Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Sefton Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Sefton Central in Merseyside
Location of Merseyside within England
County	Merseyside
Electorate	67,696 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Crosby and Formby
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Bill Esterson (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Crosby Knowsley North & Sefton East

Sefton Central is a constituency represented by Bill Esterson of the Labour Party since 2010. ^{[n 1] [n 2]}

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

History of boundaries

The constituency was created for the 2010 general election, replacing much of Crosby along with part of Knowsley North and Sefton East. The new constituency covers Merseyside northern residential suburban areas of Crosby, Blundellsands, Brighton-Le-Sands, Little Crosby, Thornton, and Hightown, Formby and Maghull and the villages and localities of Aintree, Carr Houses, Freshfield, Ince Blundell, Kennessee Green, Lady Green, Little Altcar, Lunt, Lydiate, Melling, Sefton, and Waddicar, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton. The constituency has electoral wards: ^[2]

• Blundellsands
• Harington
• Manor
• Molyneux
• Park
• Ravenmeols
• Sudell

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 Metropolitan Borough of Sefton (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• Ainsdale; Blundellsands; Harington; Manor; Molyneux (polling districts C1, C2 and C3); Park; Ravenmeols; Sudell. ^[3]

The Ainsdale ward will transferred from Southport, offset by the loss of the Aintree district in the Molyneux ward to Liverpool Walton.

History

This seat was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election. ^[4]

At the time, eleven of the constituency's twenty-one councillors were Conservatives followed by the Liberal Democrats who had ten, ^{[n 3]} whereas analysis by Rallings and Thrasher indicated that had the Sefton Central constituency existed in 2005, the result would have been: Labour 45.6%, Conservative 33.6%, LibDem 19.2%, giving a Labour majority of 4,950. The Labour Party candidate's majority was 3,862 suggesting a moderate two-party swing. ^[4]

The area covered by this seat and its immediate predecessor Crosby was historically a strong area for the Conservatives. However, since Labour gained that seat in the 1997 election, they have held it with fairly comfortable margins for 20 years. In 2015, an 8.1% swing to Labour saw them take the area with their biggest ever majority of 11,846 votes (24.2%), ^[4] in accordance with the significant swing to Labour in Merseyside compared to 2010; this margin was surpassed in 2017, as Labour won more than 60% of the vote in the seat and a majority of over 30% for the first time. This suggests that since 2010, Sefton Central has changed from a key marginal between the major parties to a Labour safe seat.

Constituency profile

The constituency has a working population whose income is close to the national average, and close to average reliance on social housing. ^[5] At the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 2.4% of the population claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.2%. ^[6] The borough contributing to the seat has a medium 28.5% of its population without a car, 25.1% of the population without any qualifications and a 24.1% with Level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure, 70.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 UK Census across the district. ^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [8]	Party
	2010	Bill Esterson	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Sefton Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Lloyd-Johnson [9]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Sefton Central ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Esterson	29,254	57.5	–5.5
	Conservative	Wazz Mughal	14,132	27.8	–5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Cawdron	3,386	6.7	+4.0
	Brexit Party	Paul Lomas	2,425	4.8	New
	Green	Alison Gibbon	1,261	2.5	+1.2
	Liberal	Angela Preston	285	0.6	New
	Renew	Carla Burns	137	0.3	New
Majority			15,122	29.7	–0.3
Turnout			50,880	72.9	–2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	–0.1

General election 2017: Sefton Central ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Esterson	32,830	63.0	+9.2
	Conservative	Jade Marsden	17,212	33.0	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Lewis	1,381	2.7	–1.6
	Green	Mike Carter	656	1.3	–1.1
Majority			15,618	30.0	+5.8
Turnout			52,079	75.5	+3.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

General election 2015: Sefton Central ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Esterson	26,359	53.8	+11.9
	Conservative	Valerie Allen	14,513	29.6	–4.3
	UKIP	Tim Power	4,879	10.0	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Keaveney	2,086	4.3	–15.6
	Green	Lindsay Melia	1,184	2.4	New
Majority			11,846	24.2	+16.2
Turnout			49,021	72.4	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.1

General election 2010: Sefton Central ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Esterson	20,307	41.9	–3.7
	Conservative	Debi Jones	16,445	33.9	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Clein	9,656	19.9	+0.7
	UKIP	Peter Harper	2,055	4.2	+3.5
Majority			3,862	8.0	-4.1
Turnout			48,463	71.8	+11.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside

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.
3. A share of the vote based on the 2008 local election in these seven wards gave Conservative 42.3% Liberal Democrat 34.2% Labour 18.1%.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, Office of Public Sector Information
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
4. Election history for Sefton Central, UK Parliament, n.d., retrieved 19 August 2020
5. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
7. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)
9. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
10. "Statement of persons nominated 2019".
11. "Sefton Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" . Retrieved 13 December 2019.
12. "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
13. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Sefton Central". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

53°31′23″N2°59′06″W / 53.523°N 2.985°W / 53.523; -2.985