Sunderland South was, from 1950 until 2010, a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elected one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post

First-past-the-post

First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

 system of election.

History

Having been a Labour-Conservative marginal in the 1950s and 60s, Sunderland South was held by the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 from 1964 until 2010, being represented by the politician and author Chris Mullin

Chris Mullin (politician)

Christopher John Mullin is a British Labour Party politician and diarist who was the Member of Parliament for Sunderland South from 1987 to 2010...

 from 1987 until its abolition in 2010. Mullin did not contest the 2010 general election.

The constituency was well-known for trying to be the first seat to declare its results, doing so in the general elections of 1992

United Kingdom general election, 1992

The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...

, 1997

United Kingdom general election, 1997

The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

, 2001

United Kingdom general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

 and 2005

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

.

Boundaries

The constituency, as can be inferred from the name, formed the southern part of the City of Sunderland

City of Sunderland

The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...

.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

, the Boundary Commission for England divided Sunderland South between two new constituencies, Houghton and Sunderland South

Houghton and Sunderland South (UK Parliament constituency)

Houghton and Sunderland South is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 2010, it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 and Sunderland Central

Sunderland Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Sunderland Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

. These new constituencies were first contested in 2010.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...	Richard Ewart Richard Ewart Richard Ewart was a Labour Party politician in England. He was elected at the 1945 general election as Member of Parliament for Sunderland. When that 2-seat constituency was divided for the 1950 general election, he was returned for the new Sunderland South constituency, which re-elected him in...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1953 by-election	Paul Williams Paul Williams (politician) Paul Glyn Williams was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Sunderland South from 1953 to 1964. He was also a prominent businessman...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...	Gordon Bagier Gordon Bagier Gordon Alexander Thomas Bagier is a retired British Labour Party politician.-Early life:Bagier was educated at Pendower Secondary Technical School on Fox and Hounds Lane in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...	Chris Mullin Chris Mullin (politician) Christopher John Mullin is a British Labour Party politician and diarist who was the Member of Parliament for Sunderland South from 1987 to 2010...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	2010	constituency abolished: see Houghton and Sunderland South Houghton and Sunderland South (UK Parliament constituency) Houghton and Sunderland South is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 2010, it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.... & Sunderland Central Sunderland Central (UK Parliament constituency) Sunderland Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s