# St Helens South (UK Parliament constituency)

53°26′53″N 2°43′52″W﻿ / ﻿53.448°N 2.731°W﻿ / 53.448; -2.731
St Helens 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.

## Boundaries

The Borough of St Helens wards of Eccleston, Grange Park, Marshalls Cross, Parr and Hardshaw, Queen's Park, Rainhill, Sutton and Bold, Thatto Heath, and West Sutton.
The constituency was one of two covering the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, the other being St Helens North. It contained the southern part of the borough including the town centre of St Helens, the south of the town, Clock Face and Rainhill.
Following recommendations made by the Boundary Commission for England, St Helens South was replaced with a new St Helens South and Whiston constituency, which includes three wards from Knowsley borough.

## History

The forerunner seat had been represented by members of the Labour Party since 1935.
The constituency was formed in 1983, and was represented by Labour's Gerry Bermingham from then until he stood down in 2001. He was replaced by Shaun Woodward, who had defected from the Conservatives to Labour in December 1999. Woodward was deemed unlikely to retain his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire as a Labour candidate (it was subsequently won by David Cameron, former Leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), and was instead selected for this safe seat. Woodward had won all three elections however he lost his position in the cabinet because of the Labour party defeat to the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition government in the 2010 general election.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1983 | Gerry Bermingham | Labour |
| 2001 | Shaun Woodward | Labour |
| 2010 | Constituency abolished: see St Helens South and Whiston | Constituency abolished: see St Helens South and Whiston |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: St Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Gerry Bermingham | 22,906 | 46.9 | |
| | Conservative | Richard Bull | 13,244 | 27.1 | |
| | SDP | Philip Briers | 10,939 | 22.2 | |
| | Independent | Melvyn Davies | 1,780 | 3.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,622 | 19.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,869 | 70.6 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1987: St Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Gerry Bermingham | 27,027 | 54.6 | +7.7 |
| | Conservative | John Brown | 13,226 | 26.7 | −0.4 |
| | SDP | Philip Briers | 9,252 | 18.7 | −3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,801 | 27.9 | +8.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,505 | 71.3 | +0.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.1 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: St. Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Gerry Bermingham | 30,391 | 61.0 | +6.4 |
| | Conservative | Patricia Buzzard | 12,182 | 24.5 | −2.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Spencer | 6,933 | 13.9 | −4.8 |
| | Natural Law | Harriet Jump | 295 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,209 | 36.5 | +8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,801 | 73.8 | +2.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.3 | |
General election 1997: St Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Gerry Bermingham | 30,367 | 68.6 | +7.6 |
| | Conservative | Mary Russell | 6,628 | 15.0 | −9.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Spencer | 5,919 | 13.4 | −0.5 |
| | Referendum | William Holdaway | 1,165 | 2.6 | New |
| | Natural Law | Harriet Jump | 179 | 0.4 | −0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,739 | 53.6 | +17.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,258 | 66.5 | −7.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: St Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Shaun Woodward | 16,799 | 49.7 | −18.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Spencer | 7,814 | 23.1 | +9.7 |
| | Conservative | Lee Rotherham | 4,675 | 13.8 | −1.2 |
| | Socialist Alliance | Neil Thompson | 2,325 | 6.9 | New |
| | Socialist Labour | Michael Perry | 1,504 | 4.4 | New |
| | UKIP | Bryan Slater | 336 | 1.0 | New |
| | Independent | Michael Murphy | 271 | 0.8 | New |
| | Independent | David Braid | 80 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,985 | 26.6 | −27.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,804 | 51.4 | −15.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 2005: St Helens South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Shaun Woodward | 19,345 | 54.5 | +4.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Spencer | 10,036 | 28.3 | +5.2 |
| | Conservative | Una Riley | 4,602 | 13.0 | −0.8 |
| | UKIP | Malcolm Nightingale | 847 | 2.4 | +1.4 |
| | Socialist Labour | Michael Perry | 643 | 1.8 | −2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,309 | 26.2 | −0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,473 | 53.4 | +2.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −0.2 | |