Knowsley (UK Parliament constituency)
| Knowsley | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Knowsley in North West England | |
| County | Merseyside |
| Electorate | 71,228 (2023) [1] |
| Major settlements | Huyton, Kirkby, Knowsley, Roby |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2010 |
| Member of Parliament | Anneliese Midgley (Labour) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Knowsley South, Knowsley North and Sefton East |
Knowsley is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Anneliese Midgley of the Labour Party.[n 2] .
Constituency profile
[edit]The constituency mainly consists of low-income social housing and former social housing built to decant the residents displaced by post-war slum clearance in Liverpool. It includes Huyton to the south (once represented by Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and Kirkby to the north. Between them is the green space of Knowsley Hall and Park, the ancestral home of the Earls of Derby and the site of Knowsley Safari Park. In 2010, The Guardian summarised the area as "One of the most deprived areas in the country. The new parliamentary constituency folds in Knowsley North and Knowsley South."[2]
The constituency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
History
[edit]Created for the 2010 general election (during the Boundary Commission for England's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies[3]), it was believed to present the safest seat in the country, with an estimated Labour majority of 24,333 votes.[4]. The area returned the second highest share of the vote seen by a candidate for the Labour Party, of 70.9%, behind the 72.0% achieved in Liverpool Walton. The same ranking of results nationally by percentage majority occurred in 2015,[5] when it became the safest seat in the country in absolute terms, beating East Ham by 403 votes.[6]
It ranked foremost by party majority in 2017, where it was followed directly by East Ham and 28 other seats won by Labour candidates, after which followed North East Hampshire.[6] It achieved the highest majority for any British Member of Parliament since the advent of universal suffrage, with Labour winning with a majority of 42,214 votes, surpassing the 36,230-vote majority held by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in his Huntingdon constituency in 1992.
On its creation, the seat was won by George Howarth, who had served as MP for the predecessor seats of Knowsley North (1986–1997) and Knowsley North and Sefton East (1997–2010). On his retirement for the 2024 general election, he was succeeded by Anneliese Midgley on a reduced majority over Reform UK of 50.9%.
Boundaries
[edit]
2010–2024
[edit]The new constituency covered a large part of the metropolitan borough, main settlements being Huyton and Kirkby. It replaced most of the previous Knowsley South constituency, as well as the parts of Knowsley North and Sefton East in the Knowsley borough. Distant parts from the centre of the metropolitan borough were covered by the new St Helens South and Whiston and Garston and Halewood constituencies.
The seat contained the following electoral wards:
- Cherryfield; Kirkby Central; Longview; Northwood; Page Moss; Park; Prescot West; Roby; St Bartholomews; St Gabriels; St Michaels; Shevington; Stockbridge; Swanside; Whitefield in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley
Current
[edit]Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
- Cherryfield; Northwood; Prescot North; Roby; St. Gabriels; St. Michaels; Shevington; Stockbridge; Whitefield.[7]
After allowing for changes to ward names and boundaries, the constituency was reduced in size to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Page Moss and Swanside wards to Liverpool West Derby.
Members of Parliament
[edit]| Election | Member[8] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | George Howarth | Labour | |
| 2024 | Anneliese Midgley | Labour | |
Elections
[edit]Elections in the 2020s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Anneliese Midgley[10] | 24,243 | 67.3 | −12.3 | |
| Reform UK | Alexander Hitchmough | 5,924 | 16.4 | +10.1 | |
| Green | Graham Wickens | 2,772 | 7.7 | +5.7 | |
| Conservative | Sherrie McDaid | 1,496 | 4.2 | −4.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Kate Tipton[11] | 1,232 | 3.4 | +0.9 | |
| Workers Party | Graham Padden | 245 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| SDP | Patricia Jameson[12] | 135 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 18,319 | 50.9 | −21.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 71,964 | ||||
| Turnout | 36,135 | 50.2 | −15.2 | ||
| Rejected ballots | 88 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | −13.5 | |||
Elections in the 2010s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Howarth | 44,374 | 80.8 | –4.5 | |
| Conservative | Rushi Millns | 4,432 | 8.1 | –1.2 | |
| Brexit Party | Tim McCullough | 3,348 | 6.1 | New | |
| Green | Paul Woodruff | 1,262 | 2.3 | +1.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Joe Slupsky | 1,117 | 2.0 | –0.1 | |
| Liberal | Ray Catesby | 405 | 0.7 | New | |
| Majority | 39,942 | 72.7 | –3.3 | ||
| Turnout | 54,938 | 65.4 | –2.4 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | –4.6 | |||
This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election.[15]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Howarth | 47,351 | 85.3 | +7.2 | |
| Conservative | James Spencer | 5,137 | 9.3 | +2.7 | |
| UKIP | Neil Miney | 1,285 | 2.3 | –7.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,189 | 2.1 | –0.8 | |
| Green | Steve Baines | 521 | 0.9 | –1.6 | |
| Majority | 42,214 | 76.0 | +7.7 | ||
| Turnout | 55,483 | 67.8 | +3.7 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Howarth | 39,628 | 78.1 | +7.2 | |
| UKIP | Louise Bours | 4,973 | 9.8 | +7.2 | |
| Conservative | Alice Bramall | 3,367 | 6.6 | −2.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,490 | 2.9 | −10.5 | |
| Green | Vikki Gregorich | 1,270 | 2.5 | New | |
| Majority | 34,655 | 68.3 | +10.8 | ||
| Turnout | 50,728 | 64.1 | +8.0 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | 0.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Howarth* | 31,650 | 70.9 | −0.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Flo Clucas | 5,964 | 13.4 | −0.4 | |
| Conservative | David Dunne | 4,004 | 9.0 | −2.3 | |
| BNP | Steven Greenhalgh | 1,895 | 4.2 | +2.2 | |
| UKIP | Anthony Rundle | 1,145 | 2.6 | New | |
| Majority | 25,686 | 57.5 | −0.5 | ||
| Turnout | 44,654 | 56.1 | +2.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -0.2 | |||
- * Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ 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.
References
[edit]- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Knowsley". guardian.co.uk.
- ^ "Knowsley Boundary Commission for England". Archived from the original on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "Altered Constituencies Data". The Guardian. 22 January 2010.
- ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
- ^ a b Baker, Carl; Hawkins, Oliver; Audickas, Lukas; Bate, Alex; Cracknell, Richard; Apostolova, Vyara; Dempsey, Noel; McInnes, Roderick; Rutherford, Tom; Uberoi, Elise (29 January 2019). "General Election 2017: full results and analysis". parliament.uk.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
- ^ Knowsley
- ^ "It's the honour of my life to be Labour's candidate for Knowsley. Thank you to members. Thanks @LouHarbour & @ryan_wain for a comradely contest. Thanks to George Howarth MP for his service. Unions, I will fight for us in Parliament. Knowsley, I wont let you down". Anneliese Midgley. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "General Election Candidates". Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "Knowsley Constituency declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Knowsley Council. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ "Statement of persons nominated 2019" (PDF).
- ^ http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Knowsley". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
External links
[edit]- Knowsley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Knowsley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK
