Warrington South (UK Parliament constituency)
Warrington South | |
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Borough constituency for the House of Commons |
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Boundary of Warrington South in Cheshire.
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Location of Cheshire within England.
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County | Cheshire |
Electorate | 81,212 (December 2010)[1] |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of parliament | David Mowat (Conservative) |
Number of members | One |
Created from | Warrington, Runcorn |
Overlaps | |
European Parliament constituency | North West England |
Warrington South is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by David Mowat, a Conservative.[n 2]
Contents
Boundaries
1983-1997: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton and Stretton, Booths Hill, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Heatley, Latchford, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Statham, Stockton Heath, and Walton and Westy, and the Borough of Halton wards of Daresbury and Norton.
1997-2010: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton, Stretton and Hatton, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Howley and Whitecross, Latchford, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Stockton Heath, and Walton and Westy.
2010-present: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton, Bewsey and Whitecross, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Hatton, Stretton and Walton, Latchford East, Latchford West, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Stockton Heath, and Whittle Hall.
Overview
The constituency is one of two in Warrington, the other being Warrington North. It covers the parts of the town lying south of the River Mersey, including Appleton, Grappenhall and Stockton Heath, the town centre and the Penketh and Sankey areas in the west of the town. It also includes the village of Lymm.
Forerunners
The constituency was created in 1983 before which the Warrington constituency covered the central part of the town and its immediate surrounds, while the southern fringes were in the Runcorn constituency and certain close northern settlements now in Warrington North were covered by the Newton constituency.
1997–2010
The original boundaries were revised at the 1997 general election, the Fourth Periodic Review nationally, when the number of constituencies in Cheshire were increased and the new Weaver Vale seat was created.
2010–present
The current boundaries were introduced at the 2010 general election, the Fifth Periodic Review. The new boundaries were considered to be slightly more favourable to the Labour Party according to an academic, non-partisan election analysis.[2]
History
- Political history
Warrington South is considered the more volatile of the two Warrington seats. While Warrington North is a safe seat for the Labour Party, Warrington South is often a bellwether and is regarded as a marginal constituency; it has been won by the largest party in each Parliament at every election with the exception of 1992, when it was taken by Labour's Mike Hall. Hall moved to the new Weaver Vale seat in 1997, but the seat was retained for the Labour party by Helen Southworth who represented the seat until her retirement at the 2010 election and successor candidate's defeat.
- Prominent frontbenchers
Despite its short history, this seat was served by a former Secretary of State for Education during part of the Thatcher ministry, Mark Carlisle, who before the seat's creation had represented Runcorn.
2010 election
On 15 June 2009, Helen Southworth announced her intention to retire the next year. Largely because of its close result in 2005, the seat was considered to be one of the key seats which the Conservative Party would have to win to become the largest party in Parliament. The BBC ranked Warrington South as the 85th most marginal seat.[3]
The Liberal Democrats had also identified Warrington South as a target seat. On election day the Liberal Democrat party held 22 of the 30 Borough Council seats in the wards which made up the constituency.[4] The importance of the Warrington South seat was underlined when Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat party leader, chose to visit the constituency the morning after the first of the televised "leaders' debates", which he had been widely perceived as having won.[5]
While all three parties made strenuous efforts to win the seat, it was the Conservative candidate David Mowat who was elected, although fewer than 5,000 votes separated all three parties.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[6] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Mark Carlisle | Conservative | |
1987 | Chris Butler | Conservative | |
1992 | Mike Hall | Labour | |
1997 | Helen Southworth | Labour | |
2010 | David Mowat | Conservative |
Constituency profile
Warrington is a historic and industrious town which grew significantly in economy and in population in the 20th century. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.3% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian. This contrasted with Warrington North at 4.3% of its population.[7]
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David Mowat | 25,928 | 43.7 | +7.9 | |
Labour | Nick Bent | 23,178 | 39.1 | +6.1 | |
UKIP | Mal Lingley | 4,909 | 8.3 | +5.3 | |
Liberal Democrat | Bob Barr | 3,335 | 5.6 | -21.9 | |
Green | Stephanie Davies | 1,765 | 3.0 | +2.2 | |
TUSC | Kevin Bennett | 238 | 0.4 | +0.4 | |
Majority | 2,750 | 4.6 | |||
Turnout | 59,353 | 69.4 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Conservative | David Mowat | 19,641 | 35.8 | +3.7 | |
Labour | Nick Bent | 18,088 | 33.0 | −8.3 | |
Liberal Democrat | Jo Crotty | 15,094 | 27.5 | +3.5 | |
UKIP | Derek Ashington | 1,624 | 3.0 | +1.2 | |
Green | Stephanie Davies | 427 | 0.8 | +0.8 | |
Majority | 1,553 | 2.8 | |||
Turnout | 54,874 | 68.2 | +6.7 | ||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +6.0 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Helen Southworth | 18,972 | 40.5 | −8.8 | |
Conservative | Fiona Bruce | 15,457 | 33.0 | 0.0 | |
Liberal Democrat | Ian Marks | 11,111 | 23.7 | +7.4 | |
UKIP | Gerry Kelley | 804 | 1.7 | +0.3 | |
Independent | Paul Kennedy[n 3] | 453 | 1.0 | +1.0 | |
Majority | 3,515 | 7.5 | |||
Turnout | 46,797 | 61.8 | 0.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −4.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Helen Southworth | 22,419 | 49.3 | −2.9 | |
Conservative | Caroline Mosley | 15,022 | 33.0 | +0.5 | |
Liberal Democrat | Roger J. Barlow | 7,419 | 16.3 | +3.2 | |
UKIP | Joan Kelley | 637 | 1.4 | ||
Majority | 7,397 | 16.3 | |||
Turnout | 45,497 | 61.2 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | −1.7 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Labour | Helen Southworth | 28,721 | 52.1 | ||
Conservative | Chris Grayling | 17,914 | 32.5 | ||
Liberal Democrat | Peter Walker | 7,199 | 13.1 | ||
Referendum | Gerald Kelly | 1,082 | 2.0 | ||
Natural Law | Steve Ross | 166 | 0.3 | ||
Majority | 10,807 | 19.6 | |||
Turnout | 55,082 | 76.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Labour | Mike Hall | 27,819 | 43.6 | +7.8 | |
Conservative | Chris Butler | 27,628 | 43.3 | +1.4 | |
Liberal Democrat | Peter J. Walker | 7,978 | 12.5 | −9.7 | |
Natural Law | Stephen D. Benson | 321 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 191 | 0.3 | −5.8 | ||
Turnout | 63,746 | 82.0 | +2.4 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +3.2 |
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Conservative | Chris Butler | 24,809 | 42.0 | +0.1 | |
Labour | Albert Booth | 21,200 | 35.9 | +5.9 | |
Liberal | Ian George Marks | 13,112 | 22.2 | −5.1 | |
Majority | 3,609 | 6.1 | |||
Turnout | 59,121 | 75.2 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | −2.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Conservative | Mark Carlisle | 22,740 | 41.9 | N/A | |
Labour | David G. Colin-Thomé | 16,275 | 30.0 | N/A | |
Liberal | Ian George Marks | 14,827 | 27.3 | N/A | |
Ecology | Neil Chantrell | 403 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,465 | 11.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 54,245 | 74.5 | N/A | ||
Conservative win (new seat) |
See also
Notes
- ↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
- ↑ Later, in 2006 Paul Kennedy joined the Conservative Party and became a local councillor in May 2008.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Electoral Calculus South
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
- ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- Accuracy disputes from March 2012
- Articles lacking reliable references from March 2012
- Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP-MP template with two unnamed parameters
- EngvarB from October 2013
- Use dmy dates from October 2013
- Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire
- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1983
- Politics of Warrington