To the south and west of Aberdeen South there is West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, which is entirely within the Aberdeenshire area. To the north there is Aberdeen North which, like Aberdeen South is entirely within the Aberdeen City area. Further north there is Gordon, which covers part of the Aberdeen City area and part of the Aberdeenshire area. To the north of Gordon there is Banff and Buchan which, like West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, is entirely within the Aberdeenshire area.
Historic
1885 to 1918
From 1832 to 1885 there was a single Aberdeen constituency. Prior to 1832, the burgh of Aberdeen had been represented as a component of the Aberdeen Burghs constituency.
For the 1950 general election boundaries were redefined again, by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. A new list of wards defined Aberdeen South - Ferryhill, Holburn, Rosemount, Rubislaw, Ruthrieston and Torry[4] - but the City of Aberdeen remained a two-constituency city, divided between Aberdeen South and Aberdeen North, with both constituencies entirely within the city.
The county of Aberdeen was now again divided between East Aberdeenshire and West Aberdeenshire, with both of these constituencies entirely within the county.
In 1975, throughout Scotland, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, counties were abolished, and the City of Aberdeen was enlarged to include areas formerly within the county of Aberdeen and the county of Kincardine. Also, the city became a district within the Grampian region. The enlarged city included areas covered by the constituencies of West Aberdeenshire and North Angus and Mearns. North Angus and Mearns had been created in 1950 to cover the county of Kincardine and part of the county of Angus.
The 1979 general election was held before a review of constituency boundaries took account of new local government boundaries.
1983 to 1997
For the 1983 election, the electoral wards used to create this seat were Rosemount, Rubislaw, St Clements, St Nicholas, Hazelhead, Holburn, Ferryhill, Torry, Nigg.[5]
The 1983 general election, the 1987 general election and the 1992 general election took place during this period. At the 1992 General Election the constituency was the only seat which Labour had won at the 1987 election to be gained by the Conservatives.
As redefined for the 1997 general election Aberdeen South was one of three constituencies covering and entirely within the Aberdeen City area, the other two being Aberdeen North and Aberdeen Central. Aberdeen South shared boundaries with both of the other two constituencies.