Wirral South (UK Parliament constituency)

Wirral South
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wirral South in Merseyside.
Location of Merseyside within England.
County	Merseyside
Electorate	56,238 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Heswall, Bebington
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Alison McGovern (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Wirral Bebington & Ellesmere Port
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Wirral South is a county constituency in Merseyside, 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, and was first contested in 1983.

History

The constituency was formed from parts of the former seats of Wirral and Bebington and Ellesmere Port. Both had been held by the Conservative Party, for whom Barry Porter took the new seat in that year's general election. Following the death of Porter in late 1996, a by-election was held in February 1997. This was the last by-election of that Parliament, held a matter of weeks before the general election was called. It was won by Ben Chapman of the Labour Party, who held the seat until retiring following controversy over his expenses. Labour narrowly managed to hold on in the 2010 General Election.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, covering the south of the borough. Like its neighbour Wirral West, it is a predominantly middle-class area. It contains the towns of Heswall and Bebington and the villages of Bromborough, Eastham, Brimstage and Thornton Hough.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Barry Porter	Conservative
	1997 by-election	Ben Chapman	Labour
	2010	Alison McGovern	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison McGovern	16,276	40.79	−1.7
	Conservative	Jeff Clarke	15,745	39.46	+6.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jamie Saddler	6,611	16.57	−5.0
	UKIP	David Scott	1,274	3.19	+1.6
Majority			531	1.3	−8.1
Turnout			39,906	71.1	+3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	16,892	42.5	−4.9
	Conservative	Carl Cross	13,168	33.2	-1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Holbrook	8,568	21.6	+3.8
	UKIP	David Scott	616	1.6	N/A
	Independent	Laurence Jones	460	1.2	N/A
Majority			3,724	9.4	−3.2
Turnout			39,704	67.5	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.6

General Election 2001: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	18,890	47.4	−3.5
	Conservative	Tony Millard	13,841	34.8	−1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Gilchrist	7,087	17.8	+7.4
Majority			5,049	12.6	−2.0
Turnout			39,818	65.6	−15.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.0

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	24,499	50.9	+19.7
	Conservative	Les Byrom	17,495	36.4	−14.4
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Gilchrist	5,018	10.4	−2.7
	Referendum Party	Donald Wilcox	768	1.6	N/A
	People's Labour	Jane Nielsen	264	0.5	N/A
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Mead	51	0.1	−0.2
Majority			7,004	14.6	−1.7
Turnout			48,095	81.0	−1.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.6

Wirral South by-election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	22,767	52.6	+18.0
	Conservative	Leslie Byrom	14,879	34.4	−16.5
	Liberal Democrat	Flo Clucas	4,357	10.1	−3.0
	UKIP	Richard North	410	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Harold Bence	184	0.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Michael Cullen	156	0.4	N/A
	Disillusioned Conservative	Phillip Gott	148	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Roger Taylor	132	0.3	N/A
	Independent - anti tobacco donation	Anthony Samuelson	124	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Geoffery Mead	52	0.1	−0.2
	21st Century Foresters	Colin Palmer	44	0.1	N/A
	Independent - Thalidomide Action Group	Frederick Astbury	40	0.1	N/A
Majority			7,888	18.2	+1.9
Turnout			60,512	71.5	−10.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.2

General Election 1992: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	25,590	50.8	+0.6
	Labour	Ms. HM Southworth	17,407	34.6	+6.6
	Liberal Democrat	ET Cunniffe	6,581	13.1	−8.7
	Green	N Birchenough	584	1.2	+1.2
	Natural Law	G Griffiths	182	0.4	+0.4
Majority			8,183	16.3	−5.9
Turnout			50,344	82.3	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	24,821	50.2
	Labour	J.S. Swarbrooke	13,858	28.0
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Gilchrist	10,779	21.8
Majority			10,963	22.2
Turnout			62,251	79.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Wirral South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	24,766	53.7
	Social Democrat	P.J.M. Hollingworth	10,928	23.7
	Labour	K.J.S. Rimmer	10,411	22.6
Majority			13,838	30.0
Turnout			60,864	75.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside
• Wirral South by-election, 1997