Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)

Chorley
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Chorley in Lancashire
Location of Lancashire within England
County	Lancashire
Population	94,932 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	75,938 (December 2018) [2]
Major settlements	Chorley
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of Parliament	Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker)
Seats	One
Created from	North Lancashire

Chorley is a constituency ^{[n 1] [n 2]} in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Lindsay Hoyle. Hoyle was originally elected for the Labour Party, but in 2019 became the Speaker, making him unaffiliated.

Constituency profile

Chorley constituency consists of the majority of the borough of Chorley. As well as the central market town of Chorley itself, the seat extends into southern Lancashire rural hinterland with three major villages and minor villages.

Chorley's expansion is assured with the building of Buckshaw Village, an urban development sprawling over the former Royal Ordnance Site east of Leyland in the seat.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Division of Leyland Hundred, and part of the Sessional Division of Leyland.

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Chorley, the Urban Districts of Adlington, Croston, Leyland, and Withnell, the Rural District of Chorley, and in the Rural District of Wigan the civil parishes of Haigh, Parbold, Worthington, and Wrightington.

1950–1955: The Municipal Borough of Chorley, the Urban Districts of Adlington and Leyland, and the Rural District of Chorley.

1955–1983: The Municipal Borough of Chorley, the Urban Districts of Adlington, Leyland and Withnell, and the Rural District of Chorley.

1983–1997: The Borough of Chorley, and the District of West Lancashire wards of Parbold and Wrightington.

1997–2010: The Borough of Chorley.

2010–present: The Borough of Chorley wards of Adlington and Anderton, Astley and Buckshaw, Brindle and Hoghton, Chisnall, Chorley East, Chorley North East, Chorley North West, Chorley South East, Chorley South West, Clayton-le-Woods and Whittle-le-Woods, Clayton-le-Woods North, Clayton-le-Woods West and Cuerden, Coppull, Euxton North, Euxton South, Heath Charnock and Rivington, Pennine, and Wheelton and Withnell.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire leading up to the 2010 United Kingdom general election the Boundary Commission for England created a new seat of Wyre and Preston North in the central part of the county, which caused "knock-on" effects elsewhere. Chorley constituency was one of the largest in electorate at the start of the review, which was a factor in the alterations to both its own composition and the changes to surrounding constituencies. These changes took away from the seat all the areas to the west of the M6 motorway, namely Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley. These move to South Ribble.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following wards of the Borough of Chorley (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• Adlington & Anderton; Buckshaw & Whittle; Chorley East; Chorley North & Astley; Chorley North East; Chorley North West; Chorley South East & Heath Charnock; Chorley South West; Clayton East, Brindle & Hoghton; Clayton West & Cuerden; Coppull; Euxton. ^[3]

Minor changes to bring the electorate within the permitted range and align with revised ward boundaries.

History

Since the 1945 general election Chorley has proved to be a bellwether, changing hands between Labour and the Conservatives; however, this pattern was broken in 2010 when Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle retained the seat against the national trend. Chorley itself is Labour's strongest seat in the area, with the rural hinterland and smaller towns and villages more inclined to vote Conservative.

Members of Parliament

Lindsay Hoyle has been MP for Chorley since 1997 as a member of the Labour Party. In November 2019 Hoyle was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons following the resignation of John Bercow; Sir Lindsay had been Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons under Bercow since 2010.

There is an inconsistently followed convention, which is mostly kept by the major parties, not to oppose the Speaker at elections. In keeping with this, the previously announced Liberal Democrat candidate, Paul Valentine, subsequently withdrew from the general election once Sir Lindsay was appointed Speaker. ^[4] However the Green Party candidate, James Melling, confirmed that he will stand against the incumbent Speaker. ^[5]

Election		Member [6] [7]	Party
	1885	Joseph Feilden	Conservative
	1895 by-election	David Lindsay
	1913 by-election	Henry Hibbert
	1918	Douglas Hacking	Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1945	Clifford Kenyon	Labour
	1970	Connie Monks	Conservative
	Feb 1974	George Rodgers	Labour
	1979	Den Dover	Conservative
	1997	Lindsay Hoyle	Labour
	2019		Speaker

Elections

Chorley Constituency Election Results

Elections in the 2020s

The Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, and Labour traditionally do not stand against the sitting Speaker of the House of Commons. Reform UK originally listed Simon Evans as their candidate ^[8] before now listing him as their candiate for West Lancashire ^{[9] [10]} leaving no prospective candidate for Chorley. ^[11]

Next general election: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Lindsay Hoyle
	Green	Mark Tebbutt [12]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

The Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, and Labour traditionally do not stand against the sitting Speaker of the House of Commons, and consequently did not oppose Lindsay Hoyle's re-election bid. The Brexit Party did not stand an official candidate, however their former candidate stood as an independent, having changed his ballot name to Mark Brexit-Smith. ^{[13] [14]} The Green Party does not follow the convention of standing aside for the Speaker, and also fielded a candidate in the election. ^[15]

General election 2019: Chorley ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Lindsay Hoyle	26,831	67.3	+12.0
	Independent	Mark Brexit-Smith	9,439	23.7	N/A
	Green	James Melling	3,601	9.0	+8.0
Majority			17,392	43.6	+30.1
Turnout			39,870	51.0	―21.7
	Speaker gain from Labour		Swing

General election 2017: Chorley ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	30,745	55.3	+10.2
	Conservative	Caroline Moon	23,233	41.8	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fenn	1,126	2.0	―0.6
	Green	Peter Lageard	530	1.0	―1.1
Majority			7,512	13.5	+4.7
Turnout			55,634	72.7	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 2015: Chorley ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	23,322	45.1	+1.9
	Conservative	Robert Loughenbury	18,792	36.3	―1.7
	UKIP	Mark Smith	6,995	13.5	+9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fenn	1,354	2.6	―11.4
	Green	Alistair Straw	1,111	2.1	New
	Independent	Adrian Maudsley	138	0.3	New
Majority			4,530	8.8	+3.6
Turnout			51,712	69.2	―1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 2010: Chorley ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	21,515	43.2
	Conservative	Alan Cullens	18,922	38.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fenn	6,957	14.0
	UKIP	Nick Hogan	2,021	4.1	New
	Independent	Christopher P. Curtis	359	0.7	New
Majority			2,593	5.2
Turnout			49,774	70.2
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Chorley ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	25,131	50.7	―1.6
	Conservative	Simon Mallett	17,506	35.3	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Wilson-Fletcher	6,932	14.0	+2.8
Majority			7,625	15.4	―2.2
Turnout			49,569	62.9	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.1

General election 2001: Chorley ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	25,088	52.3	―0.7
	Conservative	Peter Booth	16,644	34.7	―1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fenn	5,372	11.2	+2.7
	UKIP	John Frost	848	1.8	New
Majority			8,444	17.6	+0.5
Turnout			47,952	62.2	―15.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Chorley ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Hoyle	30,607	53.0
	Conservative	Den Dover	20,737	35.9
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Jones	4,900	8.5
	Referendum	Anthony Heaton	1,319	2.3	New
	Natural Law	Peter Leadbetter	143	0.2
Majority			9,870	17.1
Turnout			57,706	77.3
	Labour win (new boundaries)

General election 1992: Chorley ^{[25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Den Dover	30,715	47.2	―0.8
	Labour	Raymond McManus	26,469	40.7	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Ross-Mills	7,452	11.5	―4.6
	Natural Law	Peter Leadbetter	402	0.6	New
Majority			4,246	6.5	―6.8
Turnout			65,038	82.8	+5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Chorley ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Den Dover	29,015	48.0	―0.3
	Labour	Anthony Watmough	20,958	34.7	+4.2
	Liberal	Ian Simpson	9,706	16.1	―4.2
	Green	Anthony Holgate	714	1.2	+0.4
Majority			8,057	13.3	―4.5
Turnout			60,393	76.9	―2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.2

General election 1983: Chorley ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Den Dover	27,861	48.3
	Labour	Ivan Taylor	17,586	30.5
	SDP	Peter O'Neill	11,691	20.2	New
	Ecology	Anthony Holgate	451	0.8	New
	Independent	Eva Rokas	114	0.2	New
Majority			10,275	17.8
Turnout			57,703	79.2
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Den Dover	31,125	46.8	+7.1
	Labour	George Rodgers	28,546	43.0	―1.1
	Liberal	Neva Orrell	6,388	9.6	―6.3
	National Front	Michael John Dean	379	0.6	New
Majority			2,579	3.8	N/A
Turnout			66,438	82.0	+0.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.1

General election October 1974: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Rodgers	27,290	44.1	+3.8
	Conservative	Barry Porter	24,577	39.7	±0.0
	Liberal	Neva Orrell	9,831	15.9	―4.1
	More Prosperous Britain	Harold Smith	185	0.3	New
Majority			2,713	4.4	+3.8
Turnout			61,883	81.2	+2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

General election February 1974: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Rodgers	25,440	40.3	―4.0
	Conservative	Constance Monks	25,035	39.7	―7.5
	Liberal	Neva Orrell	12,652	20.0	+12.1
Majority			405	0.6	N/A
Turnout			63,127	83.7	+4.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.8

General election 1970: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Constance Monks	26,577	47.2	+2.0
	Labour	Derek Forwood	24,900	44.3	―10.5
	Liberal	Gordon Payne	4,428	7.9	New
	Anti-Party	Barry Elder	334	0.6	New
Majority			1,677	2.9	N/A
Turnout			56,239	78.8	―2.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.3

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	27,319	54.8	+6.4
	Conservative	Constance Monks	22,575	45.2	+4.1
Majority			4,744	9.5	+2.2
Turnout			49,894	81.1	―3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

General election 1964: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	24,710	48.4	―2.3
	Conservative	John Sutcliffe	20,997	41.1	―8.2
	Liberal	Alistair Bell	5,331	10.5	New
Majority			3,713	7.3	+5.9
Turnout			51,038	84.6	―1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	25,641	50.7	―0.7
	Conservative	Frank Taylor	24,965	49.3	+0.7
Majority			676	1.4	―1.4
Turnout			50,606	85.7	+1.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.7

General election 1955: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	24,994	51.4	+0.8
	Conservative	Alfred Hall-Davis	23,656	48.6	―0.8
Majority			1,338	2.8	+1.6
Turnout			48,650	84.3	―3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

General election 1951: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	24,771	50.6	+3.0
	Conservative	Alfred Hall-Davis	24,118	49.4	+2.5
Majority			583	1.2	+0.5
Turnout			48,889	88.1	―0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

General election 1950: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	23,233	47.6
	Conservative	Andrew Fountaine	22,872	46.9
	Liberal	Florence Emilie Adams	2,706	5.5	New
Majority			361	0.7
Turnout			46,105	88.4
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clifford Kenyon	24,550	53.2	+11.8
	Conservative	Robert Hamilton Brown	21,595	46.8	―8.5
Majority			2,955	6.4	N/A
Turnout			46,145	76.2	2.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.2

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hacking	23,061	55.3	―14.0
	Labour	Arthur Whiting	17,286	41.4	+10.7
	Ind. Labour Party	Bob Edwards	1,365	3.3	New
Majority			5,775	13.9	―24.7
Turnout			41,712	78.4	―1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	―12.4

General election 1931: Chorley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Hacking	28,749	69.3	+23.7
	Labour	John Barrow	12,734	30.7	―11.7
Majority			16,015	38.6	+35.4
Turnout			41,483	80.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+17.7

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Chorley ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Hacking	19,728	45.6	―12.1
	Labour	William Taylor	18,369	42.4	+0.1
	Liberal	Hugh Emlyn-Jones	5,207	12.0	New
Majority			1,359	3.2	―12.2
Turnout			43,304
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1924: Chorley ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Hacking	17,844	57.7	+3.0
	Labour	Zeph Hutchinson	13,074	42.3	―3.0
Majority			4,770	15.4	+6.0
Turnout			30,918
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.0

General election 1923: Chorley ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Hacking	14,715	54.7	N/A
	Labour	Zeph Hutchinson	12,179	45.3	New
Majority			2,536	9.4	N/A
Turnout			26,894	74.4	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1922: Chorley ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Hacking	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Chorley ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Douglas Hacking	13,059	67.7
	Labour	Elijah Sandham	6,222	32.3	New
Majority			6,837	35.4
Turnout			19,896	54.5
	Unionist win (new boundaries)

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Henry Hibbert
• Liberal: John Peter Todd Jackson ^[30]

By-election 1913: Chorley ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Hibbert	7,573	57.5	―2.8
	Liberal	John Peter Todd Jackson	5,606	42.5	+2.8
Majority			1,967	15.0	―5.6
Turnout			13,179	87.1	+1.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	―2.8

General election December 1910: Chorley ^{[31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	7,423	60.3	+2.0
	Liberal	John Peter Todd Jackson	4,887	39.7	―2.0
Majority			2,536	20.6	+4.0
Turnout			12,310	85.8	―6.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.0

General election January 1910: Chorley ^{[31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	7,735	58.3	+2.6
	Liberal	Lyon Blease	5,523	41.7	―2.6
Majority			2,212	16.6	+5.2
Turnout			13,258	92.4	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Chorley ^{[31] [33]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	6,803	55.7	N/A
	Liberal	Eliot Crawshay-Williams	5,416	44.3	N/A
Majority			1,387	11.4	N/A
Turnout			12,219	92.2	N/A
Registered electors			13,247
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1903: Chorley ^{[31] [33]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	6,226	56.5	N/A
	Liberal	James Lawrence	4,798	43.5	New
Majority			1,428	13.0	N/A
Turnout			11,024	85.9	N/A
Registered electors			12,836
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1900: Chorley ^{[31] [33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Chorley ^{[31] [33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

1895 Chorley by-election ^{[31] [33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lindsay	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1892: Chorley ^{[31] [33]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Feilden	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Chorley ^{[31] [33]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Feilden	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1885: Chorley ^{[31] [33] [35]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Feilden	5,867	67.6
	Liberal	Harold Wright	2,808	32.4
Majority			3,059	35.2
Turnout			8,675	87.8
Registered electors			9,881
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

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.

References

1. "Chorley: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
2. England Parliamentary electorates Boundary Commission for England
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
4. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com.
5. "James Melling for Chorley". www.facebook.com.
6. "Chorley 1885–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Retrieved 2 February 2015.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)
8. "Chorley Constituency - Simon Evans PPC Reform UK". web.archive.org. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
9. "West Lancashire Constituency".
10. "Meet Simon Evans, local Reform UK party candidate". www.qlocal.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
11. "Chorley Constituency".
12. "Full list of all Green Party candidates at the next general election". Bright Green. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
13. "'As a main party we believe in upholding traditions': Why Chorley's Liberal Democrats general election candidate will not oppose Lindsay Hoyle on December 12". www.lep.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
14. "General Election 2019: Former Chorley Brexit Party candidate to stand against Lindsay Hoyle as an Independent". www.lep.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
15. "Prospective General Election Candidates". Green Party. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
16. "Chorley Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
17. "Chorley parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
18. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
19. "Chorley". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
20. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Chorley". news.bbc.co.uk.
22. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
27. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
30. Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 11 May 1914
31. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
32. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
33. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
34. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
35. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886

Sources

• UK General Elections since 1832 (Keele University) Archived 2004-05-05 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Buckingham	Constituency represented by the speaker 2019–present	Incumbent

53°39′11″N2°37′55″W / 53.653°N 2.632°W / 53.653; -2.632