1.22
Turnout			40,642	72.93	−2.98
Registered electors			55,730
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.61

1959 general election: South Worcestershire[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Agnew	25,824	59.23	−6.74
	Labour	David Young	10,884	24.96	−9.07
	Liberal	Emrys Hillary L Harries	6,890	15.80	New
Majority			14,940	34.27	+2.33
Turnout			43,598	75.62	+2.59
Registered electors			57,657
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.74

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: South Worcestershire[11][12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Agnew	23,740	51.19	−8.04
	Liberal	Anthony Batchelor	11,503	24.80	+9.00
	Labour	Stephen Drewer	11,137	24.01	−0.95
Majority			12,237	26.39	−7.88
Turnout			46,380	77.26	+1.64
Registered electors			60,030
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.52

1966 general election: South Worcestershire[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Nabarro	24,198	51.72	+0.53
	Labour	Kenneth A Gulleford	13,114	28.03	+4.02
	Liberal	Robin G Otter	9,476	20.25	−4.55
Majority			11,084	23.69	−2.70
Turnout			46,788	75.56	−1.75
Registered electors			61,918
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.52

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: South Worcestershire[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gerald Nabarro	30,648	60.39	+8.67
	Labour	Adrian Bailey	12,839	25.30	−2.73
	Liberal	John C Hall	7,262	14.31	−5.94
Majority			17,809	35.09	+11.40
Turnout			50,749	72.09	−3.47
Registered electors			70,395
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.70

February 1974 general election: South Worcestershire[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	28,126	47.12	−13.27
	Liberal	John Percy Birch	20,961	35.11	+20.80
	Labour	David Philip Pugsley	9,757	16.35	−8.95
	Ind. Conservative	Geoffrey Hunt	850	1.42	New
Majority			7,165	11.99	−23.10
Turnout			59,694	81.77	+9.68
Registered electors			72,998
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.19

October 1974 general election: South Worcestershire[18][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	26,790	48.39	+1.27
	Liberal	John Percy Birch	17,739	32.04	−3.08
	Labour	Stuart Randall	10,838	19.58	+3.23
Majority			9,052	16.35	+4.35
Turnout			55,366	75.15	−6.62
Registered electors			73,674
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.18

1979 general election: South Worcestershire[18][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	34,926	57.14	+8.75
	Liberal	Ivor David Philips	14,272	23.35	−8.69
	Labour	Gareth Daniel	10,206	16.70	−2.88
	Ecology	Guy Woodford	1,722	2.72	New
Majority			20,654	33.79	+17.24
Turnout			61,126	77.34	+2.19
Registered electors			79,036
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.72

Elections in the 1980s

1983 general election: South Worcestershire[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	30,095	55.77	−1.37
	Liberal	Ivor Philips	18,706	34.66	+11.32
	Labour	Peter Sandland-Nielson	4,183	7.75	−8.95
	Ecology	Guy Woodford	866	1.60	−1.12
	Independent	Graham Pass	113	0.21	New
Majority			11,389	21.11	−12.68
Turnout			53,963	73.64	−3.70
Registered electors			73,278
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.35

1987 general election: South Worcestershire[22][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	32,277	55.30	−0.47
	Liberal	Paul Chandler	18,632	31.92	−2.75
	Labour	Robert Garnett	6,374	10.92	+3.17
	Green	Guy Woodford	1,089	1.87	+0.26
Majority			13,645	23.38	+2.27
Turnout			58,372	75.58	+1.94
Registered electors			77,237
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.14

Election in the 1990s

1992 general election: South Worcestershire[22][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Spicer	34,792	54.09	−1.22
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Chandler	18,641	28.97	−2.95
	Labour	Nigel Knowles	9,727	15.12	+4.20
	Green	Guy Woodford	1,178	1.83	−0.03
Majority			16,151	25.12	+1.74
Turnout			64,338	80.26	+4.68
Registered electors			80,157
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.87

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
2. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
3. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1950.
4. Edward-Few, Nigel. "(John) Patrick Tennyson-Hopwood". Family Announcements. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
6. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
8. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
10. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1959.
11. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
12. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1964.
13. "Echoes from the past". Malvern Gazette. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
14. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results March 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
15. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1966.
16. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
17. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1970.
18. "'Worcestershire South', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
19. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
20. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
21. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1979". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
22. "'Worcestershire South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
23. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results June 1983". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
24. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results June 1987". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
25. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results April 1992". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.