Coventry South (UK Parliament constituency)

Coventry South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Coventry South in West Midlands region
County	West Midlands
Electorate	70,998 (2023) [1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Zarah Sultana (Independent)
Seats	One
Created from	Coventry South East, Coventry South West
1950–1974 (1974)
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Coventry East and Coventry West
Replaced by	Coventry South East, Coventry South West

Coventry South is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Zarah Sultana, representing the Labour Party until her suspension and whip withdrawal on 23 July 2024 for voting against the two child benefit cap. ^{[n 2]} She now sits as an independent MP. ^[2]

Constituency profile

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.

History

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. ^[4] The following week, Taylor was reinstated as candidate. ^[6]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 1997–2024

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. ^[7]

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.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1950–1974

Election		Member [8]	Party
	1950	Elaine Burton	Labour
	1959	Philip Hocking	Conservative
	1964	Bill Wilson	Labour
	Feb 1974	constituency abolished

MPs 1997–present

Election		Member [8]	Party
	1997	Jim Cunningham	Labour
	2019	Zarah Sultana	Labour
	2024		Independent

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Coventry South ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Zarah Sultana	20,361	47.6	+3.3
	Conservative	Mattie Heaven	10,160	23.8	−18.7
	Reform UK	Chris Baddon	5,711	13.4	+10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Richmond	2,531	5.9	−0.8
	Green	Anne Patterson	2,363	5.5	+2.9
	Workers Party	Mohammed Syed	777	1.8	N/A
	SDP	Alastair Mellon	334	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Niko Omilana	263	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Joshua Morland	231	0.5	N/A
Majority			10,201	23.8	+22.9
Registered electors			76,262
Turnout			42,731	56.0	−7.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.0

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Coventry South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Zarah Sultana	19,544	43.4	−11.6
	Conservative	Mattie Heaven	19,143	42.5	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Richmond	3,398	7.5	+4.6
	Brexit Party	James Crocker	1,432	3.2	New
	Green	Becky Finlayson	1,092	2.4	+1.1
	Independent	Ed Manning	435	1.0	New
Majority			401	0.9	−16.0
Turnout			45,044	63.5	−2.9
Registered electors			70,970
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.0

General election 2017: Coventry South ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham [12]	25,874	55.0	+12.7
	Conservative	Michelle Lowe [13]	17,927	38.1	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Greg Judge	1,343	2.9	−1.2
	UKIP	Ian Rogers	1,037	2.2	−10.9
	Green	Aimee Challenor [14]	604	1.3	−2.6
	Independent	Sandra Findlay	224	0.5	New
Majority			7,947	16.9	+9.6
Turnout			47,009	66.4	+5.2
Registered electors			70,754
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.8

General election 2015: Coventry South ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham	18,472	42.3	+0.5
	Conservative	Gary Ridley	15,284	35.0	+1.6
	UKIP	Mark Taylor [6]	5,709	13.1	+9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Greg Judge	1,779	4.1	−13.9
	Green	Benjamin Gallaher [16]	1,719	3.9	+2.5
	TUSC	Judy Griffiths	650	1.5	New
	Mainstream	Christopher Rooney	86	0.2	New
Majority			3,188	7.3	−1.1
Turnout			43,699	61.2	−1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.5

General election 2010: Coventry South ^{[17] [18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham	19,197	41.8	−4.0
	Conservative	Kevin Foster	15,352	33.4	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Patton	8,278	18.0	+0.4
	UKIP	Mark Taylor	1,767	3.8	+1.8
	Socialist Alternative	Judy Griffiths	691	1.5	−1.3
	Green	Stephen Gray	639	1.4	New
Majority			3,845	8.4	−6.9
Turnout			45,924	62.4	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Coventry South ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham	18,649	45.8	−4.4
	Conservative	Heather Wheeler	12,394	30.5	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Vincent McKee	7,228	17.8	+3.7
	Socialist Alternative	Robert Windsor	1,097	2.7	New
	UKIP	William Brown	829	2.0	New
	Independent	Irene Rogers	344	0.8	−0.6
	Families First	James Rooney	144	0.4	New
Majority			6,255	15.3	−5.4
Turnout			40,685	59.1	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.7

General election 2001: Coventry South ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham	20,125	50.2	−0.7
	Conservative	Heather Wheeler	11,846	29.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Vincent McKee	5,672	14.1	+4.9
	Socialist Alliance	Robert Windsor	1,475	3.7	New
	Independent	Irene Rogers	564	1.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Timothy Logan	414	1.0	New
Majority			8,279	20.7	−1.2
Turnout			40,096	55.3	−13.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.6

Election in the 1990s

General election 1997: Coventry South ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Cunningham	25,511	50.9
	Conservative	Paul Ivey	14,558	29.0
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon MacDonald	4,617	9.2
	Socialist Alternative	Dave Nellist	3,262	6.5
	Referendum	Paul Garratt	943	1.9
	Liberal	Roger Jenking	725	1.4
	BNP	Jeffrey Ashberry	328	0.7
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Anne−Marie Bradshaw	180	0.4
Majority			10,953	21.9
Turnout			50,124	68.7
	Labour win (seat recreated)

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Wilson	30,010	51.90
	Conservative	George Gardiner	27,816	48.10
Majority			2,194	3.80
Turnout			57,826	74.42
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Wilson	31,237	54.87
	Conservative	Philip Hocking	25,697	45.13
Majority			5,540	9.74
Turnout			56,934	80.21
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Wilson	29,240	51.62
	Conservative	Philip Hocking	27,407	48.38
Majority			1,833	3.24	N/A
Turnout			56,647	79.79
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Hocking	28,584	51.65	+3.24
	Labour	Elaine Burton	26,754	48.35	−3.24
Majority			1,830	3.30	N/A
Turnout			55,338	82.11
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.24

General election 1955: Coventry South ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Burton	27,449	51.59	−3.56
	Conservative	Muriel Williamson	25,761	48.41	+3.56
Majority			1,688	3.18	−7.12
Turnout			53,210	81.36	−4.81
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.56

General election 1951: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Burton	29,271	55.15	+2.46
	Conservative	John Biggs-Davison	23,803	44.85	+3.64
Majority			5,468	10.30	−1.18
Turnout			53,074	86.17	−1.08
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: Coventry South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Burton	27,977	52.69
	Conservative	Leslie Hore-Belisha	21,885	41.21
	Liberal	Richard Soper	3,239	6.10
Majority			6,092	11.48
Turnout			53,101	87.25
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in the West Midlands (county)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
2. "Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) on X". X (formerly Twitter). Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
3. "Local statistics – Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
4. Gilbert, Simon (12 February 2015). "UKIP parachutes controversial 'pop preacher' into Coventry for general election". Coventry Telegraph.
5. "UKIP selects candidate who claims gays should 'repent and turn to Christ'". PinkNews. 14 February 2015.
6. Silvera, Ian (18 February 2015). "Ukip candidate calls for selection rules review after party's Coventry U-turn".
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
9. Coventry South
10. "Coventry South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
11. "Coventry South parliamentary constituency -Election 2017 -BBC News" . Retrieved 9 June 2017.
12. "Will Coventry's MPs defend their seats at the 2017 general election?". Coventry Telegraph. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
13. "Michelle Lowe and Resham Kotecha Selected for Coventry Conservatives". Mike Rouse. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
14. "Coventry Green Party 2017 Election Candidates". Coventry Green Party. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
15. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "General Election 2017 Candidate -Green Party". Green Party Members' Website.
17. "Coventry South". YourNextMP. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
18. "Coventry South". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
19. "UK > England > West Midlands > Coventry South". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
20. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.

External links

• Coventry South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Coventry South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Coventry South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

52°23′N1°31′W / 52.39°N 1.52°W / 52.39; -1.52