Avon was abolished in 1996 both as a county council and a ceremonial county, but the name Avon continues to be used unofficially in subsequent boundary reviews as presented by the Boundary Commission for England to describe the area covered by the former county for the purpose of the rules which strongly deter cross-council constituencies (spanning more than one local authority within its area).
The Boundary Commission for England reviewed Avon in 2000 and devised a constituencies scheme in which no constituency spanned the four unitary authority boundaries within the abolished county. This entailed four seats to Bristol, three to South Gloucestershire and two each to Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset and accordingly a net increase of one seat. Constituency names were aligned with the new local council names.[1] [2] These changes were implemented at the 2010 general election. Bath was restored as a borough constituency (to which a different election expenses quota and returning officer applies compared to county constituencies). Thus Avon has 6 borough constituencies and 5 county constituencies.
Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Avon underwent further boundary changes, although the total number of seats was retained at 11.
See also: 2024 United Kingdom general election.
| Constituency[3] | Electorate[4] | Majority[5] | Member of Parliament | Nearest opposition | Electoral wards | Map | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath CC | 73,241 | 11,218 | Wera Hobhouse¤ | Dan Bewley‡ | Bath and North East Somerset Council Bathavon North, Bathwick, Combe Down, Kingsmead, Lambridge, Lansdown, Moorlands, Newbridge, Odd Down, Oldfield Park, Southdown, Twerton, Walcot, Westmoreland, Weston, Widcombe & Lyncombe. | ||||
| Bristol Central BC | 70,227 | 10,407 | Carla Denyer♣ | Thangam Debbonaire‡ | Bristol City Council Ashley, Central, Clifton, Clifton Down, Cotham, Hotwells & Harbourside, Redland. | ||||
| Bristol East BC | 75,936 | 6,606 | Kerry McCarthy‡ | Ani Stafford-Townsend♣ | Bristol City Council Brislington East, Brislington West, Easton, Knowle, Lawrence Hill, St. George Central, St. George Troopers Hill, St. George West, Stockwood. | ||||
| Bristol North East BC | 69,793 | 11,167 | Damien Egan‡ | Lorraine Francis♣ | Bristol City Council Eastville, Frome Vale, Hillfields, Lockleaze. South Gloucestershire Council: Kingswood, New Cheltenham, Staple Hill & Mangotsfield, Woodstock. | ||||
| Bristol North West BC | 76,783 | 15,669 | Darren Jones‡ | Mary Page♣ | Bristol City Council Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston, Bishopston & Ashley Down, Henbury & Brentry, Horfield, Southmead, Stoke Bishop, Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze. | ||||
| Bristol South BC | 74,696 | 7,666 | Karin Smyth‡ | Jai Breitnauer♣ | Bristol City Council Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Filwood, Hartcliffe & Withywood, Hengrove & Whitchurch Park, Southville, Windmill Hill. | ||||
| Filton and Bradley Stoke BC | 73,598 | 10,000 | Claire Hazelgrove‡ | Jack Lopresti† | South Gloucestershire Council Bradley Stoke North, Bradley Stoke South, Charlton & Cribbs, Emersons Green, Filton, Frenchay & Downend, Patchway Coniston, Stoke Gifford, Stoke Park & Cheswick, Winterbourne. | ||||
| North East Somerset and Hanham CC | 73,113 | 5,319 | Dan Norris‡ | Jacob Rees-Mogg† | Bath and North East Somerset Council Chew Valley, Clutton & Farmborough, High Littleton, Keynsham East, Keynsham North, Keynsham South, Mendip, Paulton, Publow & Whitchurch, Saltford, Timsbury. South Gloucestershire Council: Bitton & Oldland Common, Hanham, Longwell Green, Parkwall & Warmley. | ||||
| North Somerset CC | 73,963 | 639 | Sadik Al-Hassan‡ | Liam Fox† | North Somerset Council Backwell, Clevedon East, Clevedon South, Clevedon Walton, Clevedon West, Clevedon Yeo, Gordano Valley, Long Ashton, Nailsea Golden Valley, Nailsea West End, Nailsea Yeo, Nailsea Youngwood, Pill, Portishead East, Portishead North, Portishead South, Portishead West, Winford, Wrington. | ||||
| Thornbury and Yate CC | 74,935 | 3,014 | Claire Young¤ | Luke Hall† | South Gloucestershire Council Boyd Valley, Charfield, Chipping Sodbury & Cotswold Edge, Dodington, Frampton Cotterell, Pilning & Severn Beach, Severn Vale, Thornbury, Yate Central, Yate North. | ||||
| Weston-super-Mare CC | 70,722 | 4,409 | Dan Aldridge‡ | John Penrose† | North Somerset Council Hutton & Locking, Weston-super-Mare Central, Weston-super-Mare Hillside, Weston-super-Mare Kewstoke, Weston-super-Mare Mid Worle, Weston-super-Mare Milton, Weston-super-Mare North Worle, Weston-super-Mare South, Weston-super-Mare South Worle, Weston-super-Mare Uphill, Weston-super-Mare Winterstoke, Wick St. Lawrence & St. Georges. |
See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[6] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.
The commission proposed that "Avon" (covering the Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire council areas) be combined with Devon and Somerset as a sub-region of the South West Region, resulting in significant change to the existing pattern of constituencies. In Avon, Bristol West, Kingswood and North East Somerset were abolished, being replaced by Bristol Central, Bristol North East, and North East Somerset and Hanham. In addition, Frome and East Somerset, and Wells and Mendip Hills will be established as cross-authority boundary seats.[7] [8] These changes came into effect for the 2024 general election.
The following seats are proposed:
Containing electoral wards from Bath and North East Somerset
Containing electoral wards in Bristol
Containing electoral wards in North Somerset
Containing electoral wards in South Gloucestershire
Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to increase the number of seats which covered "Avon" from 10 to 11, with the creation of Filton and Bradley Stoke. This resulted in major changes to Kingswood and three of the four Bristol constituencies. A further three constituencies were renamed.
(The maps on this page do not show the nominal extensions of several constituencies over the waters of the Bristol Channel.)
Other former constituencies in the area were:
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019[9]
The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Avon in the 2024 general election were as follows:
| Party | Votes | % | Change from 2019 | Seats | Change from 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 189,007 | 36.2% | 0.5% | 8 | 4 | |
| Conservative | 110,554 | 21.2% | 20.5% | 0 | 6 | |
| Green | 87,204 | 16.7% | 11.1% | 1 | 1 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 71,768 | 13.7% | 2.1% | 2 | 1 | |
| Reform | 56,721 | 10.9% | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Others | 6,951 | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 522,205 | 100.0 | 11 |
The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Avon in the 2019 general election were as follows:
| Party | Votes | % | Change from 2017 | Seats | Change from 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 258,867 | 41.7% | 0.9% | 6 | 0 | |
| Labour | 221,714 | 35.7% | 5.0% | 4 | 0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 97,767 | 15.8% | 4.0% | 1 | 0 | |
| Greens | 34,563 | 5.6% | 2.1% | 0 | 0 | |
| Brexit | 5,717 | 0.9% | new | 0 | 0 | |
| Others | 1,559 | 0.3% | 1.1% | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 620,187 | 100.0 | 11 |
| Election year | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 24.3 | 24.0 | 27.5 | 36.5 | 36.8 | 31.8 | 23.2 | 25.7 | 40.7 | 35.7 | 36.2 | |
| Conservative | 47.3 | 47.9 | 44.5 | 32.7 | 31.6 | 31.9 | 35.8 | 39.6 | 42.6 | 41.7 | 21.2 | |
| Green Party | – | 1.3 | 8.7 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 16.7 | ||||||
| Liberal Democrat1 | 27.6 | 27.0 | 26.5 | 26.3 | 27.9 | 30.9 | 34.8 | 13.6 | 11.8 | 15.8 | 13.7 | |
| Reform2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.9 | 10.9 | |
| UKIP | – | – | – | 2.8 | 12.0 | 0.6 | – | |||||
| Other | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 5.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
2As the Brexit Party in 2019
* Included in Other
| Election year | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | |
| Liberal Democrat1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Conservative | 9 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Constituency | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 24 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | Patten | Foster | Howlett | Hobhouse | |||||||||
| Bristol East | Sayeed | Corston | McCarthy | ||||||||||
| Bristol North West | Stern | Naysmith | Leslie | Jones | |||||||||
| Bristol South | Cocks | Primarolo | Smyth | ||||||||||
| Bristol West / Bristol Central (2024) | Waldegrave | Davey | Williams | Debbonaire | Denyer | ||||||||
| Filton and Bradley Stoke | Lopresti | Hazelgrove | |||||||||||
| Kingswood / Bristol North East (2024) | Hayward | Berry | Skidmore | Egan | |||||||||
| Northavon / Thornbury & Yate (2010) | Cope | Webb | Hall | Young | |||||||||
| Wansdyke / NE Somerset (2010) / NE Somerset & Hanham (2024) | Aspinwall | Norris | Rees-Mogg | Norris | |||||||||
| Weston-super-Mare | Wiggin | Cotter | Penrose | Aldridge | |||||||||
| Woodspring / North Somerset (2010) | Dean | Fox | Al-Hassan | ||||||||||