 Dawn Primarolo's notional majority was cut slightly by the boundary changes before the 1997 election but she had little difficulty holding on to her seat, and was elected with a majority of more than 19,000 votes.
The influx of 10,000 voters from Bristol East did little to break Labour's hold on this seat which has been continuous since the constituency was created in 1983.
Bristol South is an urbanised area with many high-rise estates. Dawn Primarolo shot to public prominence in January 1999 when she was promoted to the post of Paymaster General replacing Geoffrey Robinson. She is also one of the three female MPs who represent a Bristol seat.
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