West Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Lancashire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Following the resignation of Labour MP Rosie Cooper on 30 November 2022, the seat was won by the party's candidate Ashley Dalton in the by-election held on 9 February 2023.
West Lancashire | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Lancashire |
Electorate | 73,028 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Ormskirk, Skelmersdale and Burscough |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Ashley Dalton (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Ormskirk and Ince |
Constituency profile
The constituency is located in southern Lancashire, and borders Merseyside to the south and west and Greater Manchester to the east. Skelmersdale is the largest town and an electorally strong area for the Labour Party, followed by the more Conservative-inclined Ormskirk, and Burscough. The constituency shares its boundaries with the southern part of the borough of West Lancashire, while the northern part of the borough is in the South Ribble constituency.
Farming is a significant industry in the constituency, with much of the farmland classed as grade 1 or grade 2.[2] The entirety of the constituency is within the North West Green Belt.[3]
West Lancashire is home to a significant proportion of those working at managerial and professional levels and an above average retired age quotient.[4] Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[5]
Boundaries
1983–1997: Aughton Park, Aughton Town Green, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough, Derby, Digmoor, Downholland, Halsall, Hesketh-with-Becconsall, Knowsley, Lathom, Moorside, Newburgh, North Meols, Rufford, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Tarleton, Upholland North, and Upholland South.
1997–2010: Aughton Park, Aughton Town Green, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough, Derby, Digmoor, Downholland, Halsall, Knowsley, Lathom, Moorside, Newburgh, Parbold, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Upholland North, Upholland South, and Wrightington.
2010–present: Ashurst, Aughton and Downholland, Aughton Park, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough East, Burscough West, Derby, Digmoor, Halsall, Knowsley, Moorside, Newburgh, Parbold, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Upholland, and Wrightington. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.
History
The seat was established under the third periodic review of Westminster constituencies of 1983.
The new seat took in parts of Ormskirk and Ince, both abolished in the review. Ince had elected Labour MPs since 1906, but Ormskirk had a mixed and longer history as a more marginal seat. Both seats were represented by Labour MPs when they were abolished.
The seat's first member, Ken Hind, held the seat for two terms as a Conservative, winning the first election in the landslide Conservative result of 1983. In 1992 the seat was won by Colin Pickthall of the Labour Party, who was succeeded by Rosie Cooper in 2005. The 2010 result was more marginal, with a 9.0% majority, but was not within the 50 most narrowly won seats for Cooper's party.[6]
In September 2022 Rosie Cooper announced she had accepted a new role as Chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and would therefore resign as MP, triggering a by-election.[7]
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[8] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Ken Hind | Conservative | |
1992 | Colin Pickthall | Labour | |
2005 | Rosie Cooper | Labour | |
2023 by-election | Ashley Dalton | Labour | |
Elections
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ken Hind | 25,458 | 46.3 | ||
Labour | Josie Farrington | 18,600 | 33.8 | ||
SDP | Andrew D. Sackville | 10,983 | 20.0 | ||
Majority | 6,858 | 12.5 | |||
Turnout | 55,041 | 74.4 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ken Hind | 26,500 | 43.7 | –2.6 | |
Labour | Colin Pickthall | 25,147 | 41.5 | +7.7 | |
SDP | Robert Jermyn | 8,972 | 14.8 | –5.2 | |
Majority | 1,353 | 2.2 | –10.3 | ||
Turnout | 60,619 | 79.7 | +5.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | –5.1 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Colin Pickthall | 30,128 | 47.1 | +5.6 | |
Conservative | Ken Hind | 28,051 | 43.9 | +0.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Peter F. Reilly | 4,884 | 7.6 | –7.2 | |
Green | Philip J. Pawley | 546 | 0.9 | New | |
Natural Law | Bevin H. Morris | 336 | 0.5 | New | |
Majority | 2,077 | 3.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 63,945 | 82.6 | +2.9 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +2.7 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Colin Pickthall | 33,022 | 60.3 | +10.9 | |
Conservative | Chris J. Varley | 15,903 | 29.1 | –13.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Arthur R. Wood | 3,938 | 7.2 | +0.2 | |
Referendum | Michael Carter | 1,025 | 1.9 | New | |
Natural Law | John D. Collins | 449 | 0.8 | +0.3 | |
Independent | David Hill | 392 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 17,119 | 31.2 | +24.4 | ||
Turnout | 54,729 | 74.6 | –8.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +12.1 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Colin Pickthall | 23,404 | 54.5 | –5.8 | |
Conservative | Jeremy Myers | 13,761 | 32.0 | +2.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Thornton | 4,966 | 11.6 | +4.4 | |
Independent | David Hill | 523 | 1.2 | +0.5 | |
Independent | David Braid | 317 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 9,643 | 22.5 | –8.7 | ||
Turnout | 42,971 | 58.8 | –15.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –4.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rosie Cooper | 20,746 | 48.1 | –6.4 | |
Conservative | Alf Doran | 14,662 | 34.0 | +2.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Richard Kemp | 6,059 | 14.0 | +2.4 | |
UKIP | Alan Freeman | 871 | 2.0 | New | |
English Democrat | Stephen Garrett | 525 | 1.2 | New | |
Clause 28 | David Braid | 292 | 0.7 | 0.0 | |
Majority | 6,084 | 14.1 | –8.4 | ||
Turnout | 43,155 | 57.7 | –1.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –4.2 | |||
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rosie Cooper | 21,883 | 45.1 | –2.9 | |
Conservative | Adrian Owens | 17,540 | 36.2 | +2.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Gibson | 6,573 | 13.6 | –0.5 | |
UKIP | Damon Noone | 1,775 | 3.7 | +1.6 | |
Green | Peter Cranie | 485 | 1.0 | New | |
Clause 28 | David Braid | 217 | 0.4 | –0.3 | |
Majority | 4,343 | 8.9 | –5.2 | ||
Turnout | 48,473 | 63.8 | +6.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –2.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rosie Cooper | 24,474 | 49.3 | +4.2 | |
Conservative | Paul Greenall | 16,114 | 32.4 | –3.8 | |
UKIP | Jack Sen1 | 6,058 | 12.2 | +8.5 | |
Green | Ben Basson | 1,582 | 3.2 | +2.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Daniel Lewis | 1,298 | 2.6 | –11.0 | |
Independent | David Braid | 150 | 0.3 | –0.1 | |
Majority | 8,360 | 16.9 | +7.9 | ||
Turnout | 49,676 | 70.0 | +6.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.9 | |||
1: After nominations were closed, Sen was suspended from UKIP after sending an allegedly anti-semitic tweet to Liverpool Wavertree Labour candidate Luciana Berger. His name still appeared on ballot papers with the UKIP party name.[20]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rosie Cooper | 32,030 | 58.9 | +9.6 | |
Conservative | Samuel Currie | 20,341 | 37.4 | +5.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jo Barton | 1,069 | 2.0 | –0.6 | |
Green | Nate Higgins | 680 | 1.3 | –1.9 | |
War Veterans Pro-Traditional Family | David Braid | 269 | 0.5 | +0.2 | |
Majority | 11,689 | 21.5 | +4.6 | ||
Turnout | 54,103 | 74.4 | +4.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rosie Cooper | 27,458 | 52.1 | –6.8 | |
Conservative | Jack Gilmore | 19,122 | 36.3 | –1.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Simon Thomson | 2,560 | 4.9 | +2.9 | |
Brexit Party | Marc Stanton | 2,275 | 4.3 | New | |
Green | John Puddifer | 1,248 | 2.4 | +1.1 | |
Majority | 8,336 | 15.8 | –5.7 | ||
Turnout | 52,663 | 72.0 | –2.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –2.9 | |||
Elections in the 2020s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Ashley Dalton | 14,068 | 62.3 | +10.2 | |
Conservative | Mike Prendergast | 5,742 | 25.4 | -10.9 | |
Reform UK | Jonathan Kay | 997 | 4.4 | +0.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jo Barton | 918 | 4.1 | -0.8 | |
Green | Peter Cranie | 646 | 2.8 | +0.5 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Howling Laud Hope | 210 | 0.9 | New | |
Majority | 8,326 | 36.9 | +21.0 | ||
Turnout | 22,639 | 31.4 | -40.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +10.5 | |||
Notes
References
- "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- Council, Lancashire County. "Environment and conservation maps". Lancashire.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- Council, Lancashire County. "Green belt land". Lancashire.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- Rogers, Simon; Evans, Lisa (17 November 2010). "Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- "Electoral Commission - Previous UK general elections". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- "Campaigning MP to chair foundation trust". HSJJobs.com. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
- "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Lancashire West". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Lancashire West". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- "UKIP candidate Jack Sen suspended over Jewish slur tweet". BBC News. 1 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- "Election of a Member of Parliament for West Lancashire" (PDF). 11 May 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- "Statement of persons nominated 2019" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.