Preston South (UK Parliament constituency)

Preston South
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Preston South in Lancashire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
County	Lancashire
Major settlements	Preston
1950–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Preston
Replaced by	Preston and South Ribble

Preston South was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Preston in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election. From the 1983 election onwards, the areas covered by Preston South were moved to Preston and South Ribble.

Boundaries

1950–1964: The County Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Christ Church, Maudland, St. John's, St. Peters, and Trinity, and the urban district of Walton-le-Dale.

1964–1974: The County Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Central, St. John's, Savick, and Tulketh, and the urban district of Walton-le-Dale.

Members of Parliament

	Election	Member	Party
	1950	Edward Shackleton	Labour
	1955	Alan Green	Conservative
	1964	Peter Mahon	Labour
	1970	Alan Green	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Stan Thorne	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished: see Preston

Election results

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Shackleton	22,716	50.2	N/A
	Conservative	Neil McLean	22,567	49.8	N/A
Majority			149	0.4	N/A
Turnout			45,283	85.3	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1951: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Shackleton	22,760	50.0	―0.2
	Conservative	Neil McLean	22,744	50.0	+0.2
Majority			16	0.0	―0.4
Turnout			45,504	86.5	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	―0.2

General election 1955: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Green	21,497	50.6	+0.6
	Labour	Edward Shackleton	21,023	49.4	―0.6
Majority			474	1.2	N/A
Turnout			42,520	81.9	―4.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+0.6

General election 1959: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Green	21,954	53.7	+3.1
	Labour	Tom Bradley	18,935	46.3	―3.1
Majority			3,019	7.4	+6.2
Turnout			40,889	82.1	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Mahon	19,352	50.5	+4.2
	Conservative	Alan Green	19,004	49.6	―4.1
Majority			348	0.9	N/A
Turnout			38,356	78.8	―3.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.2

General election 1966: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Mahon	20,720	53.6	+3.1
	Conservative	Alan Green	17,931	46.4	―3.2
Majority			2,789	7.2	+6.3
Turnout			38,651	80.0	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Green	20,480	51.7	+5.3
	Labour	Peter Mahon	19,149	48.3	―5.3
Majority			1,331	3.4	N/A
Turnout			39,629	75.9	―4.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.3

General election February 1974: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Thorne	17,354	42.5	―5.8
	Conservative	Alan Green	15,467	37.9	―13.8
	Liberal	Ronald Philip Marshall	7,974	19.6	New
Majority			1,887	4.6	N/A
Turnout			40,795	79.8	+3.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.0

General election October 1974: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Thorne	18,449	46.9	+4.4
	Conservative	Alan Green	14,700	37.4	―0.5
	Liberal	Ronald Philip Marshall	5,456	13.9	―5.7
	National Front	Edward Victor Harrison	663	1.7	New
	More Prosperous Britain	Harold Smith	87	0.2	New
Majority			3,749	9.5	+4.9
Turnout			39,355	76.4	―3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.5

General election 1979: Preston South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Thorne	17,810	44.5	―2.4
	Conservative	Brian Hugh Tetlow	17,189	43.0	+5.6
	Liberal	Ronald Philip Marshall	4,625	11.6	―2.3
	National Front	Michael Sydney Carl Gibson	258	0.7	―1.0
	Workers Revolutionary	Victor Anthony Stephens	116	0.3	New
Majority			621	1.5	―8.0
Turnout			39,998	77.2	+0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	―4.0

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)