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)[1]
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.

Contents

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[2]. 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[3] 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[4]
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[5][6][7]
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[8]
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

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ "Ben Chapman becomes first Labour MP to stand down over expenses". Chapman Resigns (London: The Guardian). 21 May 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/21/ben-chapman-expenses-stand-down. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
  4. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Wirral South". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/f19.stm. 
  5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/426.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
  6. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.177 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
  7. ^ Swings are calculated relative to the 1992 election result, not the by-election result.
  8. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
Constituencies in North West England (75)
Labour (47)
Conservative (22)
Liberal Democrats (6)