Bury North (UK Parliament constituency)

Bury North
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bury North in Greater Manchester.
Location of Greater Manchester within England.
County	Greater Manchester
Electorate	67,911 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	David Nuttall (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Rossendale Bury & Radcliffe
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Bury North is a borough constituency in Greater Manchester, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was first contested in 1983.

History

It is a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives, and indeed has proved to be a bellwether constituency throughout its existence, with the winner of the seat also winning the election.

The MP from 1997 to 2010, David Chaytor, did not stand in the 2010 general election after being accused of claiming money for a mortgage he had already paid off. He was subsequently charged and convicted of fraud, and imprisoned for eighteen months.

The current MP, David Nuttall, took the seat for the Conservatives in 2010, making this their only gain in Greater Manchester in the General Election.

Boundaries

The constituency of Bury North covers the towns of Ramsbottom, Tottington and Bury. It was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Rossendale and Bury and Radcliffe. In those boundary changes Ramsbottom was transferred from Rossendale to Bury North, while with the loss of Ramsbottom, Rossendale was linked with Darwen.

Following the Boundary Review in the 2000s, the local government ward of Unsworth was transferred from Bury North to Bury South. No other changes were suggested.

Constituency profile

A traditional Labour-Conservative marginal, Ramsbottom and Tottington are mostly Tory, whereas the town of Bury itself (particularly the Bury East ward) is generally more favourable to Labour, but not always overwhelmingly so.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Alistair Burt	Conservative
	1997	David Chaytor	Labour
	2010	David Nuttall	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Nuttall	18,070	40.2	+3.4
	Labour	Maryam Khan	15,827	35.2	−6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Baum	7,645	17.0	+1.9
	BNP	John Maude	1,825	4.1	+0.1
	UKIP	Stephen Evans	1,282	2.9	+1.8
	Independent	Bill Brison	181	0.4	N/A
	Pirate	Graeme Lambert	131	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,243	5.0	+10.0
Turnout			44,961	67.3	+5.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Chaytor	19,130	43.0	−8.2
	Conservative	David Nuttall	16,204	36.5	−0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Wilf Davison	6,514	14.7	+2.5
	BNP	Stewart Clough	1,790	4.0
	UKIP	Philip Silver	476	1.1
	Socialist Labour	Ryan O'Neill	172	0.4
	Veritas	Ian Upton	153	0.3
Majority			2,926	6.6	−8.0
Turnout			44,439	61.5	−1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

General Election 2001: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Chaytor	22,945	51.2	−0.6
	Conservative	John Walsh	16,413	36.6	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Bryn Hackley	5,430	12.1	+3.9
Majority			6,532	14.6	+0.3
Turnout			44,788	63.0	−14.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Chaytor	28,523	51.8	+10.2
	Conservative	Alistair Burt	20,657	37.5	−12.1
	Liberal Democrat	Neville Kenyon	4,536	8.2	−0.3
	Referendum Party	R. S. Hallewell	1,337	2.4	N/A
Majority			7,866	14.3	+6.2
Turnout			55,053	77.8	−6.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.2

General Election 1992: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alistair Burt	29,266	49.7	−0.4
	Labour	Jim Dobbin	24,502	41.6	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Colin McGrath	5,010	8.5	−3.6
	Natural Law	M. S. Sullivan	163	0.3	N/A
Majority			4,764	8.1	−4.2
Turnout			58,941	84.8	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alistair Burt	28,097	50.1	+4.6
	Labour	D. A. Crausby	21,186	37.8	−2.4
	Liberal	D. Vasmer	6,804	12.1	−2.2
Majority			6,911	12.3	+7.0
Turnout			56,087	82.5	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

General Election 1983: Bury North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alistair Burt	23,923	45.5
	Labour	Frank White	21,131	40.2
	Liberal	Mrs. E. M. Wilson	7,550	14.4
Majority			2,792	5.3
Turnout			52,604	79.6

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester