History
The constituency has been a Liberal - Conservative marginal for much of its history, changing hands 10 times between the two parties since it was created in 1885. Its most notable MPs were George Nathaniel Curzon, future Viceroy of India, Edward Marshall-Hall one of the most notable trial Lawyers of the early 20th century and Sir John Fowler Leece Brunner, son of the leading industrialist Sir John Tomlinson Brunner. On the decline of the Liberal Party in the 1930s the constituency became a safe Conservative Party seat.
With the rise again of the Liberal Party in the early 1970s, it again became a closely contested marginal. The constituency changed hands again in the 1987 general election, when it was taken by Ronnie Fearn of the Liberal Party for the SDP-Liberal Alliance (shortly before the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrats).
Fearn lost the seat to the Conservatives' Matthew Banks at the 1992 election, only to regain it at the 1997 election. The Liberal Democrats have held the seat since then, with John Pugh representing the constituency since Fearn stood down in 2001.
An interesting note is that the former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott ran for the seat in 1966, but came in second place.
Read more about this topic: Southport (UK Parliament Constituency)
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