Congleton (UK Parliament constituency)

Congleton is a parliamentary constituency[n 1] in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Fiona Bruce of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

Congleton
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Congleton in Cheshire
Outline map
Location of Cheshire within England
CountyCheshire
Electorate77,258 (2018)[1]
Major settlementsCongleton, Sandbach, Middlewich and Alsager
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentFiona Bruce ( Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromCrewe, Macclesfield, Knutsford and Nantwich[2]

Constituency profile

The constituency adjoins the Stoke-on-Trent urban area and rural areas in all other directions, including the Peak District to the East, Staffordshire Moorlands to the South and Cheshire Plain to the West.

Congleton is a stronghold for the Conservative Party as the seat has elected a Conservative MP since its creation in 1983, with a majority of 32% in the 2019 general election.[n 3]

The constituency consists mainly of rural areas of south-east Cheshire, with the only four towns being - in descending order of population - Congleton, Sandbach, Middlewich and Alsager. The seat is also home to the large village of Holmes Chapel, as well as many much smaller villages and settlements, such as Church Lawton, Rode Heath and Goostrey.

It has been proposed by the boundary commission that Holmes Chapel should be moved to the Tatton constituency as part of the 2023 Boundary review.[3]

Creation

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election following the major reorganisation of local authorities under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974. It comprises parts of Macclesfield and the abolished constituencies of Crewe, Knutsford and Nantwich.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Congleton, and the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich ward of Haslington.[4]

The town of Congleton was previously in the constituency of Macclesfield; Alsager, Sandbach and Haslington, came from Crewe; Middlewich from Nantwich; and rural areas comprising the former Rural District of Congleton were previously part of Knutsford.

1997–2010: The Borough of Congleton.[5]

Haslington was transferred to Crewe and Nantwich.

The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007 made no changes to Congleton.[6] However, before this came into force for the 2010 election, the Borough of Congleton was abolished on 1 April 2009, becoming part of the new unitary authority of Cheshire East. Consequently, the constituency's boundaries are currently:

2010–present: The Cheshire East Borough wards of Alsager, Brereton Rural (part), Congleton East, Congleton West, Dane Valley, Middlewich, Odd Rode, Sandbach Elworth, Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, Sandbach Heath and East, and Sandbach Town.

Political history

Congleton is a stronghold for the Conservative Party as the seat has elected a Conservative MP since its creation in 1983, with a majority of 32% in the 2019 UK General Election. [n 4]

The seat was held comfortably from 1983 until 2010 by the Conservative Ann Winterton, the wife of Sir Nicholas Winterton, the MP for the adjacent Macclesfield constituency. Both stood down at the 2010 general election; their joint statement cited the hectic life of politics as part of their reason for standing down,[7] in addition to an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who concluded that they misused their MPs' expenses to pay rent for a flat that they had already bought outright.[7]

Mrs Winterton was succeeded by Fiona Bruce at the 2010 general election and she has held the seat since then.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[8] Party
1983 Ann Winterton Conservative
2010 Fiona Bruce Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Congleton[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fiona Bruce 33,747 59.0 +2.4
Labour Jo Dale 15,186 26.5 –7.7
Liberal Democrats Paul Duffy 6,026 10.5 +5.3
Green Richard McCarthy 1,616 2.8 +1.0
Animal Welfare Jane Smith 658 1.1 New
Majority 18,561 32.5 +10.1
Turnout 57,233 70.7 –2.6
Conservative hold Swing +5.0
General election 2017: Congleton[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fiona Bruce 31,830 56.6 +3.3
Labour Sam Corcoran 19,211 34.2 +13.8
Liberal Democrats Peter Hirst 2,902 5.2 –3.9
UKIP Mark Davies 1,289 2.3 –11.3
Green Alec Heath[11] 999 1.8 –1.9
Majority 12,619 22.4 –10.5
Turnout 56,231 73.3 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing –5.2
General election 2015: Congleton[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fiona Bruce 27,164 53.3 +7.5
Labour Darren Price 10,391 20.4 +3.2
UKIP Lee Slaughter 6,922 13.6 +9.4
Liberal Democrats Peter Hirst 4,623 9.1 −22.8
Green Alec Heath 1,876 3.7 New
Majority 16,773 32.9 +19.0
Turnout 50,976 70.4 +1.5
Conservative hold Swing 2.2
General election 2010: Congleton[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Fiona Bruce 23,250 45.8 +0.4
Liberal Democrats Peter Hirst 16,187 31.9 +5.0
Labour David Bryant 8,747 17.2 −10.5
UKIP Lee Slaughter 2,147 4.2 New
Independent Paul Edwards 276 0.5 New
Independent Paul Rothwell 94 0.2 New
Independent Adam Parton 79 0.2 New
Majority 7,063 13.9 -3.8
Turnout 50,780 68.9 +4.8
Conservative hold Swing −2.3

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Congleton[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 21,189 45.4 −0.9
Labour Nicholas Milton 12,943 27.7 −2.8
Liberal Democrats Eleanor Key 12,550 26.9 +5.3
Majority 8,246 17.7 -1.9
Turnout 46,682 64.2 +1.5
Conservative hold Swing +0.9
General election 2001: Congleton[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 20,872 46.3 +5.1
Labour John Flanagan 13,738 30.5 +2.9
Liberal Democrats David Lloyd-Griffiths 9,719 21.6 −8.1
UKIP Bill Young 754 1.7 +0.2
Majority 7,134 15.8 +4.3
Turnout 45,083 62.7 −14.9
Conservative hold Swing =1.1

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Congleton[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 22,012 41.2 −7.3
Liberal Democrats Joan Walmsley 15,882 29.7 −2.0
Labour Helen Scholey 14,713 27.6 +8.4
UKIP John Lockett 811 1.5 New
Majority 6,130 11.5 -7.2
Turnout 53,418 77.6 -6.9
Conservative hold Swing -3.6
General election 1992: Congleton[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 29,163 49.0 +0.7
Liberal Democrats Iain Brodie-Browne 18,043 30.3 −3.5
Labour Matthew Finnegan 11,927 20.0 +2.1
Natural Law Peter Brown 399 0.7 New
Majority 11,120 18.7 +4.2
Turnout 59,532 84.5 +4.0
Conservative hold Swing +2.1

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Congleton[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 26,513 48.3 −0.4
Liberal Iain Brodie-Browne 18,544 33.8 +2.4
Labour Michael Knowles 9,810 17.9 −2.0
Majority 7,969 14.5 -2.8
Turnout 54,867 80.5 +3.6
Conservative hold Swing −1.4
General election 1983: Congleton[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ann Winterton 23,895 48.7
Liberal Clive Smedley 15,436 31.4
Labour Eric Gill 9,783 19.9
Majority 8,459 17.3
Turnout 49,114 76.9
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes
  1. A county 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. "'Congleton', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  3. Avery, Tom (10 June 2021). "Congleton constituency could change under new boundary proposals". Congleton Nub News.
  4. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 May 2021.
  5. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". Archived from the original on 6 November 2015.
  6. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". Archived from the original on 4 January 2011.
  7. "MP pair to step down at election". BBC News. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
  9. "Congleton Parliamentary constituency", Election 2019, BBC News, retrieved 13 December 2019
  10. "Congleton Parliamentary constituency", Election 2017, BBC News, retrieved 9 June 2017
  11. "Alec is Greens' choice for Congleton". www.facebook.com.
  12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Congleton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Congleton". BBC News.
  16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. "Congleton CONSERVATIVE HOLD". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  22. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

53°9′N 2°16′W

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