Wirral West (UK Parliament constituency)
53°22′48″N 3°09′32″W / 53.3801°N 3.1590°W
Wirral West | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Wirral West in Merseyside | |
![]() Location of Merseyside within England | |
County | Merseyside |
Electorate | 55,077 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Hoylake, West Kirby |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Margaret Greenwood (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Wirral |
Wirral West 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. In 2017, with 55,377 people eligible to vote, Wirral West had the smallest electorate of any constituency in England. The current MP is Margaret Greenwood of the Labour Party.
History
The present Wirral West constituency was formed in 1983, from the northern part of the former Wirral constituency. It's predecessor had traditionally elected Conservative MPs.
From 1945-1976, the MP was Selwyn Lloyd, who served as Foreign Secretary under the premiership of Anthony Eden and as Chancellor of the Exchequer under the premiership of Harold Macmillan, later becoming Speaker of the Commons in 1971 before being raised to the peerage in 1976. The ensuing by-election was won by David Hunt, who became the first MP for the newly created constituency of Wirral West in 1983. Hunt was a member of John Major's cabinet, serving twice as Secretary of State for Wales and also as Secretary of State for Employment.
Hunt held the seat until 1997, when he lost to Stephen Hesford of the Labour Party. Labour narrowly retained the seat in 2005, despite a challenge from former TV presenter Esther McVey, standing for the Conservative Party.
Stephen Hesford announced on 22 January 2010 that he would be stepping down at the next general election for family reasons. Boundary changes in 2010 meant that the his majority would have been reversed and the Conservatives would have won the seat at the previous election by 569 votes. At the 2010 general election, Esther McVey won the seat for the Conservatives with a swing of 2.3% from Labour.
Wirral West has been described as a bellwether, with results in the constituency mirroring the national result at every general election since its formation in 1983 until 2015.[2][3] However at the 2015 general election, Wirral West was gained by Labour; despite the Conservatives winning the election nationwide to form the first majority Conservative government in 23 years, this in spite of the Conservative Party increasing its popular vote and vote share in the constituency, with the Liberal Democrat turnout collapse benefiting Labour. Wirral West, like nearby City of Chester, was one of the few Conservative-held marginals outside of London to be taken by Labour.
Boundaries
1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Hoylake, Prenton, Royden, Thurstaston, and Upton.
2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Greasby, Frankby and Irby, Hoylake and Meols, Pensby and Thingwall, Upton, and West Kirby and Thurstaston.
The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It contains the towns of Hoylake and West Kirby, as well as areas such as Greasby, Thingwall, Irby, Meols, Upton and Woodchurch.
In the 2005 Boundary Commission report, Wirral West lost part of the Prenton ward to the Birkenhead constituency, and gained part of Barnston from Wirral South.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[4] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 1983 | David Hunt | Conservative |
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 1997 | Stephen Hesford | Labour |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 2010 | Esther McVey | Conservative |
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 2015 | Margaret Greenwood | Labour |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
June 2017
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Margaret Greenwood | 23,866 | 54.3 | +9.2 | |
Conservative | Tony Caldeira | 18,501 | 42.1 | −2.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 1,155 | 2.6 | −0.8 | |
Green | John Coyne | 429 | 1.0 | +1.0 | |
Majority | 5,365 | 12.2 | +11.2 | ||
Turnout | 44,034 | 78.5 | +2.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +5.6 |
May 2015
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Margaret Greenwood | 18,898 | 45.1 | +8.9 | |
Conservative | Esther McVey | 18,481 | 44.2 | +1.7 | |
UKIP | Hilary Jones | 2,772 | 6.6 | +4.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 1,433 | 3.4 | −13.4 | |
Independent | David James | 274 | 0.7 | −0.1 | |
Majority | 417 | 1.0 | |||
Turnout | 41,858 | 75.6 | |||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +3.6 |
May 2010
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Esther McVey | 16,726 | 42.5 | +0.7 | |
Labour | Phillip Davies | 14,290 | 36.3 | −4.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 6,630 | 16.8 | +0.5 | |
UKIP | Philip Griffiths | 899 | 2.3 | +1.1 | |
Independent | David Kirwan | 506 | 1.3 | +1.3 | |
Common Sense Party | David James | 321 | 0.8 | +0.8 | |
Majority | 2,436 | 6.2 | |||
Turnout | 39,372 | 71.5 | +3.4 | ||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +2.4 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Stephen Hesford | 17,543 | 42.5 | −4.7 | |
Conservative | Esther McVey | 16,446 | 39.9 | +2.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jeffrey Clarke | 6,652 | 16.1 | +0.5 | |
UKIP | John Moore | 429 | 1.0 | N/A | |
Alternative Party | Roger Taylor | 163 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,097 | 2.7 | |||
Turnout | 41,233 | 67.5 | +2.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −3.7 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Stephen Hesford | 19,105 | 47.2 | +2.3 | |
Conservative | Chris Lynch | 15,070 | 37.2 | −1.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Simon Holbrook | 6,300 | 15.6 | +2.9 | |
Majority | 4,035 | 10.0 | |||
Turnout | 40,475 | 65.0 | −12.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Stephen Hesford | 21,035 | 44.9 | +13.9 | |
Conservative | David Hunt | 18,297 | 39.0 | −13.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Thornton | 5,945 | 12.7 | −1.9 | |
Referendum | Derek Wharton | 1,613 | 3.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 2,738 | 5.8 | 13.78 | ||
Turnout | 46,890 | 77.2 | −4.6 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +13.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David Hunt | 26,852 | 52.7 | +0.8 | |
Labour | Helen Stephenson | 15,788 | 31.0 | +4.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Thornton | 7,420 | 14.6 | −5.6 | |
Green | Garnette Bowler | 700 | 1.4 | −0.3 | |
Natural Law | Nigel Broome | 188 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 11,064 | 21.7 | −4.0 | ||
Turnout | 50,948 | 81.6 | +3.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −2.0 |
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David Hunt | 25,736 | 51.9 | −3.9 | |
Labour | Alexander Dunn | 13,013 | 26.3 | +4.5 | |
Liberal | Allan Brame | 10,015 | 20.2 | −2.2 | |
Green | David Burton | 806 | 1.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 12,723 | 25.6 | |||
Turnout | 63,597 | 77.9 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David Hunt | 25,276 | 55.8 | N/A | |
Liberal | Stephen Mulholland | 10,125 | 22.4 | N/A | |
Labour | John McCabe | 9,855 | 21.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 15,151 | 33.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 61,646 | 73.4 | N/A | ||
Conservative win (new seat) |
See also
Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Joe Thomas (2015-04-22). "General election 2015: 'Kingmaker' Wirral West voters hold keys to Downing Street". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
- ^ Harry Lambert (2015-04-20). "What are the top seats to watch in the election?". New Statesman. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated,Wirral West" (PDF). Wirral Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Wirral West". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 26 July 2013 suggested (help) - ^ "Latest news - www.wirral.gov.uk". www.wirral.gov.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.