Battersea South (UK Parliament constituency)

UK former constituency infobox
Name = Battersea South
Type = Borough
Year = 1918
Abolition = 1983
members = one

Battersea South was a parliamentary constituency, originally in the County of London and later in Greater London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was created for the 1918 general election, when the former Battersea constituency was divided in two. It was abolished for the 1983 general election, when most of its territory was reunited with Battersea North to form the new Battersea constituency.

Boundaries

The seat was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918, and originally consisted of five wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea: Bolingbroke, Broomwood, St John, Shaftesbury and Winstanley. [Representation of the People Act 1918 (1918 C.64) Schedule 9]

When seats were redistributed by the Representation of the People Act 1948 the boundaries of the constituency were altered to contain only four wards, and Winstanley ward was transferred to Battersea North. [Representation of the People Act 1948, (1948, C.65), Schedule 1] However the wards of the borough were redrawn in 1949 prior to the next general election in 1950. [Battersea (Wards) Order 1949 (S.I. 1949/552)] Accordingly, changes were made under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. Of the 16 new wards, eight were included in each of the Battersea North and South constituencies. From 1950 to 1974 Battersea South consisted of Bolingbroke, Broomwood, Lavender, Nightingale, St John, Shaftesbury, Stormont and Thornton wards. [The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) (No. 2) Order, 1949 (S.I. 1949 No. 1440)] F A Youngs Jr., "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I: Southern England, London, 1979]

In 1965 Battersea became part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. This, however made no immediate change to the parliamentary constituencies. It was not until the general election of 1974 that the constituency boundaries were altered. Renamed Wandsworth, Battersea South, the seat was defined as consisting of five wards of the London Borough: Balham, Earlsfield, Fairfield, Nightingale and Northcote. [The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (1970 No. 1674)] The Shaftesbury and St John's wards were transferred to Battersea North, while the new constituency incorporated areas previously in the Clapham and Putney seats. These boundaries were used until abolition.

The constituency was abolished in 1983. Most of its area (Balham, Fairfield and Northcote) went to the recreated Battersea seat, with part (Earlsfield and Nightingale) passing to Tooting. [The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (1970 No. 1674)]

Members of Parliament

Election results

References

*Rayment