Weaver Vale (UK Parliament constituency)

Weaver Vale
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Weaver Vale in Cheshire.
Location of Cheshire within England.
County	Cheshire
Electorate	66,008 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Graham Evans (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Eddisbury, Tatton, Halton, and Warrington South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Weaver Vale is a county constituency 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.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the northern part of the Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority in Cheshire, including the towns of Northwich and Frodsham and the villages of Helsby and Weaverham. It also includes part of the Halton borough, covering eastern parts of Runcorn.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cheshire, in 2007 the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the existing arrangement as a consequence of population changes. The electoral wards included in this modified constituency were (as at 12 April 2005):

• From the borough of Vale Royal - Forest, Frodsham North, Frodsham South, Hartford and Whitegate, Helsby, Kingsley, Leftwich and Kingsmead, Milton Weaver, Northwich Castle, Northwich Winnington, Northwich Witton, and Weaverham
• From the borough of Halton - Beechwood, Daresbury, Halton Lea, Norton North, Norton South, and Windmill Hill

The changes were approved in 2007 and came into effect at the 2010 general election.

History

Weaver Vale constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the seats of Eddisbury, Tatton, Halton, and Warrington South, when the number of constituencies in Cheshire was increased from 10 to 11.

From the 1997 general election, the seat was held by the Labour Party's Mike Hall, who first entered Parliament in 1992 for Warrington South. Labour held the seat relatively easily in the succeeding two general elections.

In boundary changes in 2010, Castlefields ward in Runcorn shifted to Halton, Rudheath and South Witton ward in Northwich shifted to Tatton, approx 700 electors in the affluent Hartford and Whitegate ward were moved out of the Eddisbury constituency into Weaver Vale, as were approx 1800 electors in the Leftwich and Kingsmead ward - primarily those on the newly-built relatively expensive Kingsmead estate. These boundary changes shifted the seat in the Conservatives' favour, and they duly gained the seat at the 2010 general election.

In February 2010 Mike Hall, who had held the seat since it was created in 1997, announced that he was standing down at the 2010 election due to health reasons. The present MP for the seat is the Conservative Graham Evans, elected at the 2010 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Mike Hall	Labour
	2010	Graham Evans	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Weaver Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Evans	16,953	38.5	+6.9
	Labour	John Stockton	15,962	36.3	-9.4
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Hampson	8,196	18.6	-1.1
	BNP	Colin Marsh	1,063	2.4	+2.4
	UKIP	Paul Remfry	1,018	2.3	-0.5
	Green	Howard Thorp	338	0.8	+0.8
	Independent	Mick Cooksley	270	0.6	+0.6
	Independent	Tom Reynolds	133	0.3	+0.3
	Independent	Will Charlton	57	0.1	+0.1
Majority			991	2.3
Turnout			43,990	66.1	+10.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Weaver Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Hall	18,759	47.6	-4.9
	Conservative	Jonathan Mackie	11,904	30.2	+2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Trevor Griffiths	7,723	19.6	+5.2
	UKIP	Brenda Swinscoe	1,034	2.6	+1.2
Majority			6,855	17.4
Turnout			39,420	57.1	-0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2001: Weaver Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Hall	20,611	52.5	-3.9
	Conservative	Carl Cross	10,974	27.9	-0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Griffiths	5,643	14.4	+2.1
	Independent	Mike Cooksley	1,484	3.8	N/A
	UKIP	Jim Bradshaw	559	1.4	N/A
Majority			9,637	24.6
Turnout			39,271	57.6	-15.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Weaver Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Hall	27,244	56.4
	Conservative	J.P. Byrne	13,796	28.6
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Griffiths	5,949	12.3
	Referendum Party	R.E. Cockfield	1,312	2.7
Majority			13,448	27.8
Turnout			48,301	73.0
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire