Brighton Pavilion is a constituency in East Sussex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Siân Berry of the Green Party.

At 11.9% of the population, Brighton Pavilion has the highest proportion of LGBTQ people in the country.

Constituency profile

The Brighton Pavilion constituency is located in East Sussex on England's south coast. It includes the city centre of Brighton and the suburban areas to its north, including Patcham, Hollingdean and Coldean. The constituency is named after the Royal Pavilion, a royal residence built for the future King George IV located within the constituency. Brighton is a popular seaside resort and the Brighton Pavilion constituency contains the highest proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual residents (11.9%) of any constituency in England and Wales.

Compared to national averages, residents are considerably younger and less religious and have high levels of education and professional employment. House prices and household income are generally higher than average, although there are some areas of high deprivation like Hollingdean, which has a large amount of social housing. The ethnic makeup of the constituency is similar to the country as a whole, with White people forming 85% of the population.

Local politics are mixed; at the city council, residents in city centre wards are represented by Green Party councillors, the more deprived areas around Hollingdean elected Labour Party councillors and Conservatives represent the outskirts near Patcham. In the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, voters in the constituency overwhelmingly supported remaining in the European Union with an estimated 83% voting for this option. This made Brighton Pavilion the second-most remain-supporting constituency in the United Kingdom.

Boundaries

Historic 1950–1955: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Hollingbury, Montpelier, Patcham, Pavilion, Preston, Preston Park, Regency, St Nicholas, St Peters, and West.

1955–1983: The County Borough of Brighton wards of Hollingbury, Montpelier, Patcham, Preston, Preston Park, Regency, Stanmer, St Nicholas, and St Peter's.

1983–1997: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hollingbury, Patcham, Preston, Regency, St Peter's, Seven Dials, Stanmer, and Westdene.

1997–2010: The Borough of Brighton wards of Hanover, Hollingbury, Patcham, Preston, Regency, St Peter's, Seven Dials, Stanmer, and Westdene.

2010–2024: The City of Brighton and Hove wards of Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingdean and Stanmer (called Hollingbury and Stanmer before 2011), Patcham, Preston Park, Regency, St Peter's and North Laine, and Withdean.

Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the renamed constituency (based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020) was reduced slightly by transferring to Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven part of the Hanover and Elm Grove ward – namely polling district PHEA, and that part of polling district PHEF to the east of Queen's Park Road.

Following a local government boundary review in Brighton and Hove which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

Coldean & Stanmer (majority); Hanover & Elm Grove (most – see above); Hollingdean & Fiveways; Moulsecoomb & Bevendean (small part); Patcham & Hollingbury; Preston Park; Regency (nearly all); Round Hill; West Hill & North Laine; Westdene & Hove Park (part).

Electoral history The constituency was created in 1950 from the former two-member constituency of Brighton (one of the last remaining multi-member constituencies), for which Brighton Pavilion's first Member of Parliament, Sir William Teeling, had previously been the joint representative.

From 1950 to 1997, the seat elected Conservative MPs. In 1997, David Lepper of the Labour Party, aided by somewhat notionally favourable minor boundary changes before the 1997 general election, began service as MP for thirteen years by winning the two subsequent elections. The Conservatives' share of the vote has declined at every election there since 1979.

In July 2007, the Green Party selected Caroline Lucas to contest the seat, at which point she was a Member of the European Parliament for the South East England constituency."Greens Pick MEP Lucas to Run for MP ", Brighton Argus In November 2009, Charlotte Vere was selected as the Conservative Party candidate at an open primary attended by local Conservative Party members and residents.Charlotte Vere picked in "open primary" , Brighton Argus, 18 November 2009 In January 2010, the Liberal Democrats also selected a female candidate, Bernadette Millam. Labour had selected Nancy Platts, a local campaigner and former union worker, as their candidate in June 2007. This meant that, distinctively, all of the four leading parties in the constituency had female candidates. In 2010, Labour's share of the vote fell by 6.5%, and Lucas, then leading the Green Party, won the seat. In contrast to national results, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat share of the vote fell.One Brighton shining moment as Lucas makes Green history , The Independent, 8 May 2010

Lucas retained the seat for the Green Party at the 2015 general election with an increased majority. Purna Sen, who held senior roles at the Commonwealth, LSE, and Amnesty International, was selected to contest the seat for Labour. Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC News reporter and spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann, was selected as the Conservative Party candidate.

For the 2017 general election and the 2019 general election, the local Liberal Democrat party chose not to field a candidate in the seat, endorsing Lucas instead due to their shared pro-EU stance. Lucas retained Brighton Pavilion for the Green Party, which was returned with the biggest numerical majority for any candidate in the seat since 1959. In the 2019 election, the seat had the largest winning margin and the highest winning vote share of any seat not held by the Conservatives or Labour. Lucas announced on 8 June 2023, that she would not be standing in the subsequent UK general election. On 19 July 2023, the Green Party picked Siân Berry to replace her. Berry was elected as the MP for Brighton Pavilion at the 2024 election with a slightly reduced majority of 27%.

Members of Parliament

Brighton prior to 1950

ElectionMemberParty 1950 William Teeling Conservative 1969 by-election Julian Amery Conservative 1992 Derek Spencer Conservative 1997 David Lepper Labour Co-op 2010 Caroline Lucas Green 2024 Siân Berry Green

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s 2019 notional result Party Vote %Green 32,575 57.0Labour 12,945 22.7Conservative 10,129 17.7Brexit Party 762 1.3Others 690 1.2Turnout57,10175.4Electorate75,722

Elections in the 2000s 2005 notional result Party Vote %Labour 15,955 35.9Conservative 10,343 23.3Green 9,252 20.8Liberal Democrats 7,070 15.9Others 1,799 4.1Turnout44,41963.7Electorate69,699

Elections in the 1990s

1992 notional result Party Vote %Conservative 22,619 45.3Labour 20,089 40.2Liberal Democrats 6,169 12.3Others 1,098 2.2Turnout49,97575.7Electorate66,008

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s 1979 notional result Party Vote %Conservative 23,239 53.5Labour 12,893 29.7Liberal 6,253 14.4Others 1,092 2.5Turnout43,477Electorate

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

See also parliamentary constituencies in East Sussex List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

Notes

References

Sources Election result, 2005 (BBC) Election results, 1997 – 2001 (BBC) Election results, 1997 – 2001 (Election Demon) Election results, 1983 – 1992 (Election Demon) Election results, 1992 – 2005 (Guardian) Election results, 1951 – 2001 (Keele University) By-election result, 1969 (Geocities) F. W. S. Craig. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973. ()

External links nomis Constituency Profile for Brighton, Pavilion – presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics. Brighton, Pavilion UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Brighton, Pavilion UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Brighton Pavilion UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK