Constituency view

Bristol South

South West, England

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Karin Smyth

Labour

Female

Majority7,666

Turnout57.5%

Electorate75,533

Valid votes43,403

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour18,521 - 42.7%

Green10,855 - 25.0%

Reform6,195 - 14.3%

Conservative4,947 - 11.4%

Lib Dem2,721 - 6.3%

Other164 - 0.4%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£311,602,310

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£2,887 total benefits bill per resident · 28% above average

Bristol South: £2,887
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 113 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£311,602,310	130/575
Change over 2 years	+21.9%
Median local wage (2025)	£36,722	+8.3%

Universal Credit£186,349,841
£1,726 per resident · 14,486 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 5,760 · 1 in 13 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£68,764,140
£637 per resident · 9,299 claimants (+15.9% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,766 · 41% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 4,585
Housing Benefit£20,043,513
£186 per resident · 2,571 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£17,944,151
£166 per resident · 2,977 claimants
Carer's Allowance£9,296,757
£86 per resident · 2,145 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£9,203,908
£85 per resident · 1,406 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 90.1%White British 82.4%Asian 3.0%Black, African or Caribbean 2.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 3.3%Other 1.0%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 92.8%White British 88.2%Asian 2.2%Black, African or Caribbean 1.9%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.8%Other 0.4%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 95.9%White British 93.4%Asian 1.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.9%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.5%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 97.9%White British N/AAsian 1.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.3%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Bristol South (2021)

UK 87.4%Other EU 6.6%Other countries 6.0%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Bristol South (2011)

UK 91.8%Other EU 3.4%Other countries 4.7%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Bristol South (2001)

UK 95.7%Other EU 1.0%Other countries 3.4%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Bristol South (1991)

UK 96.6%Other EU 1.8%Other countries 1.7%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

Bristol South

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Bristol South	National	Difference	Rank
% White	90.1%	83.0%	+7.0pp	350/650
% White British	82.4%	74.4%	+7.9pp	336/632
% Asian	3.0%	8.6%	-5.6pp	359/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	2.6%	3.7%	-1.1pp	210/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	3.3%	2.7%	+0.6pp	182/650
% Other ethnic group	1.0%	2.0%	-1.0pp	302/650
% UK-born	87.4%	84.0%	+3.4pp	376/650
% Non-UK-born	12.6%	16.0%	-3.4pp	275/650
% Other EU-born	6.6%	6.0%	+0.7pp	189/650
% Other countries-born	6.0%	10.1%	-4.1pp	325/650
% Christian	32.5%	46.7%	-14.2pp	545/575
% Muslim	2.5%	6.3%	-3.8pp	255/575
% Hindu	0.5%	1.6%	-1.1pp	299/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	354/575
% Jewish	0.1%	0.5%	-0.3pp	240/575
% Buddhist	0.4%	0.4%	-0.0pp	211/575
% Other religion	0.5%	0.6%	-0.0pp	207/575
% No religion	57.2%	37.0%	+20.2pp	5/575
% Religion not stated	6.1%	6.0%	+0.1pp	207/575
% Has any religion	36.7%	57.0%	-20.3pp	572/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Bristol South

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.