User:WilliamF1two/Historic constituencies

1983
Avon was formed in 1974, taking in the former county boroughs of Bath and Bristol, as well as parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset. It was first used for constituency boundaries in the review of 1983.

The City of Bath, which was coterminous with the former county borough, remained the constituency of Bath. This seat had been held by the Conservatives or Unionists since 1924, and Chris Patten since 1979. Patten lost the seat to Don Foster of the Liberal Democrats in 1992.

The City of Bristol, again with the same boundaries as the county borough, was divided between five constituencies. Brislington, Easton, Eastville, Lawrence Hill, and Stockwood formed the new constituency of Bristol East, which was won by Jonathan Sayeed for the Conservatives. Sayeed lost the seat to Labour's Jean Corston in 1992.

Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Filwood, Hartcliffe, Knowle, Southville, Whitchurch Park, and Windmill Hill became the redrawn Bristol South constituency, which had been held by Labour since 1935, and Michael Cocks since 1970. Cocks became a life peer in 1987, and was replaced by Dawn Primarolo.

Ashley, Bishopston, Cabot, Clifton, Cotham, Henleaze, Redland, and Stoke Bishop were included in the modified Bristol West seat, which had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1885, and William Waldegrave since 1979.

Avonmouth, Henbury, Horfield, Kingsweston, Lockleaze, Southmead, and Westbury-on-Trym made up the City of Bristol portion of Bristol North West. This seat was also extended to include the Filton and Stoke Gifford areas of the District of Northavon, which had formerly been part of Gloucestershire. Bristol North West had been gained from Labour by Conservative Michael Colvin in 1979, but Colvin switched seats to Romsey and Waterside ahead of the 1983 election. He was replaced by Michael Stern.

The remaining City of Bristol areas - Frome Vale, Hillfields, and St George - became part of the Kingswood constituency. This also included the Chase, Chiphouse, Downend, Forest, Hanham, Mangotsfield, New Cheltenham, Soundwell, Staple Hill, and Woodstock areas of the District of Kingswood, which had previously been in Gloucestershire. Again, Kingswood was gained by the Conservatives from Labour in 1979, with Jack Aspinwall the MP. Aspinwall also switched seats in 1983, to the neighbouring Wansdyke constituency. His replacement was Robert Hayward, who lost the seat to Labour's Roger Berry in 1992.

The remainder of the District of Northavon, which included Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury and Yate, formed the new Northavon constituency. This was won by John Cope of the Conservatives, who was previously the MP for the predecessor seat of South Gloucestershire.

The remainder of the District of Kingswood - Badminton, Bitton, Blackhorse, Bromley Heath, Hanham Abbots, Oldland, Siston, and Springfield - became part of the new Wansdyke constituency. This also included much of the District of Wansdyke, previously in Somerset, including Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Radstock, and Saltford. The seat was won by Jack Aspinwall for the Conservatives.

The rest of the District of Wansdyke - Cameley, Chew Valley, Clutton, Compton Dando, Farmborough, Harptrees, High Littleton, Paulton, Publow, Stowey Sutton, and Timsbury - formed a part of the new Woodspring seat. This included parts of another former area of Somerset, the District of Woodspring. Woodspring areas forming part of the constituency of the same name were Backwell, Clevedon, Gordano, Long Ashton, Nailsea, North Weston, Portishead, Winford, and Wraxall. Paul Dean, MP for the predecessor North Somerset seat, won for the Conservatives in 1983, before retiring and being replaced by Liam Fox in 1992.

The final seat in Avon, Weston-super-Mare, was formed by the remaining areas of the District of Woodspring: Banwell, Blagdon, Churchill, Congresbury, Hutton, Locking, Weston-super-Mare, Winscombe, Wrington, and Yatton. This seat had been held by the Conservatives since 1924, and by Jerry Wiggin since a 1969 by-election.

1997
Avon ceased to exist in 1996, instead becoming four unitary authorities. The City of Bristol became the freestanding City and County of Bristol, while the districts of Kingswood and Northavon rejoined Gloucestershire as the South Gloucestershire district. The remainder of Avon was all returned to Somerset, with the City of Bath and the District of Wansdyke becoming the Bath and North East Somerset district, and the District of Woodspring becoming the North Somerset district. However, minor boundary changes in 1997 used the old Avon districts.

Bath gained the District of Wansdyke areas of Bathampton, Batheaston, Bathford, Charlcombe, and Freshford from Wansdyke. Bath continued to be held by Don Foster for the Liberal Democrats.

Wansdyke, meanwhile, gained the areas of the District of Wansdyke which had previously been in the Woodspring constituency: Cameley, Chew Valley, Clutton, Compton Dando, Farmborough, Harptrees, High Littleton, Paulton, Publow, Stowey Sutton, and Timsbury. Furthermore, Wansdyke lost the District of Kingswood areas of Badminton, Blackhorse, Bromley Heath, Oldland, Siston, and Springfield to the Kingswood constituency. Wansdyke's Conservative MP Jack Aspinwall retired in 1997, but his replacement Mark Prisk lost the seat to Labour's Dan Norris.

The District of Woodspring areas of Wrington and Yatton were transferred to Woodspring from Weston-super-Mare, which constituted the only changes in the latter seat. Woodspring continued to be held by Liam Fox for the Conservatives, while Weston-super-Mare's Tory incumbent, Jerry Wiggin, stood down ahead of the 1997 election. Wiggin's replacement, Margaret Daly, lost the seat to the Liberal Democrats' Brian Cotter, although the seat returned to Conservative hands when John Penrose defeated Cotter in 2005.

In addition to its gains from Wansdyke, Kingswood lost the City of Bristol area of St George to Bristol East. Kingswood continued to be held by Roger Berry for the Labour Party.

This gain for Bristol East was offset by the loss of Hengrove to Bristol South, the latter's only boundary change. Both seats were held by their Labour incumbents, Jean Corston and Dawn Primarolo respectively, although Corston stepped down in 2005 and was replaced by Kerry McCarthy.

The only other change within the City of Bristol was the transfer of Westbury-on-Trym from Bristol North West to Bristol West. Simultaneously, Bristol North West gained the District of Northavon area of Patchway from Northavon, which was the final boundary change in Avon. All three Conservative incumbents in these seats were defeated: Bristol North West's Michael Stern by Labour's Doug Naysmith; William Waldegrave in Bristol West by Valerie Davey, also of Labour; and Northavon MP John Cope by Liberal Democrat Steve Webb. Bristol West changed hands again in 2005, as Davey was defeated by Stephen Williams of the Liberal Democrats.

2010
When the boundaries were redrawn in 2010, Avon was still used as a guideline, but the new 1996 district boundaries were used. The Bathavon area of Bath and North East Somerset, which had been transferred from Wansdyke to Bath in 1997, moved back in the opposite direction, to the renamed constituency of North East Somerset. To compensate, the Bitton and Hanham areas, now in South Gloucestershire, were moved from Wansdyke to Kingswood. Bath was held by Don Foster for the Liberal Democrats in 2010, but Foster stood down in 2015. His replacement, Steve Bradley, lost the seat to the Conservatives' Ben Howlett, although it returned to the Lib Dems in 2017, with Howlett losing to Wera Hobhouse. Wansdyke's Labour incumbent, Dan Norris, stood in the new North East Somerset seat, but was defeated by Jacob Rees-Mogg of the Conservatives.

Besides its gains from Wansdyke, Kingswood lost Frome Vale and Hillfields, within the Bristol, to Bristol East; and Downend and Staple Hill, within South Gloucestershire, to the brand new seat of Filton and Bradley Stoke. Kingswood's incumbent Labour MP, Roger Berry, lost the seat in 2010 to Chris Skidmore of the Conservatives.

Filton and Bradley Stoke also took in the South Gloucestershire areas of Filton, Patchway, and Stoke Gifford, which were formerly part of Bristol North West; and Almondsbury, Pilning and Severn Beach, and Winterbourne from Northavon. The new constituency was won by Conservative Jack Lopresti.

The remainder of the Northavon constituency was renamed Thornbury and Yate, and became the third and final South Gloucestershire seat. This was won by Northavon incumbent Steve Webb of the Liberal Democrats, but he lost it to the Conservatives' Luke Hall in 2015.

Alongside its gains from Kingswood, Bristol East lost Easton and Lawrence Hill to Bristol West. Bristol East was held by Kerry McCarthy for the Labour Party.

Meanwhile Henleaze, Stoke Bishop, and Westbury-on-Trym were relocated from Bristol West to Bristol North West, offsetting the latter's losses to the new Filton and Bradley Stoke seat. Bristol North West's Labour incumbent, Doug Naysmith, stood down ahead of the 2010 election, and his replacement Sam Townend not only lost the seat to Charlotte Leslie of the Conservatives, but finished third behind the Liberal Democrat candidate. Despite this, Labour managed to win the seat back in 2017, as Leslie was defeated by Darren Jones. Bristol West was held by Stephen Williams for the Lib Dems, but he also finished third when defending the seat in 2015, receiving fewer votes than both Thangam Debbonaire, the successful Labour candidate, and the candidate from the Green Party.

Unusually, Bristol South's boundaries were unchanged, and Dawn Primarolo held the seat for Labour until becoming a life peer in 2015. She was replaced by Karin Smyth.

The only change in North Somerset, which contained the final two Avon constituencies, was the transfer of Kewstoke from Woodspring to Weston-super-Mare, although Woodspring was renamed North Somerset. Both seats were held by their incumbent Conservative MPs: Liam Fox in North Somerset, and John Penrose in Weston-super-Mare.