Bristol West
Formerborough constituency for theHouse of Commons
Boundary of Bristol West in Avon
Location of Avon within England
County	City of Bristol
Electorate	84,571 (2018)[1]
Major settlements	Bristol
1885–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Bristol
Replaced by	Bristol Central Bristol East Bristol North West

Bristol West was aborough constituency represented in theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom from 2015 to 2024 (when it was renamed) byThangam Debbonaire of theLabour Party. It mostly covered the central and western parts ofBristol.

Following the completion of the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was reduced in size, with part of theBishopston and Ashley Down ward being transferred toBristol North West, andLawrence Hill andEaston wards toBristol East. It was also renamed toBristol Central, and first contested at the2024 general election.^[2][3][4]

More urban since boundary changes in 2010, the seat retains a high proportion of the city's most garden-rich, grandest houses and landscaped civic parks in affluent suburbs such asClifton andRedland. Many of the townhouses in Bristol were subdivided in the latter half of the 20th century, during which time the size of theUniversity of Bristol increased (the city's largest single independent employer which is chiefly in the seat). The seat also includes poorer areas such asLawrence Hill andEaston.

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton, St Augustine's, St Michael's, and Westbury, and the local government district of Horfield.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Clifton North, Clifton South, Horfield, Redland, St Michael, and Westbury-on-Trym.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Clifton, Redland, St Augustine, St James, and St Michael.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Bristol wards: Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Durdham, and Redland.

1974–1983: as above plus District

1983–1997: The City of Bristol wards of Ashley, Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Cotham, Henleaze, Redland, and Stoke Bishop.

1997–2010: as above plus Westbury-on-Trym.

2010–2024: as above less Westbury-on-Trym, Stoke Bishop and Henleaze, plus Clifton East, Easton, and Lawrence Hill

The above shows that the changes implemented for the2010 general election boundaries were relatively great, recommended by a periodic impartialBoundary Commission review.^[5] Easton and Lawrence Hill wards were transferred fromBristol East, whileHenleaze,Stoke Bishop andWestbury-on-Trym wards were lost toBristol North West. During the 2007 review, a proposal to rename the constituency as "Bristol Central" was rejected.^[5]

Held by Conservatives continuously for 112 years, it was at various points represented by Conservative cabinet ministersMichael Hicks-Beach,Oliver Stanley,Walter Monckton andWilliam Waldegrave. As part of a nationalLabour Party landslide, exceeding that of1945, the1997 gain byValerie Davey was from a third-placed starting point for the party's candidate in1992. That win, declared on the night of the election at 3:15 am, took Labour over the threshold of 330 seats required for an overall majority in the new House of Commons.^[6]At the2005 election the seat wasLiberal Democrat target number 18, andConservative target number 50; it had been frequently described in the media as a "three-way marginal", and all parties fought hard for the constituency. The seat was taken by Liberal DemocratStephen Williams with a large majority, thought to have been aided by the large student electorate, hostile to Labour's top-up fees policy. This Liberal Democrat success was similar to those in other seats with a large student population, such asCambridge,Manchester Withington,Leeds North West andCardiff Central. In the2010 election, Stephen Williams held the seat with an increased majority.^[7] In the 2015 general election, the Lib Dem vote fell by 29.2%; Williams came a distant third behind the winning Labour candidateThangam Debbonaire and more than 5,000 votes behind the Green Party candidate, who achieved the greatest increase in the Green vote (+23%) in any seat that election.^[8] In 2017 Bristol West had the biggest swing to Labour in the country.^[9] The 52.1% majority was also the largest in the seat since1931.

In the2016 referendum to leave the European Union, theconstituency voted remain by 79.3%. This was the second highest support for remain for a constituency.^[10]

As a result of the formation of a Brexit 'Unite to Remain' pact between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru prior to the 2019 snap election, the Liberal Democrats agreed to withdraw from the Bristol West election in favour of the Green Party.^[11] The result was a doubling of the Green vote and a reduction in the Labour majority by almost 10,000, but with a majority of over 28,000 for the Labour Party, the seat remains very safe.

As of February 2023, 17 of the 20 city councillors in the Bristol West Constituency were from the Green Party.^[12]

(Note that the vote-share changes for 2010 are from the notional results on the new boundaries, not the actual 2005 results)

Hicks Beach was appointedChief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

Hicks Beach was appointedPresident of the Board of Trade, requiring a by-election.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist:George Gibbs
• Liberal:

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Avon

• Bristol West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
• Bristol West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK

51°27′47″N2°36′30″W / 51.46301°N 2.60827°W /51.46301; -2.60827

• Parliamentary constituencies in Bristol (historic)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2023
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension