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The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.
Under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, the boundaries of the historic/administrative county of Cheshire were significantly altered. Over half the electorate was transferred to the new metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, partly compensated by the addition of Warrington, Widnes and surrounding areas to the north which were transferred in from Lancashire. These changes were reflected in the following redistribution of parliamentary seats which did not come into effect until the 1983 general election, resulting in a net reduction in the county's representation from 17 to 10 MPs.
The table below shows the number of MPs representing Cheshire at each major redistribution of seats affecting the county.
Year | County seats1 | Borough seats1 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Historic county | |||
Prior to 1832 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
1832–1865 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
1865–18682 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
1868–1885 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
1885–1918 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
1918–1945 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
1945–1950 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
1950–1955 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
1955–1974 | 10 | 6 | 16 |
1974 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
Current county | |||
1974–19833 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
1983–1997 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
1997–present | 9 | 2 | 11 |
1Prior to 1950, seats were classified as County Divisions or Parliamentary Boroughs. Since 1950, they have been classified as County or Borough Constituencies.
2Borough of Birkenhead (1 member) enfranchised by Act of Parliament to replace disenfranchised boroughs. [1]
3Approximate equivalent number of constituencies. Prior to the redistribution coming into effect for the 1983 general election, 6 constituencies were split between Cheshire and the new counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside and 7 were wholly within the reconfigured county.
County seat Borough seat
Constituency | Prior to 1832 | 1832–1865 | 1865–1868 | 1868–1885 | 1885–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1950 | 1950–1955 | 1955–1974 | 1974 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cheshire | 1545–1832 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
South Cheshire | 1832–1868 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
West Cheshire | 1868–1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Wallasey | 1918→ | |||||||||
Birkenhead | 1865–1918 | 1950→ | ||||||||
Birkenhead East | 1918–1950 | |||||||||
Birkenhead West | 1918–1950 | |||||||||
Wirral | 1885→ | |||||||||
Bebington | 1950–1974 | |||||||||
Bebington and Ellesmere Port | 1974→ | |||||||||
City of Chester | 1545–1885 (2 MPs) | 1885–1918 | 1918→ | |||||||
Eddisbury | 1885–1950 | |||||||||
Nantwich | 1955→ | |||||||||
Mid Cheshire | 1868–1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Northwich | 1885→ | |||||||||
North Cheshire | 1832–1868 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Runcorn | 1950→ | |||||||||
Knutsford | 1885→ | |||||||||
Bucklow | 1945–1950 | |||||||||
Altrincham | 1885–1945 | |||||||||
Altrincham and Sale | 1945→ | |||||||||
East Cheshire | 1868–1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Cheadle | 1950–1974 | 1974→ | ||||||||
Hazel Grove | 1974→ | |||||||||
Stockport | 1832–1950 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Stockport North | 1950→ | |||||||||
Stockport South | 1950→ | |||||||||
Stalybridge | 1868–1918 | |||||||||
Hyde | 1885–1918 | |||||||||
Stalybridge and Hyde | 1918→ | |||||||||
Macclesfield | 1832–1885 (2 MPs) | 1885→ | ||||||||
Crewe | 1885→ | |||||||||
Constituency | Prior to 1832 | 1832–1865 | 1865–1868 | 1868–1885 | 1885–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1950 | 1950–1955 | 1955–1974 | 1974 |
Constituency | 1974–1983 | 1983–1997 | 1997–present |
---|---|---|---|
Wirral (part) | <--1983 | ||
Bebington and Ellesmere Port (part) | <--1983 | ||
Ellesmere Port and Neston | 1983–present | ||
City of Chester | <--present | ||
Nantwich | <--1983 | ||
Eddisbury | 1983–present | ||
Weaver Vale | 1997–present | ||
Northwich | <--1983 | ||
Runcorn | <--1983 | ||
Widnes (part) | <--1983 | ||
Halton | 1983–present | ||
Newton (part) | <--1983 | ||
Warrington | <--1983 | ||
Warrington North | 1983–present | ||
Warrington South | 1983–present | ||
Knutsford (part) | <--1983 | ||
Tatton | 1983–present | ||
Cheadle (part) | <--1983 | ||
Macclesfield | <--present | ||
Congleton | 1983–present | ||
Crewe | <--1983 | ||
Crewe and Nantwich | 1983–present | ||
Constituency | 1974-1983 | 1983-1997 | 1997–present |
As a county palatine, Cheshire was unrepresented in the House of Commons until 1545. Under the terms of the Chester and Cheshire (Constituencies) Act 1542, the County of Chester (Cheshire) was thereafter represented by two Knights of the Shire and the City of Chester was represented by 2 burgesses.
The Great Reform Act of 1832 [2] radically changed the representation of the House of Commons, with the County being divided into the Northern and Southern Divisions, both returning 2 MPs. North Cheshire covered the northern and eastern parts of the county, comprising the Hundreds of Bucklow and Macclesfield; South Cheshire covered the southern and western parts, comprising the Hundreds of Broxton, Eddisbury, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral. In addition to Chester, the Parliamentary Boroughs of Macclesfield and Stockport were established, both returning 2 MPs.
Under the terms of the Appropriation of Seats (Sudbury and Saint Alban's) Act 1861, [1] Birkenhead was enfranchised as a single-member Parliamentary Borough. It was first contested at the 1865 general election.
Under the Reform Act of 1867, [3] the county was further divided, with the creation of Mid Cheshire, comprising the Bucklow and Northwich Hundreds, transferred from North Cheshire and South Cheshire respectively. Stalybridge was established as a single-member Borough.
Subsequently, the Boundary Act 1868 [4] renamed the Northern and Southern Divisions as East Cheshire and West Cheshire respectively.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, [5] the three 2-member county divisions were replaced by eight single-member constituencies, namely Altrincham, Crewe, Eddisbury, Hyde, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Northwich and Wirral. The Parliamentary Borough of Macclesfield was disenfranchised due to corruption. The representation of the City of Chester was reduced to one MP.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the number of constituencies in Cheshire was increased by one. The major changes were:
Other boundary changes included:
The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 set up Boundary Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies (those exceeding an electorate of 100,000) in time for the 1945 election. [6] This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Cheshire was allocated one additional seat, by splitting the Altrincham Division into two seats:
Handforth, which had been absorbed into the Urban District of Wilmslow, now included in the Knutsford seat.
As a result of the redistribution enacted by the Representation of the People Act 1948, [7] Cheshire's representation remained at 15 seats. However, there were significant changes to the make-up of the constituencies as follows:
The First Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies resulted in the creation of Nantwich, formed from parts of the constituencies of Crewe (the urban district of Nantwich and most of the rural district of Nantwich) and Northwich (the urban districts of Middlewich and Winsford and parts of the rural districts of Northwich and Tarvin).
The only other change was the transfer of the urban districts of Alsager and Sandbach from Knutsford to Crewe. [8]
The Second Periodic Review, [9] which came into effect for the February 1974 election, resulted in the creation of Hazel Grove. This constituency was carved out of the Cheadle constituency, leaving the urban district of Cheadle and Gatley, to which the urban district of Wilmslow was added, transferred from Knutsford. Alderley Edge was transferred from Knutsford to Macclesfield.
In the Wirral, Bebington was abolished, being replaced by Bebington and Ellesmere Port, with the latter transferred from the Wirral constituency. The parts of the county borough of Birkenhead previously in Bebington were transferred back to the Birkenhead constituency, with the exception of Prenton ward, which was transferred to Wirral. Upton ward was also transferred to Wirral, from Birkenhead.
Shortly after the Second Periodic Review came into effect, the county was subject to a major reconfiguration under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972. As a result, with effect from 1 April 1974, the constituencies of Altrincham and Sale, Hazel Grove, Stalybridge and Hyde1, Stockport North and Stockport South, most of Cheadle and northern parts of Knutsford were now part of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester; and the constituencies of Birkenhead and Wallasey and the majority of Bebington and Ellesmere Port, and Wirral were now part of the new metropolitan county of Merseyside.
1Except the small part comprising the former rural district of Tintwistle, which was transferred to Derbyshire.
The next change to parliamentary constituency boundaries, following the recommendations of the Third Periodic Review, [10] reflected the change in county boundaries and reorganisation of local government authorities in 1974. This review did not come into effect for a further nine years, at the 1983 general election, and resulted in wholescale changes, with only the constituencies of City of Chester and Macclesfield being retained in the reconfigured county. Bebington and Ellesmere Port, Crewe, Knutsford, Nantwich, Newton, Northwich, Runcorn, Warrington, Widnes and Wirral were abolished and the following new constituencies were created:
The Fourth Review [11] saw another increase in the number of constituencies, with the creation Weaver Vale, which was made up as follows:
Other changes included:
At the Fifth Periodic Review [12] there were no changes to Cheshire's representation, with only minor changes to boundaries due primarily to the revision of local authority ward boundaries. The Halton Borough ward of Castlefield was transferred from Weaver Vale to Halton.
The table below shows which constituencies represented major communities within the current county from 1885 onwards.
Community | 1885–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1950 | 1950–1955 | 1955–1974 | 1974–1983 | 1983–1997 | 1997–present | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alderley Edge | Knutsford | Macclesfield | Tatton | ||||||
Alsager | Crewe | Knutsford | Crewe | Congleton | |||||
Bollington | Knutsford | Macclesfield | |||||||
Chester | City of Chester | ||||||||
Congleton | Macclesfield | Congleton | |||||||
Crewe | Crewe | Crewe and Nantwich | |||||||
Culcheth | Leigh | Newton | Warrington North | ||||||
Disley | Knutsford | Macclesfield | |||||||
Ellesmere Port | Wirral | Bebbington and | Ellesmere Port and Neston | ||||||
Frodsham | Eddisbury | Runcorn | Eddisbury | Weaver Vale | |||||
Handforth | Altrincham | Knutsford | Cheadle | Tatton | |||||
Haslington | Crewe | Congleton | Crewe and Nantwich | ||||||
Holmes Chapel | Knutsford | Congleton | |||||||
Knutsford | Knutsford | Tatton | |||||||
Lymm | Altrincham | Bucklow | Runcorn | Warrington South | |||||
Macclesfield | Macclesfield | ||||||||
Middlewich | Northwich | Nantwich | Congleton | ||||||
Nantwich | Crewe | Nantwich | Crewe and Nantwich | ||||||
Neston | Wirral | Ellesmere Port and Neston | |||||||
Northwich | Northwich | Tatton | Weaver Vale | ||||||
Poynton | Knutsford | Macclesfield | |||||||
Runcorn | Northwich | Runcorn | Halton | ||||||
Sandbach | Crewe | Northwich | Knutsford | Crewe | Congleton | ||||
Warrington | Central | Warrington | Warrington North | ||||||
North/East1 | Newton | Warrington North | |||||||
South2 | Knutsford | Runcorn | Warrington South | ||||||
West3 | Newton | Warrington South | |||||||
Weaverham | Northwich | Eddisbury | Weaver Vale | ||||||
Widnes | Widnes | Halton | |||||||
Wilmslow | Knutsford | Cheadle | Tatton | ||||||
Winsford | Northwich | Nantwich | Eddisbury | ||||||
Community | 1885–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1950 | 1950–1955 | 1955–1974 | 1974–1983 | 1983–1997 | 1997–present |
1 Birchwood, Burtonwood, Poulton-with-Fearnhead, Winwick, Woolston
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham, and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary. Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town.
A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 333 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, most of the county being parished. Cheshire East unitary authority is entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 565,259 people living in 332 parishes, accounting for 57.5 per cent of the county's population.
Eddisbury was a constituency in Cheshire last represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Edward Timpson, a Conservative who left office at the dissolution of parliament in advance of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, at which this former constituency was replaced.
Tatton is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Esther McVey, a Conservative.
Weaver Vale was a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Mid Cheshire is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It is represented by Andrew Cooper of the Labour Party.
West Cheshire is a former parliamentary constituency, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Crewe was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Runcorn was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Runcorn in Cheshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
Wirral was a county constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Knutsford was a county constituency in Cheshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.
Northwich was a constituency in Cheshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.
Nantwich was a parliamentary constituency in Cheshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected using the first-past-the-post voting system.
The Cheshire Football Association, also simply known as Cheshire FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Cheshire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.
Healthcare in Cheshire was the responsibility of Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire, Vale Royal and West Cheshire clinical commissioning groups until July 2022.
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