Middleton and Prestwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Middleton and Prestwich was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Middleton and Prestwich districts of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Middleton and Prestwich
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1983
Seatsone
Created fromMiddleton, Prestwich and Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth
Replaced byBury South and Heywood & Middleton[1]

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new constituencies of Heywood and Middleton and Bury South. Its member from 1974 to the seat's abolition was Jim Callaghan, who happened to share his name with the Labour Prime Minister.

It was an unusual constituency, because Middleton and Prestwich were physically separated by Heaton Park, a large green area bequeathed to Manchester City Council, and had nothing whatsoever in common. Prestwich was a well established middle class suburb with a large Jewish minority, and during the inter-war years boasted several millionaires. Middleton, on the other hand, was greatly expanded by a large Manchester overspill council estate, and at one point during the 1950s, Prestwich had no Labour councillors, while Middleton had no Conservatives. The new constituency of Heywood and Middleton in 1983 resolved this mismatch by linking together the two adjacent towns in the Rochdale borough, and was held by Labour right up to 2019. Prestwich joined neighbouring towns Radcliffe and Whitefield in the Bury Council area to become Bury South which was gained by the Conservatives until 1997 when it was lost to Labour, who held it up to 2019 when it was regained by the Conservatives. The 2018 Boundary Commission Review, which aimed to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, and was subsequently shelved, had proposed to restore the Prestwich and Middleton seat.

Boundaries
Middleton and Prestwich in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974-83

1918–1950: The Borough of Middleton, and the Urban Districts of Chadderton and Prestwich.

1950–1983: The Boroughs of Middleton and Prestwich, and the Urban District of Whitefield.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1918 Sir Ryland Adkins Coalition Liberal
1920 by-election Coalition Liberal
1922 National Liberal
1923 Sir Nairne Stewart-Sandeman, Bt Conservative
1940 by-election Ernest Gates Conservative
1951 Sir John Barlow, Bt Conservative
1966 Denis Coe Labour
1970 Alan Haselhurst Conservative
Feb 1974 Jim Callaghan Labour
1983 constituency abolished: see Heywood and Middleton and Bury South

Elections

Elections in the 1910s
Ryland Adkins
General election 1918: Middleton and Prestwich [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Liberal Ryland Adkins 14,831 69.5
Labour John B Battle 6,501 30.5
Majority 8,330 39.0
Turnout 21,332
Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s
1920 Middleton and Prestwich by-election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Liberal Ryland Adkins Unopposed
Liberal hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
General election 1922: Middleton and Prestwich[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Ryland Adkins 14,832 58.5 -11.0
Labour Matthew Burrow Farr 10,505 41.5 +11.0
Majority 4,327 17.0 -22.0
Turnout 25,337
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1923: Middleton and Prestwich[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Nairne Sandeman 10,029 36.6 New
Liberal Ryland Adkins 9,500 34.7 -23.8
Labour Matthew Burrow Farr 7,849 28.7 -12.8
Majority 529 1.9 N/A
Turnout 27,378
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing n/a
General election 1924: Middleton and Prestwich[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Nairne Sandeman 16,005 51.3 +14.7
Labour Matthew Burrow Farr 8,442 27.0 -1.7
Liberal Ryland Adkins 6,763 21.7 -13.0
Majority 7,563 24.3 +22.4
Turnout 31,210
Unionist hold Swing +8.2
General election 1929: Middleton and Prestwich[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Nairne Sandeman 16,629 40.1 -11.2
Labour Matthew Burrow Farr 14,368 34.6 +7.6
Liberal David Halliwell 10,526 25.3 +3.6
Majority 2,261 5.5 -18.8
Turnout 41,523
Unionist hold Swing -9.4

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Middleton and Prestwich[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nairne Sandeman 31,702 74.6 +34.5
Labour T McCall 10,796 25.4 -9.2
Majority 20,906 49.2 +43.7
Turnout 42,498 77.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1935: Middleton and Prestwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nairne Sandeman 27,369 61.1 -15.5
Labour Joseph Nuttall 17,398 38.9 +13.5
Majority 9,971 22.2 -27.0
Turnout 44,767 74.5 -3.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

However, the sitting MP, Nairne Sandeman, died on 23 April 1940, resulting in a by-election. Due to an electoral pact during World War II not to contest by-elections, the Labour candidate did not stand.

1940 Middleton and Prestwich by-election[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Gates 32,036 98.7 +37.6
British Union of Fascists Frederick Haslam 418 1.3 New
Majority 31,618 97.4 +75.2
Turnout 32,454 49.0 –25.5
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1945: Middleton and Prestwich[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Gates 26,669 50.7 -10.4
Labour Mabel Tylecote 25,908 49.3 +10.4
Majority 761 1.4 -20.8
Turnout 52,577 75.3 +0.8
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1950: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Gates 24,521 50.25
Labour Charles Stanley Hilditch 16,716 34.25
Liberal Ernest Harrison 7,564 15.50 New
Majority 7,805 16.00
Turnout 48,801 86.87
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Barlow 26,073 54.15
Labour Albert Knight 16,323 33.90
Liberal Ernest Harrison 5,757 11.96
Majority 9,750 20.25
Turnout 48,153 84.99
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Barlow 27,096 61.46
Labour Edmund Dell 16,989 38.54
Majority 10,107 22.92
Turnout 44,085 75.47
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Barlow 31,416 59.65
Labour Fred Barton 21,248 40.35
Majority 10,168 19.30
Turnout 52,664 79.97
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1964: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Barlow 22,192 40.11
Labour Ron Leighton 20,066 36.27
Liberal Samuel Crilly 13,064 23.61 New
Majority 2,126 3.84
Turnout 55,322 79.42
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Denis Coe 23,938 44.73
Conservative John Barlow 20,121 37.60
Liberal Samuel Crilly 9,457 17.67
Majority 3,817 7.13
Turnout 53,516 78.01
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1970: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alan Haselhurst 25,030 43.76
Labour Denis Coe 23,988 41.94
Liberal Samuel Crilly 8,175 14.29
Majority 1,042 1.82
Turnout 57,193 74.72
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election February 1974: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 24,357 39.84
Conservative Alan Haselhurst 23,840 38.99
Liberal Philip Harrison 12,946 21.17
Majority 517 0.85 N/A
Turnout 61,143 80.49
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election October 1974: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 26,639 45.82
Conservative A Fearn 22,925 39.43
Liberal J Clarney 8,340 14.35
More Prosperous Britain Harold Smith 234 0.40 New
Majority 3,714 6.39
Turnout 58,138 75.76
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Middleton and Prestwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 27,918 45.79
Conservative J Park 26,820 43.98
Liberal D Whatmough 5,888 9.66
National Front S Andrews 350 0.57 New
Majority 1,098 1.81
Turnout 60,976 78.89
Labour hold Swing

References
  1. "'Middleton and Prestwich', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  4. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  10. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  11. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
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