Dawn Primarolo's notional majority was cut slightly by the boundary changes before the 1997 election but she had little difficulty holding onto her seat, and was elected with a majority of over 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.
Hengrove ward, the new addition to the seat was a more middle-class enclave compared with the rest of the constituency.
Bristol South on the whole is the most working-class seat in the city with the highest levels of unemployment and proportion council-housing content.
It is an urbanised area with many high rise estates, especially in Hartcliffe and Filwood, where Militant Labour came a strong second in past local council elections.
Unemployment is higher than average and unskilled workers make up a significant proportion of the working-age population.
There is also a recent history of civil unrest; there were riots in Hartcliffe in the early 1990s and crime is a major problem.
Dawn Primarolo shot to public prominence in January 1999 when she was promoted to the post of paymaster general replacing Geoffrey Robinson.