| South Ribble | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | County |
| Previous: | Preston South, Fylde South and Chorley[1] |
| Electorate: | 72,092 (2023)[2] |
| Mp: | Paul Foster |
| Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Region: | England |
| County: | Lancashire |
| European: | North West England |
| Towns: | Leyland and Penwortham |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
South Ribble is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Paul Foster for Labour.
The seat of South Ribble was created for the 1983 general election, following the local government changes in the 1970s which saw the creation of the main constitutive borough of the same name. It has been a classic bellwether seat since its creation, changing hands with the change of government.
Former Preston North MP Robert Atkins won the South Ribble constituency in 1983 and fought the seat in every election up to the 1997 general election. At that time, in dramatic bellwether fashion, Labour's David Borrow gained the seat on a clear majority, with nearly 26,000 votes, 2,000 less than Atkins' victory in the corresponding "landslide" year of 1983. From 1997 until 2010, David Borrow's vote total and majority consistently shrunk with a swing back to the Conservatives at every election. In terms of the other parties, Liberal Democrats have not thus far achieved better than third and 2005 saw UKIP nominating a candidate for the first time, and taking just over 1,200 votes.
Borrow finally lost South Ribble in 2010 on a large two-party swing to Conservative Lorraine Fullbrook. In 2024, the seat was regained by Labour with a swing of over 15%.
1983–1997: The Borough of South Ribble.
1997–2010: The Borough of South Ribble wards of Charnock, Farington, Howick, Hutton and New Longton, Kingsfold, Leyland Central, Leyland St Ambrose, Leyland St John's, Leyland St Mary's, Little Hoole and Much Hoole, Longton Central and West, Lostock Hall, Manor, Middleforth Green, Moss Side, Priory, and Seven Stars, and the District of West Lancashire wards of Hesketh with Becconsall, North Meols, Rufford, and Tarleton.
For the 1997 general election, the communities of Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale were moved to the Preston constituency. To partly compensate, the four mainly rural wards in the District of West Lancashire were transferred from the West Lancashire constituency.
2010–2024: The Borough of South Ribble wards of Broad Oak, Charnock, Earnshaw Bridge, Golden Hill, Howick and Priory, Kingsfold, Leyland Central, Leyland St Ambrose, Leyland St Mary's, Little Hoole and Much Hoole, Longton and Hutton West, Lowerhouse, Middleforth, Moss Side, New Longton and Hutton East, Seven Stars, and Whitefield, the District of West Lancashire wards of Hesketh with Becconsall, North Meols, Rufford, and Tarleton, and the Borough of Chorley wards of Eccleston and Mawdesley, and Lostock.
Following the review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire prior to the 2010 general election, Walton-le-Dale and Bamber Bridge were subsequently transferred into the Ribble Valley seat, along with the villages of Samlesbury, Higher Walton, Coupe Green, Gregson Lane, Lostock Hall, Farington and Farington Moss. This meant that the borough of South Ribble was now split between the South Ribble and Ribble Valley parliamentary seats.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The four West Lancashire Borough wards were transferred to Southport. To compensate, Farington was transferred back in from Ribble Valley and there was a small gain from Chorley due to ward boundary changes.
The seat's original boundaries were coterminous with the South Ribble borough.[4] Due to population changes, the borough of South Ribble and its parliamentary constituency have not shared the same boundaries since, although the towns of Leyland and Penwortham have always featured at the centre of the constituency.
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Robert Atkins | Conservative | ||
| 1997 | David Borrow | Labour | ||
| 2010 | Lorraine Fullbrook | Conservative | ||
| 2015 | Seema Kennedy | Conservative | ||
| 2019 | Katherine Fletcher | Conservative | ||
| 2024 | Paul Foster | Labour | ||