History
The seat of South Ribble was created for the 1983 general election, following the local government changes in the 1970s which saw the creation of the main constitutive borough of the same name.
Former Preston North MP Robert Atkins won the South Ribble constituency in 1983 and fought the seat in every election up to the 1997 general election. At that time, in dramatic bellwether fashion, Labour's David Borrow gained the seat on a clear majority, with nearly 26,000 votes, 2,000 less than Robert Atkins' victory in 1983 which was the equally an unusual landslide result. From the 1997 "landslide year" until 2010, David Borrow's vote total and majority consistently shrunk with a swing back to the Conservatives at every election. In terms of the other parties, Liberal Democrats have not thus far achieved better than third and 2005 saw UKIP nominating a candidate for the first time, and taking just over 1,200 votes. Borrow finally lost South Ribble in 2010 on a large two-party swing to the current Member of Parliament, Lorraine Fullbrook.
Read more about this topic: South Ribble (UK Parliament Constituency)
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