Bury South (UK Parliament constituency)

Bury South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Bury South in North West England
County	Greater Manchester
Population	97,842 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	74,598 (2023) [2]
Major settlements	Prestwich, Radcliffe, Whitefield
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Christian Wakeford (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Middleton and Prestwich & Bury and Radcliffe

Bury South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the 2019 General Election it was the 10th most marginal seat in the country, ^[3] with a majority of 402 for the Conservative Party candidate Christian Wakeford. Wakeford defected to the Labour Party on 19 January 2022. ^[4] Wakeford was re-elected at the 2024 general election.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Middleton and Prestwich & Bury and Radcliffe, both of which were Labour-Conservative marginals, held by Labour on slim majorities at the 1979 election. It covers the suburban towns of Radcliffe, Whitefield and Prestwich. The constituency does not contain any area of the town of Bury itself (which is in Bury North), apart from Unsworth, but only towns in the south of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury.

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury wards of Besses, Holyrood, Pilkington Park, Radcliffe Central, Radcliffe North, Radcliffe South, St Mary's, and Sedgley.

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury wards of Besses, Holyrood, Pilkington Park, Radcliffe East, Radcliffe North, Radcliffe West, St Mary's, Sedgley, and Unsworth.

2024–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury wards of Besses; Holyrood; Pilkington Park; Radcliffe East; Radcliffe West; St. Mary’s; Sedgley; and Unsworth, and the City of Salford ward of Kersal & Broughton Park. ^[5]

The Radcliffe North ward was transferred to Bury North, offset by the gain of the City of Salford ward of Kersal & Broughton Park from the abolished Blackley and Broughton.

History

Between 1997 and 2019, the seat was represented by Ivan Lewis. Lewis belonged to the Labour Party and was a minister during the Blair and Brown governments, but was suspended in 2018 due to allegations of indecent behaviour. He stood unsuccessfully as an independent in the 2019 election. Prior to 1997, it had been represented by Conservative David Sumberg since the constituency's creation in 1983.

The seat was contested by future cabinet minister Hazel Blears in 1992, narrowly losing and would later be elected in her hometown in nearby Salford the following election until retiring in 2015. The 2017 General Election saw Robert Largan as the runner-up Conservative candidate, who would later be elected for High Peak at the following general election in 2019.

Constituency profile

The seat covers Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe, towns that were absorbed into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in 1974, plus, since 2024, the ward of Kersal and Broughton Park from the City of Salford. The western border along the Irwell Valley contains much of Bury's green belt land including Philips Park in Whitefield, Prestwich Clough and Drinkwater Park, making up 500 acres of green space. Prestwich, Whitefield and Broughton Park are residential areas with one of the largest Jewish communities outside London. Radcliffe is a former mill town which declined after the loss of industry, with its only secondary school shut down; it is attempting regeneration as a commuter suburb and features a large park-and-ride Metrolink station. Simister to the east of Prestwich opposite Heaton Park still has some farmland, which has been under threat from development. Overall this is an economically diverse area, as there are pockets of social housing in each town, while houses in areas such as Ringley Road in Whitefield, and Sheepfoot Lane in Prestwich, facing Heaton Park, can sell for over £1 million, with mostly owner-occupied semi-detached housing in between. The proportion of graduates and those employed in managerial/professional occupations is slightly above the national average. ^[6]

At local elections, Prestwich mostly returns Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors, with some historic Conservative representation in Sedgley. Whitefield is a mix of safe Conservative and safe Labour, and Unsworth marginally Labour. Radcliffe was generally Labour with the exception of Radcliffe North, however a localist party, Radcliffe First, has taken from Labour all of the Radcliffe seats within this constituency. The Kersal and Broughton Park ward of Salford has returned mostly Conservative or Independent councillors.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [7] [8]	Party
	1983	David Sumberg	Conservative
	1997	Ivan Lewis	Labour
	November 2017		Independent
	2019	Christian Wakeford	Conservative
	January 2022		Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Bury South ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christian Wakeford	19,247	45.6	4.0
	Conservative	Arnie Saunders	9,886	23.4	20.1
	Reform UK	Jeff Armstrong	6,865	16.3	12.6
	Green	Michael Welton	2,715	6.4	4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Page	1,796	4.3	1.9
	Workers Party	Sameera Ashraf	1,023	2.4	New
	Independent	Michael Elston	277	0.7	New
	English Democrat	Stephen Morris	224	0.5	New
	Communist	Dan Ross	181	0.4	New
Majority			9,361	22.2
Turnout			42,214	56	10.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.0

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Bury South ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christian Wakeford	22,034	43.8	2.2
	Labour	Lucy Burke	21,632	43.0	10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Kilpatrick	2,315	4.6	2.5
	Brexit Party	Andrea Livesey	1,672	3.3	New
	Independent	Ivan Lewis withdrawn	1,366	2.7	New
	Green	Glyn Heath	848	1.7	New
	Independent	Michael Boyle	277	0.6	New
	Women's Equality	Gemma Evans	130	0.3	New
Majority			402	0.8	N/A
Turnout			50,274	66.9	2.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.3

General election 2017: Bury South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	27,165	53.3	8.2
	Conservative	Robert Largan [12]	21,200	41.6	7.0
	UKIP	Ian Henderson	1,316	2.6	10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Page	1,065	2.1	1.5
	Independent	Peter Wright	244	0.5	New
Majority			5,965	11.7	1.2
Turnout			50,990	69.2	5.3
	Labour hold		Swing	0.7

General election 2015: Bury South ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	21,272	45.1	4.7
	Conservative	Daniel Critchlow	16,350	34.6	1.0
	UKIP	Séamus Martin	6,299	13.3	11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Ankers	1,690	3.6	14.6
	Green	Glyn Heath	1,434	3.0	2.0
	English Democrat	Valerie Morris	170	0.4	0.6
Majority			4,922	10.5	3.7
Turnout			47,215	63.9	1.7
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8

General election 2010: Bury South ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	19,508	40.4	10.5
	Conservative	Michelle Wiseman	16,216	33.6	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Victor D'Albert	8,796	18.2	1.1
	BNP	Jean Purdy	1,743	3.6	New
	UKIP	Paul Chadwick	1,017	2.1	0.5
	English Democrat	Valerie Morris	494	1.0	New
	Green	George Heron	493	1.0	New
Majority			3,292	6.8	16.0
Turnout			48,267	65.6	7.1
	Labour hold		Swing	8.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Bury South ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	19,741	50.4	8.8
	Conservative	Alexander Williams	10,829	27.7	0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Victor D'Albert	6,968	17.8	3.9
	UKIP	Jim Greenhalgh	1,059	2.7	New
	Independent	Yvonne Hossack	557	1.4	New
Majority			8,912	22.7	9.6
Turnout			39,154	58.5	0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	4.8

General election 2001: Bury South ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	23,406	59.2	2.3
	Conservative	Nicola Le Page	10,634	26.9	5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Pickstone	5,499	13.9	5.5
Majority			12,772	32.3	7.7
Turnout			39,539	58.8	16.6
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Bury South ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivan Lewis	28,658	56.9	12.3
	Conservative	David Sumberg	16,277	32.3	13.7
	Liberal Democrats	Victor D'Albert	4,227	8.4	0.5
	Referendum	Bryan Slater	1,216	2.4	New
Majority			12,381	24.6	N/A
Turnout			50,378	75.4	6.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	13.0

General election 1992: Bury South ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Sumberg	24,873	46.0	0.0
	Labour	Hazel Blears	24,085	44.6	3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Cruden	4,832	8.9	4.2
	Natural Law	Norma Sullivan	228	0.4	New
Majority			788	1.4	3.7
Turnout			54,018	82.1	2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Bury South ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Sumberg	23,878	46.0	2.0
	Labour	Derek Boden	21,199	40.9	4.4
	SDP	Derek Eyre	6,772	13.1	6.4
Majority			2,679	5.1	2.4
Turnout			51,849	79.7	3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.2

General election 1983: Bury South ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Sumberg	21,718	44.0
	Labour	Derek Boden	17,998	36.5
	SDP	Keith Evans	9,628	19.5
Majority			3,720	7.5
Turnout			49,344	76.1
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester

References

1. "Bury South: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
3. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. p. 72. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
4. "Tory MP Christian Wakeford defects to Labour". BBC News . 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
6. "Labour Market Profile – Nomis – Official Labour Market Statistics".
7. "Bury South 1983–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Retrieved 2 February 2015.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
9. Bury South
10. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL". Bury Council. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
11. Sansome, Jessica; Otter, Saffron (14 November 2019). "All the Greater Manchester General Election 2019 candidates". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
12. "Norfolk North and Penistone & Stocksbridge choose their candidates. Latest selection news. | Conservative Home". Conservative Home.
13. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Bury South". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Election 2010 | Constituency | Bury South". news.bbc.co.uk.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. 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.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Bury South — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

53°34′48″N2°17′56″W / 53.580°N 2.299°W / 53.580; -2.299