| Coventry South | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1997 |
| Type: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Year2: | 1950 |
| Abolished2: | 1974 |
| Type2: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany2: | One |
| Electorate: | 70,998 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| Party: | Independent |
Coventry South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Zarah Sultana, representing the Labour Party until her suspension and whip withdrawn on 23 July 2024 for voting against the two child benefit cap. She now sits as an Independent MP.[2]
Coventry city centre is in the north of the constituency, with its cathedral, expanses of concrete offices and the university, which leads to a significant student vote in the seat.[3] The residential tower blocks in St Michael's ward lie amid one of the most deprived areas in the country but south of the city centre it is more mixed, with the more middle-class areas of Cheylesmore, Earlsdon and Whoberley, Cannon Park, Gibbet Hill (aka Wainbody) and Westwood Heath among areas with large numbers of professionals, comfortably self-employed and academics.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, abolished for the February 1974 general election and recreated for the 1997 general election by the merger of the former seats of Coventry South East and Coventry South West. Since 1964 the various forms of the seat, excluding the gap period, have elected the Labour candidate. The Conservative candidates, since a win in 1959, have consistently taken second place. In 2019, following the retirement of Jim Cunningham, Labour narrowly held onto the seat by 401 votes; the Conservatives made their best performance since the seat's recreation,
In 2015, the local UKIP party originally selected Mark Taylor as candidate, but he stood aside when instructed to by "party bosses."[4] UKIP wanted to replace Taylor with "anti-gay Christian preacher"[5] George Hargreaves. The following week, Taylor was reinstated as candidate.
1950–1974: The County Borough of Coventry wards of Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, Godiva, St Michael's, Westwood, and Whoberley.
From 1974 to 1997, the city centre was part of the now-abolished Coventry South East constituency.
1997–2024: The City of Coventry wards of Binley and Willenhall, Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, St Michael's, Wainbody, and Westwood.
2024–present: The City of Coventry wards of Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, Lower Stoke, St. Michael’s, Wainbody, and Westwood.[6]
The Binley and Willenhall ward was transferred to the re-established seat of Coventry East in exchange for the Lower Stoke ward from the abolished Coventry North East constituency.
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Elaine Burton | Labour | ||
| 1959 | Philip Hocking | Conservative | ||
| 1964 | Bill Wilson | Labour | ||
| Feb 1974 | constituency abolished | |||
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jim Cunningham | Labour | |
| 2019 | Zarah Sultana | Labour | |
| 2024 | Independent | ||