St Helens North (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°29′10″N 2°42′50″W / 53.486°N 2.714°W

St. Helens North
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of St. Helens North in Merseyside.

Outline map

Location of Merseyside within England.
County Merseyside
Electorate 75,688 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements St Helens, Billinge, Earlestown, Haydock, Newton-le-Willows and Rainford
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament David Watts (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from St Helens, and Newton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency North West England

St. Helens North is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by David Watts, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Boundaries

The constituency is one of two covering the Metropolitan Borough, the other being St Helens South and Whiston. It includes the north of the town of St Helens, and Billinge, Seneley Green, Earlestown, Blackbrook, Haydock, Newton-le-Willows and Rainford.

Following the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies by the Boundary Commission for the 2010 general election the constituency underwent small boundary changes, in order to match the modified ward boundaries introduced in the borough in 2004.

The seat has electoral wards:

History

The constituency was created in 1983, primarily replacing parts of the St Helens and Newton constituencies. It has to date been safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by a member of the party since its creation, first by the former Newton MP John Evans, then from 1997 by David Watts, a former leader of St Helens council.

Constituency profile

The seat includes the large town of St Helens noted by visitors for Rugby League, Football and the nearby horseracing racecourse at Haydock Park. Despite these prominent sports venues, workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, which was close to the Greater Manchester and Merseyside average but higher than the regional average of 4.4%.[3] With the exception of the Conservative area of Rainford, virtually every other ward in the seat is safely Labour.

Members of Parliament

YearMember[4]Party
1983 John Evans Labour
1997 David Watts Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Denise Aspinall
Labour Conor McGinn[5]
Conservative Paul Richardson
Green Elizabeth Ward
UKIP Ian Smith[6]
General Election 2010: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Watts 23,041 51.7 −8.2
Conservative Paul V. Greenall 9,940 22.3 +3.4
Liberal Democrat John L. Beirne 8,992 20.2 −1.1
UKIP Gary Robinson 2,100 4.7 +1.7
Socialist Labour Stephen Benjamin Whatham 483 1.0 N/A
Majority 13,101 29.4
Turnout 44,556 59.8 +2.0
Labour hold Swing −6.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Watts 22,329 56.9 −4.2
Liberal Democrat John L. Beirne 8,367 21.3 +3.7
Conservative Paul J. Oakley 7,410 18.9 +0.1
UKIP Mrs. Sylvia Hall 1,165 3.0 N/A
Majority 13,962 35.6
Turnout 39,271 57.8 +5.1
Labour hold Swing −4.0
General Election 2001: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Watts 22,977 61.1 −3.8
Conservative Simon Nicholas Charles Pearce 7,076 18.8 +1.5
Liberal Democrat John L. Beirne 6,609 17.6 +4.8
Socialist Labour Stephen Benjamin Whatham 939 2.5 +0.8
Majority 15,901 42.3
Turnout 37,601 52.7 −16.2
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Watts 31,953 64.9 +11.3
Conservative Pelham J.C. Walker 8,536 17.3 −11.2
Liberal Democrat John L. Beirne 6,270 12.7 −0.4
Referendum Party David Johnson 1,276 2.6 N/A
Socialist Labour Ron Waugh 833 1.7 N/A
UKIP Richard D. Rubin 363 0.7 N/A
Majority 23,417 47.6
Turnout 49,231 68.9
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: St. Helens North[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Evans 31,930 57.9 +4.3
Conservative Brendan J. Anderson 15,686 28.5 +1.2
Liberal Democrat John L. Beirne 7,224 13.1 −6.0
Natural Law Mrs Anne M. Lynch 287 0.5 N/A
Majority 16,244 29.5 +3.1
Turnout 55,127 77.4 +1.1
Labour hold Swing +1.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Evans 28,989 53.7 +5.7
Conservative Miss Melinda Jane Libby 14,729 27.3 −3.1
Liberal Neil Philip Derbyshire 10,300 19.1 −2.6
Majority 14,260 26.4
Turnout 54,018 76.3 +4.0
Labour hold Swing +4.4
General Election 1983: St Helens North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Evans 25,334 47.9 N/A
Conservative A. Rhodes 16,075 30.4 N/A
Liberal Neil P. Derbyshire 11,525 21.7 N/A
Majority 9,259 17.5 N/A
Turnout 52,934 74.5 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ 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.
References
  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ 2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England
  3. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 1)
  5. ↑ "Labour choose McGinn for St Helens North". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/11808712.Son_of_a_miner_to_stand_for_Ukip_at_the_next_general_election/?ref=twtrec
  7. ↑ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.