# Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)

Bristol South East was a constituency in the city of Bristol that 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, mainly from the Bristol East constituency, and abolished for the 1983 general election which saw the reintroduction of Bristol East. In boundary changes for the February 1974 general election, part of the constituency's territory was transferred to the new seat of Kingswood.
Sir Stafford Cripps won the seat comfortably from holding its main predecessor in 1950 and continued in government with the new seat for just over six months (he was at the time Chancellor of the Exchequer) before resigning from Parliament for health reasons. The final MP for the constituency was Tony Benn who served as Secretary of State (for Industry from 1974 to 1975 then as Secretary of State For Energy from 1975 to 1979), in the latter role, the UK saw the Winter of Discontent and power shortages. Benn ran in the near-overlapping successor seat, Bristol East in 1983 and was defeated by Conservative candidate Jonathan Sayeed.

## Boundaries

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, Hengrove, St George East, and St George West.
1955–1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, St George East, St George West, and Stockwood, and the Urban District of Kingswood.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Bristol wards of Brislington, Knowle, St George East, St George West, Stockwood, and Windmill Hill.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1950 | Sir Stafford Cripps | Labour |
| | 1950 by-election | Tony Benn | Labour |
| | 1961 (on petition) | Malcolm St Clair | Conservative |
| | 1963 by-election | Tony Benn | Labour |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished: see Bristol East | constituency abolished: see Bristol East |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Stafford Cripps | 29,393 | 62.6 | |
| | Conservative | R. E. Simms | 12,590 | 26.8 | |
| | Liberal | Frederick John Goudge | 4,463 | 9.5 | |
| | Communist | Jack Webb | 524 | 1.1 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,803 | 35.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,970 | 85.0 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
1950 Bristol South East by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 19,367 | 56.7 | −5.9 |
| | Conservative | James Lindsay | 12,018 | 35.2 | +8.4 |
| | Liberal | Doreen Gorsky | 2,752 | 8.1 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,349 | 21.5 | −14.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,137 | 61.1 | −23.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −7.2 | |
General election 1951: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 30,811 | 65.0 | +2.4 |
| | Conservative | James Lindsay | 16,555 | 35.0 | +8.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,256 | 30.0 | −5.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,366 | 83.8 | −1.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.9 | |
General election 1955: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 25,257 | 59.5 | −5.5 |
| | Conservative | Robert Cooke | 17,210 | 40.5 | +5.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,047 | 19.0 | −11.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,467 | 77.9 | −5.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −5.5 | |
General election 1959: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 26,273 | 56.2 | −3.3 |
| | Conservative | Malcolm St Clair | 20,446 | 43.8 | +3.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,827 | 12.4 | −6.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,739 | 81.4 | +3.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −3.3 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

Bristol South East by-election 1961 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 23,275 | 69.5 | +13.3 |
| | Conservative | Malcolm St Clair | 10,231 | 30.5 | −13.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | -13,044 | -39.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,506 | 56.7 | −24.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | −13.3 | |
Tony Benn was declared ineligible to sit in the House of Commons due to him having inherited a peerage, and Malcolm St. Clair was declared elected instead.
Bristol South East by-election 1963 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 20,313 | 79.7 | +10.2 |
| | National Fellowship Conservative | Edward Martell | 4,834 | 19.0 | New |
| | Independent | M. P. Lloyd | 287 | 1.1 | New |
| | Independent | G. Pearl | 44 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,479 | 60.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,478 | 42.2 | −14.5 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
General election 1964: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 29,117 | 60.2 | +4.0 |
| | Conservative | R. Stephen O'Brien | 19,282 | 39.8 | −4.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,835 | 20.4 | +8.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,399 | 77.9 | −1.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.0 | |
General election 1966: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 30,851 | 61.4 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative | Christopher J.R. Pope | 19,435 | 38.6 | −1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,416 | 22.8 | +2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,286 | 76.2 | −1.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.2 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 29,176 | 55.4 | −6.0 |
| | Conservative | Norman G. Reece | 23,488 | 44.6 | +6.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,688 | 10.8 | −12.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,664 | 72.0 | −4.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −6.0 | |
General election February 1974: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 26,540 | 47.0 | −8.4 |
| | Conservative | Norman G. Reece | 18,628 | 33.0 | −11.6 |
| | Liberal | D. R. Grayson | 9,870 | 17.5 | New |
| | National Front | R.J. Bale | 757 | 1.3 | New |
| | Social Democrat | J.H. Robertson | 668 | 1.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,912 | 14.0 | +4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,463 | 81.9 | +9.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.6 | |
General election October 1974: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 25,978 | 49.1 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative | J.P. Godwin | 16,605 | 31.4 | −1.6 |
| | Liberal | R.S. Wardle | 8,987 | 17.0 | −0.5 |
| | National Front | R. J. Bale | 775 | 1.5 | +0.2 |
| | World Middle Classes Party (WMPC) | R. R. Goding | 457 | 0.9 | New |
| | Marxist-Leninist (England) | P. Rowe | 79 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,373 | 17.7 | +2.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,881 | 76.2 | −5.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.9 | |
General election 1979: Bristol South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tony Benn | 24,878 | 45.4 | −3.7 |
| | Conservative | J.P. Godwin | 22,988 | 41.9 | +10.5 |
| | Liberal | N.W.H. Tatam | 6,371 | 11.6 | −5.4 |
| | National Front | J.D. Dowler | 523 | 1.0 | −0.5 |
| | More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen | 66 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,890 | 3.5 | −14.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,826 | 78.4 | +2.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −7.1 | |