# South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Gloucestershire, also known as Gloucestershire South, was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election. It had three different sets of boundaries during its existence, and elected a new MP on each one of those occasions.

## Boundaries

1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Kingswood and Mangotsfield, and the Rural Districts of Sodbury and Warmley.
1955–1974: The Rural Districts of Sodbury, Thornbury, and Warmley. Thornbury Rural District was added to the seat from the abolished Stroud and Thornbury constituency.
1974–1983: The Rural Districts of Sodbury and Thornbury. Warmley Rural District was transferred to the new Kingswood constituency.

## Predecessor and successor constituencies

From 1885 to 1950 much of the area of the constituency was represented by the Thornbury constituency, and from 1950 to 1955 by Stroud and Thornbury.
When the constituency was abolished in 1983, 80.54% of it was transferred to the new constituency of Northavon, 14.75% to the redrawn Bristol North West and 4.70% to the redrawn Stroud.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1950 | Anthony Crosland | Labour |
| | 1955 | Sir Frederick Corfield | Conservative |
| | Feb 1974 | John Cope | Conservative |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished: see Northavon | constituency abolished: see Northavon |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Cope | 35,627 | 51.2 | +9.2 |
| | Labour | MK Mullins | 20,465 | 29.4 | −5.8 |
| | Liberal | George Conrad | 12,850 | 18.5 | −4.3 |
| | Ecology | David Kerridge | 695 | 1.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,162 | 21.8 | +15.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 69,637 | 82.1 | +2.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 84,867 | | +6.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +7.4 | |
General election October 1974: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Cope | 26,581 | 42.0 | +0.2 |
| | Labour | Oonagh McDonald | 22,235 | 35.2 | +3.2 |
| | Liberal | DC Short | 14,412 | 22.8 | −3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,346 | 6.8 | −3.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 63,228 | 79.6 | −4.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 79,419 | | +0.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -1.5 | |
General election February 1974: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Cope | 27,602 | 41.8 | −10.5 |
| | Labour | Oonagh McDonald | 21,143 | 32.0 | −4.5 |
| | Liberal | DC Short | 17,276 | 26.2 | +15.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,459 | 9.8 | −6.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 66,021 | 83.8 | +5.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 78,766 | | +9.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -3.0 | |
General election 1970: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Corfield | 35,045 | 50.9 | +5.7 |
| | Labour | Michael George Dalling | 26,067 | 37.9 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal | Anthony Lambert | 7,680 | 11.2 | −0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,978 | 13.0 | +10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 68,792 | 78.6 | −5.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 87,503 | | +18.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +5.4 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Corfield | 28,224 | 45.2 | −0.6 |
| | Labour | Michael Cocks | 26,800 | 42.9 | +3.5 |
| | Liberal | Eric Cleaton Hart | 7,421 | 11.9 | −3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,424 | 2.3 | −4.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 62,445 | 84.4 | +0.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 74,023 | | +7.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -2.1 | |
General election 1964: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Corfield | 26,504 | 45.8 | −9.0 |
| | Labour | Michael Cocks | 22,790 | 39.4 | −5.8 |
| | Liberal | Brian S Sherriff | 8,611 | 14.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,714 | 6.4 | −3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 57,905 | 84.2 | +0.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 68,781 | | +20.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -1.6 | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Corfield | 26,168 | 54.8 | +2.7 |
| | Labour | Joseph Holland | 21,567 | 45.2 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,601 | 9.6 | +4.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,735 | 83.7 | +2.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 57,026 | | +11.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.8 | |
General election 1955: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Frederick Corfield | 21,760 | 52.1 | +7.4 |
| | Labour | Edward Bishop | 20,034 | 47.4 | −7.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,726 | 4.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,794 | 81.7 | −4.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 51,166 | | −12.2 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +7.4 | |
General election 1951: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anthony Crosland | 27,808 | 55.3 | +6.5 |
| | Conservative | Marjorie Hickling | 22,470 | 44.7 | +8.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,338 | 10.6 | −1.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,278 | 86.2 | −0.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 58,296 | | +1.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -0.8 | |
General election 1950: South Gloucestershire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anthony Crosland | 24,458 | 48.8 | |
| | Conservative | B. Davidson | 18,320 | 36.6 | |
| | Liberal | Stafford Vaughan Stepney Howard | 7,342 | 14.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,138 | 12.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,120 | 86.9 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 57,689 | | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |