West Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Lancashire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Lancashire in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Electorate	73,028 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Rosie Cooper (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Ormskirk and Ince
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

West Lancashire 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 most of the West Lancashire borough, except for the northern parishes, which are in the South Ribble constituency. The main towns in the constituency are the historic market town of Ormskirk and the new town of Skelmersdale.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the run-up to the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the Boundary Commission for England created a new seat in Central Lancashire resulting in consequential changes across the county.

Only minor changes were made to the existing seat of West Lancashire with the modified seat constructed from the following electoral wards:

• Ashurst, Aughton and Downholland, Aughton Park, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough East, Burscough West, Derby, Digmoor, Halsall, Knowsley, Moorside, Newburgh, Parbold, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Upholland, and Wrightington.

The seat retains the main population areas of Ormskirk and Skelmersdale, with the more rural townships heading northwest towards Southport. The district council's northern parishes of Tarleton, Rufford, Hesketh Bank and North Meols are in the South Ribble constituency.

As part of the nation-wide Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which commenced in 2011, the Boundary Commission for England recommends no change to the West Lancashire seat, which would retain its current boundaries.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Ken Hind	Conservative
	1992	Colin Pickthall	Labour
	2005	Rosie Cooper	Labour

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Ormskirk and Ince. Past members of Parliament for the Ormskirk seat had included Harold Wilson (1945–1950) and Robert Kilroy-Silk (1974–1983). Both were Labour MPs, although Ormskirk was held by the Conservative Party between 1950 and 1974.

Following the boundary changes of 1983, Kilroy-Silk moved to the new Knowsley North seat, and at the 1983 general election West Lancashire was taken by Ken Hind of the Conservatives. Hind held it until the 1992 election, when it was won by Colin Pickthall of Labour. Labour have held the seat since then, and after Pickthall stood down at the 2005 election he was replaced by Rosie Cooper.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosie Cooper	21,883	45.1	-2.9
	Conservative	Adrian Owens	17,540	36.2	+2.2
	Liberal Democrat	John Gibson	6,573	13.6	-0.5
	UKIP	Damon Noone	1,775	3.7	+1.6
	Green	Peter Cranie	485	1.0
	Clause 28	David Braid	217	0.4	-0.3
Majority			4,343	8.9
Turnout			48,473	63.8	+5.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosie Cooper	20,746	48.1	-6.4
	Conservative	Alf Doran	14,662	34.0	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Kemp	6,059	14.0	+2.4
	UKIP	Alan Freeman	871	2.0
	English Democrats	Stephen Garrett	525	1.2
	Clause 28	David Braid	292	0.7	0.0
Majority			6,084	14.1
Turnout			43,155	57.7	-1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.2

General Election 2001: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Pickthall	23,404	54.5	-5.8
	Conservative	Jeremy Myers	13,761	32.0	+2.9
	Liberal Democrat	John Thornton	4,966	11.6	+4.4
	Independent	David Hill	523	1.2	+0.5
	Independent	David Braid	317	0.7
Majority			9,643	22.5
Turnout				59.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Pickthall	33,022	60.3	+13.2
	Conservative	Chris Varley	15,903	29.1	−14.8
	Liberal Democrat	Arthur Wood	3,938	7.2	−0.4
	Referendum Party	Michael Carter	1,025	1.9	N/A
	Natural Law	John Collins	449	0.8	+0.3
	Independent	David Hill	392	0.7	N/A
Majority			17,119	31.1
Turnout			54,729	76.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.1

General Election 1992: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Pickthall	30,128	47.1	+5.6
	Conservative	Ken Hind	28,051	43.9	+0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Reilly	4,884	7.6	−7.2
	Green	Philip Pawley	546	0.9	N/A
	Natural Law	Bevin Morris	336	0.5	N/A
Majority			2,077	3.2	+1.0
Turnout			63,945	82.6	+2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ken Hind	26,500	43.7	-2.5
	Labour	Colin Pickthall	25,147	41.5	+7.7
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Robert Jermyn	8,972	14.8	-5.2
Majority			1,353	2.2	-10.3
Turnout			60,619	79.7	+5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.1

General Election 1983: West Lancashire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ken Hind	25,458	46.3
	Labour	Josie Farrington	18,600	33.8
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Andrew Sackville	10,983	20.0
Majority			6,858	12.5
Turnout			55,041	74.4

See also

• Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

Sources

• Election results, 1983 - 2001