Southall (UK Parliament constituency)

Southall
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1945–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Uxbridge (re: bulk) Spelthorne (re: Harlington and Cranford)
Replaced by	Ealing Southall
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of:	Hayes and Harlington

Southall was a constituency from 1945 to 1983. It returned one member (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The Labour Party candidate won the seat at each general election and no by-elections took place.

It lay in local terms administratively in Middlesex, but from 1965, in the London Borough of Ealing.

After five years it shed roughly its western half to form a new seat, Hayes and Harlington. To compensate it took in Hanwell, and later further eastern additions – parts of Ealing.

Summary of results

Its voters, on the national first-past-the-post system, elected a series of three Labour Party candidates during its thirty-eight-year currency. Winning majorities ranged from 41.2% in 1945 - the landslide election for the party in which the seat included industrial Hayes to the west to 5.1% at the 1964 election which saw the start of the First Wilson Ministry when its second incumbent, Pargiter, who retired two years later, was aged 67. Its final winning majority (in 1979) was 21.5%.

Southall within the parliamentary county of Middlesex, boundaries used 1945-50

Map that gives each named seat and any constant electoral success for national (Westminster) elections for Middlesex, 1955 to 1974.

Boundaries

1945–1950:The borough of Southall and Hayes and Harlington Urban District

1950–1974:The borough of Southall and the Hanwell North and Hanwell South wards of the Borough of Ealing. ^{[1] [2]}

1974–1983: The London Borough of Ealing wards of Dormers Wells, Elthorne, Glebe, Northcote, Northfields, Walpole, and Waxlow Manor.

In the first five years the seat was largest (containing Hayes, Yeading, Harlington in the west) ^[3] The ward name Elthorne refers to the very large medieval hundred and, with minor parts of other wards in the same seat, took in Hanwell.

Local government body change

The seat was in local terms for 20 years in Middlesex and for the following 18 years in London — a change in county took place in 1965.

Constituency profile

See also: Southall § History

The Quaker Oats Company built a factory in Southall in 1936. Part of the operation that made pet foods was sold to Spiller's in 1994, and the remainder to Big Bear Group in 2006. The site continues to produce brands such as Sugar Puffs. Other engineering, paint and food processing factories prospered for many years, mostly alongside the railway and/or canal. A collection of Martinware – Salt glazed pottery in stoneware, and birds – is on display at Southall Library

Southall was the home of Southall Studios, one of the earliest British film studios. It played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959. There has been a locomotive works at the Southall Depot for nearly 150 years. Originally a Great Western Railway shed, it was possibly the last London steam depot, outlasting Old Oak Common and Stewarts Lane depots. The depot was later used for DMU maintenance and as a base for the electrification programme. Currently the site, now referred to as the Southall Railway Centre, is used by three independent groups, including Locomotive Services (where volunteers can contribute to the preservation and restoration of mainline locomotives).

Glassy Junction pub, November 2005

The bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was based in Southall, on a 25 hectares (62 acres) triangular site between Windmill Lane, the main Great Western Railway and the branch to Brentford Dock. The company moved there from Walthamstow in 1926 and closed in 1979 after losing market share whilst part of the giant but inefficient British Leyland group. The site was noticeable to railway passengers and to motorists on Uxbridge Road due to large signs proclaiming "AEC - Builders of London's Buses for 50 years".

A major gas works manufacturing town gas was between the railway and the canal. In 1932 a large gasholder was built which has been a landmark from far away. Painted on the north east side of the gasholder are large letters 'LH' and an arrow to assist pilots toward Heathrow Airport's (closed) runway "23" when making visual approaches. The letters were painted in the mid-1960s after a fraction of pilots at a glance mistook RAF Northolt (which has a smaller gasholder under its approach at Harrow). Northolt has a much shorter runway and is not suitable for very large aircraft; one Boeing 707 did land at Northolt by mistake ^[4] and a number of other aircraft had to be warned off by air traffic control at the last minute. Since such gas production ceased in the 1970s upon tapping natural gas piped from the North Sea, much of the 36 ha (89-acre) site has been vacant, due to limited road access and remaining gas infrastructure.

The 1970s saw racial tensions in the area; in 1976 Sikh teenager Gurdip Singh Chaggar was killed in a racist attack. ^[5] On 23 April 1979, Blair Peach, a teacher and anti-racist activist, was killed after being knocked unconscious during a protest against the National Front (NF). ^{[6] [7]} Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker – a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots, remained in a coma for five months. ^[8] More than 40 others—including 21 police—were injured, and 300 were arrested. ^[9]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Walter Ayles	Labour
	1950	George Pargiter	Labour
	1966	Syd Bidwell	Labour
1983		constituency abolished: see Ealing Southall

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Ayles	37,404	64.1
	Conservative	George Baker	13,347	22.9
	Liberal	Wilfred Ashlin Wakefield	7,598	13.0
Majority			24,057	41.2
Turnout			58,349	74.2
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Pargiter	27,107	53.9	-10.2
	Conservative	Norman Cole	18,392	36.6	+13.7
	Liberal	Walter Thomas Andrews	3,917	7.8	-5.2
	Communist	J. A. Purton	839	1.7	New
Majority			8,715	17.4	-23.8
Turnout			50,255*	82.7	+8.5
	Labour hold		Swing

*Note: major loss of territory to west to new seat, Hayes and Harlington

General election 1951: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Pargiter	29,123	57.9	+4.0
	Conservative	Humphry Berkeley	21,169	42.1	+5.5
Majority			7,954	15.8	-1.6
Turnout			50,292	84.0	+1.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Pargiter	25,207	57.2	-0.7
	Conservative	Arthur Tickler	18,872	42.8	+0.7
Majority			6,335	14.4	-1.4
Turnout			44,079	76.5	-7.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Pargiter	22,285	52.7	-4.5
	Conservative	Michael Thomas Ben Underhill	19,966	47.3	+4.5
Majority			2,319	5.4	-9.0
Turnout			44,251	76.4	-0.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Pargiter	18,041	48.0	-3.7
	Conservative	Barbara Maddin	16,144	42.9	-4.3
	British National	John Bean	3,410	9.1	New
Majority			1,897	5.1	-0.3
Turnout			37,595	70.2	-6.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Bidwell	19,989	53.5	+5.5
	Conservative	Barbara Maddin	14,642	39.2	-3.7
	British National	John Bean	2,768	7.4	-1.7
Majority			5,347	14.3	+9.2
Turnout			37,399	70.8	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Bidwell	19,389	53.7	+0.2
	Conservative	Kenneth G. Reeves	15,166	41.9	+2.7
	National Front	James Shaw	1,572	4.4	-3.0
Majority			4,223	11.8	-2.5
Turnout			37,399	64.5	-6.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Bidwell	25,726	49.9	-3.8
	Conservative	Walter Gilbey	16,914	32.8	-9.1
	Liberal	C. I. N. Arnold	8,640	16.8	New
	Anti-Helmet	Baldev Singh Chahal	310	0.6	New
Majority			8,812	17.1	+5.3
Turnout			51,590	73.4	+8.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Bidwell	24,218	53.8	+3.9
	Conservative	R. C. Patten	14,235	31.6	-1.2
	Liberal	C. I. N. Arnold	6,557	14.6	-2.2
Majority			9,983	22.2	+5.1
Turnout			45,010	63.6	-9.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Southall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syd Bidwell	28,498	54.4	+0.6
	Conservative	Robert Patten [10]	17,220	32.9	+1.3
	Liberal	Dick Hains	3,920	7.5	-7.1
	National Front	John Fairhurst [10]	1,545	3.0	New
	Independent	Shambhu Gupta [10]	637	1.2	New
	Socialist Unity	Tariq Ali	477	0.9	New
	Independent Businessman	Sohan Paul [10]	115	0.2	New
Majority			11,278	21.5	-0.7
Turnout			52,412	71.7	+8.1
	Labour hold		Swing

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)

Specific

1. Representation of the People Act 1948, Sch. 1, at Middlesex (B) Borough Constituencies (page 108) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1948/65/pdfs/ukpga_19480065_en.pdf
2. Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 number 1674), Schedule 1 at page 5459 (or 16 of 76) and as to new definition in Schedule 2
3. Boundary A vision of Britain, University of Portsmouth and Others, Accessed 11 June 2017]
4. "Boeing 707-321, N725PA, Pan American World Airways (PA / PAA)". Abpic.co.uk. 25 October 1960. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
5. Kettle, Martin; Hodges, Lucy (1982). Uprising! Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities. Pan Books. p. 60,156. ISBN   0330268457.
6. "BBC ON THIS DAY | 23 | 1979: Teacher dies in Southall race riots". BBC News. 23 April 1979. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
7. Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. ISBN   1-898927-10-3. p.107
8. "Blair Peach: killed by police". Socialistworker.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
9. "Blair Peach: A 30-year campaign". BBC News. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
10. Election Expenses. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 1980. p. 11. ISBN   0102374805.