Knowsley | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Merseyside |
Electorate | 71,228 (2023) [1] |
Major settlements | Huyton, Kirkby, Knowsley, Roby |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2010 |
Member of Parliament | Anneliese Midgley (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Knowsley South, Knowsley North and Sefton East |
Knowsley is a constituency [n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Anneliese Midgley of the Labour Party. [n 2] .
The constituency mainly consists of low-income social housing and former social housing built to decant the residents displaced by post-war slum clearance in Liverpool. It includes Huyton to the south (once represented by Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and Kirkby to the north. Between them is the green space of Knowsley Hall and Park, the ancestral home of the Earls of Derby and the site of Knowsley Safari Park. In 2010, The Guardian summarised the area as "One of the most deprived areas in the country. The new parliamentary constituency folds in Knowsley North and Knowsley South." [2]
The constituency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
Created for the 2010 general election (during the Boundary Commission for England's Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies [3] ), it was believed to present the safest seat in the country, with an estimated Labour majority of 24,333 votes. [4] . The area returned the second highest share of the vote seen by a candidate for the Labour Party, of 70.9%, behind the 72.0% achieved in Liverpool Walton. The same ranking of results nationally by percentage majority occurred in 2015, [5] when it became the safest seat in the country in absolute terms, beating East Ham by 403 votes. [6]
It ranked foremost by party majority in 2017, where it was followed directly by East Ham and 28 other seats won by Labour candidates, after which followed North East Hampshire. [6] It achieved the highest majority for any British Member of Parliament since the advent of universal suffrage, with Labour winning with a majority of 42,214 votes, surpassing the 36,230-vote majority held by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in his Huntingdon constituency in 1992.
On its creation, the seat was won by George Howarth, who had served as MP for the predecessor seats of Knowsley North (1986–1997) and Knowsley North and Sefton East (1997–2010). On his retirement for the 2024 general election, he was succeeded by Anneliese Midgley on a reduced majority over Reform UK of 50.9%.
The constituency covers a large part of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, the main settlements being Huyton and Kirkby. It replaced most of the previous Knowsley South constituency, as well as the parts of Knowsley North and Sefton East in the Knowsley borough. Distant parts from the centre of the metropolitan borough were covered by the new St Helens South and Whiston and Garston and Halewood constituencies.
The seat is composed of the following electoral wards:
2010-2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Kirkby Central, Longview, Northwood, Page Moss, Park, Prescot West, Roby, St Bartholomews, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, Swanside, and Whitefield.
2024-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Northwood, Prescot North, Roby, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, and Whitefield. [7]
Election | Member [8] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | George Howarth | Labour | |
2024 | Anneliese Midgley | Labour |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Anneliese Midgley | 24,243 | 67.3 | −12.3 | |
Reform UK | Alexander Hitchmough | 5,924 | 16.4 | +10.1 | |
Green | Graham Wickens | 2,772 | 7.7 | +5.7 | |
Conservative | Sherrie McDaid | 1,496 | 4.2 | −4.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Kate Tipton | 1,232 | 3.4 | +0.9 | |
Workers Party | Graham Padden | 245 | 0.7 | N/A | |
SDP | Patricia Jameson | 135 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 18,319 | 50.9 | −21.8 | ||
Registered electors | 71,964 | ||||
Turnout | 36,135 | 50.2 | −15.2 | ||
Rejected ballots | 88 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −13.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Howarth | 44,374 | 80.8 | –4.5 | |
Conservative | Rushi Millns | 4,432 | 8.1 | –1.2 | |
Brexit Party | Tim McCullough | 3,348 | 6.1 | New | |
Green | Paul Woodruff | 1,262 | 2.3 | +1.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Joe Slupsky | 1,117 | 2.0 | –0.1 | |
Liberal | Ray Catesby | 405 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 39,942 | 72.7 | –3.3 | ||
Turnout | 54,938 | 65.4 | –2.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | –4.6 |
This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election. [12]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Howarth | 47,351 | 85.3 | +7.2 | |
Conservative | James Spencer | 5,137 | 9.3 | +2.7 | |
UKIP | Neil Miney | 1,285 | 2.3 | –7.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,189 | 2.1 | –0.8 | |
Green | Steve Baines | 521 | 0.9 | –1.6 | |
Majority | 42,214 | 76.0 | +7.7 | ||
Turnout | 55,483 | 67.8 | +3.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Howarth | 39,628 | 78.1 | +7.2 | |
UKIP | Louise Bours | 4,973 | 9.8 | +7.2 | |
Conservative | Alice Bramall | 3,367 | 6.6 | −2.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,490 | 2.9 | −10.5 | |
Green | Vikki Gregorich | 1,270 | 2.5 | New | |
Majority | 34,655 | 68.3 | +10.8 | ||
Turnout | 50,728 | 64.1 | +8.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | 0.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Howarth* | 31,650 | 70.9 | −0.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Flo Clucas | 5,964 | 13.4 | −0.4 | |
Conservative | David Dunne | 4,004 | 9.0 | −2.3 | |
BNP | Steven Greenhalgh | 1,895 | 4.2 | +2.2 | |
UKIP | Anthony Rundle | 1,145 | 2.6 | New | |
Majority | 25,686 | 57.5 | −0.5 | ||
Turnout | 44,654 | 56.1 | +2.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -0.2 |
The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England. It covers several towns and villages, including Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood, Cronton and Stockbridge Village; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres. It takes its name from the village of Knowsley, though its headquarters are in Huyton. It forms part of the wider Liverpool City Region.
Sir George Edward Howarth is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Knowsley until 2024. He also served the seat's predecessors since being elected in a by-election in 1986, firstly as the MP for Knowsley North and then Knowsley North and Sefton East (1997–2010).
Islington South and Finsbury is a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Emily Thornberry of the Labour Party. Thornberry served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2016 until 2020 and as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales from 2021 to 2024.
Islington North is a constituency in Greater London established for the 1885 general election. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn, who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Since 2020, Corbyn has represented the seat as an independent. He was re-elected to Islington North as an independent in the 2024 general election.
Liverpool, West Derby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Ian Byrne of the Labour Party. On 23 July 2024, Byrne was suspended from the Labour Party and had the whip withdrawn for six months, for voting to scrap the two child benefit cap. He now sits as an Independent.
Bootle is a constituency which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, since 2015 by Peter Dowd of the Labour Party.
Knowsley North and Sefton East was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Knowsley South was a constituency in Merseyside, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Liverpool Garston is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Since its recreation for the 2024 general election, its MP is Maria Eagle of the Labour Party.
Liverpool Walton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Dan Carden of the Labour Party. Carden won the highest percentage share of the vote in June 2017 of 650 constituencies, 85.7%.
Knowsley North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
St. Helens South and Whiston is a constituency created in 2010 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Marie Rimmer of the Labour Party.
Garston and Halewood was a constituency created in 2010 and was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Maria Eagle of the Labour Party.
Sefton Central is a constituency represented since its creation in 2010 by Bill Esterson of the Labour Party.
Widnes was a county constituency in England, based on the town of Widnes, in Lancashire. 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 voting system.
Huyton was a former constituency for the House of Commons. Created in 1950, it was centred on Huyton in Lancashire, North West England, just beyond the borders of the city of Liverpool. The only MP was frontbench Labour politician, Harold Wilson who while representing the seat became Leader of the Labour Party in 1963 and prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976.
Knowsley Council, or Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority since 2014.
The 2014 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)