Crewe and Nantwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Crewe and Nantwich is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is located in Cheshire. It was created in 1983, and has been represented since 2019 by Kieran Mullan of the Conservative Party.

Crewe and Nantwich
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Crewe and Nantwich in Cheshire
Location of Cheshire within England
County	Cheshire
Electorate	80,321 (2019)[1]
Major settlements	Crewe, Nantwich
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Kieran Mullan (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Crewe, Nantwich

The seat had been a marginal seat since 2008, as its winner's majority had not exceeded 11.8% of the vote since the 18.9% majority won in that year. A swing seat, it has changed hands twice since 2008. Its 2017 general election result was the eighth-closest result, a winning margin of 48 votes.[2] In 2019, the Conservative candidate secured a 15.7% majority.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election. The Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody had served for the previous constituency of Crewe, and came close to losing her second seat in 1983 (she had earlier lost her Exeter seat in 1970), when she scraped in by just 290 votes. Dunwoody increased her majorities at the general elections of 1987, 1992 and 1997. Her majority was slightly reduced at the 2001 and 2005 general elections. She died on 17 April 2008, after 34 years representing the seat and its predecessor, leading to a by-election held on 22 May 2008 which was won by the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson.[3][4][5][6] The Labour candidate, Dunwoody's daughter Tamsin, came a distant second. Having previously enjoyed a considerable lead in support over the Conservatives (as indicated in Gwyneth Dunwoody’s over 7,000 majority in 2005), the Labour government had lost support due to the onset of the global recession and Gordon Brown’s relatively weak image as a leader.

The by-election produced the first Conservative MP for the seat and nationally the first gain for a Conservative Party candidate at a parliamentary by-election since the Mitcham and Morden by-election in 1982 during the Falklands War, and the first from Labour since the Ilford North by-election of 1978. Timpson held the seat until 2017, where Labour's Laura Smith gained it with a narrow majority of just 48 votes, the closest margin in the seat's history and the second-narrowest Labour gain of the election (behind Kensington, at 20 votes). In the 2019 the Conservatives regained the seat with a majority of 8,508 on a swing of 7.9% to the Conservatives.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Crewe and Nantwich wards of Acton, Alexandra, Audlem, Barony Weaver, Bunbury, Combermere, Coppenhall, Delamere, Grosvenor, Maw Green, Minshull, Peckforton, Queens Park, Ruskin Park, St Barnabas, St John's, Shavington, Waldron, Wellington, Weston Park, Willaston East, Willaston West, Wistaston, Wrenbury, and Wybunbury.

1997–2010: The Borough of Crewe and Nantwich wards of Alexandra, Barony Weaver, Coppenhall, Delamere, Grosvenor, Haslington, Maw Green, Queens Park, Ruskin Park, St Barnabas, St John's, Shavington, Waldron, Wellington, Weston Park, Willaston East, Willaston West, Wistaston, and Wybunbury.

2010–present: The Borough of Cheshire East wards of Alexandra, Barony Weaver, Birchin, Coppenhall, Delamere, Englesea, Grosvenor, Haslington, Leighton, Maw Green, St Barnabas, St John's, St Mary's, Shavington, Valley, Waldron, Wellington, Wells Green, Willaston, Wistaston Green, and Wybunbury.

The constituency was created from parts of the constituencies of Crewe and Nantwich. Crewe had elected Labour MPs since 1945, while Nantwich had only elected Conservative MPs since its creation in 1955.

The boundaries of the constituency include the towns of Crewe and Nantwich in the unitary authority of Cheshire East; however, much of the rural area west of Nantwich, and parts of the north of the town of Crewe are in the Eddisbury constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1983	Gwyneth Dunwoody	Labour
	2008 by-election	Edward Timpson	Conservative
	2017	Laura Smith	Labour
	2019	Kieran Mullan	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Crewe and Nantwich[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kieran Mullan	28,704	53.1	6.1
	Labour	Laura Smith	20,196	37.4	9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Theobald	2,618	4.8	2.4
	Brexit Party	Matt Wood	1,390	2.6	New
	Green	Te Ata Browne	975	1.8	New
	Libertarian	Andrew Kinsman	149	0.3	New
Majority			8,508	15.7	N/A
Turnout			54,032	67.3	2.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	7.9

General election 2017: Crewe and Nantwich[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Laura Smith	25,928	47.1	9.4
	Conservative	Edward Timpson	25,880	47.0	2.0
	UKIP	Michael Stanley	1,885	3.4	11.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Crowther	1,334	2.4	0.3
Majority			48	0.1	N/A
Turnout			55,027	69.7	2.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	3.7

General election 2015: Crewe and Nantwich[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Timpson	22,445	45.0	0.9
	Labour	Adrian Heald	18,825	37.7	3.7
	UKIP	Richard Lee	7,252	14.5	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Roy Wood	1,374	2.8	12.2
Majority			3,620	7.3	4.5
Turnout			49,896	67.4	1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.3

General election 2010: Crewe and Nantwich[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Timpson	23,420	45.8	+12.9
	Labour	David Williams	17,374	34.0	-14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Roy Wood	7,656	15.0	-3.7
	UKIP	James Clutton	1,414	2.8	N/A
	BNP	Phil Williams	1,043	2.0	N/A
	Independent	Mike Parsons	177	0.3	N/A
Majority			6,046	11.8	N/A
Turnout			51,084	65.9	-2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+17.6

Elections in the 2000s

By-election, May 2008: Crewe and Nantwich[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Timpson	20,539	49.5	+16.9
	Labour	Tamsin Dunwoody	12,679	30.6	-18.3
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Shenton	6,040	14.6	-4.0
	UKIP	Mike Nattrass	922	2.2	N/A
	Green	Robert Smith	359	0.9	N/A
	English Democrat	David Roberts	275	0.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	The Flying Brick	236	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Mark Walklate	217	0.5	N/A
	Cut Tax on Diesel and Petrol	Paul Thorogood	118	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Gemma Garrett	113	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,860	18.9	N/A
Turnout			41,498	58.2	-1.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+17.6

General election 2005: Crewe and Nantwich[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	21,240	48.8	-5.5
	Conservative	Eveleigh Moore-Dutton	14,162	32.6	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Roberts	8,083	18.6	+5.1
Majority			7,078	16.2	-6.8
Turnout			43,485	60.0	-0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.7

General election 2001: Crewe and Nantwich[16][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	22,556	54.3	−3.9
	Conservative	Donald Potter	12,650	30.4	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Cannon	5,595	13.5	+1.7
	UKIP	Roger Croston	746	1.8	N/A
Majority			9,906	23.8	-7.4
Turnout			41,547	60.2	-13.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Crewe and Nantwich[17][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	29,460	58.2	+10.6
	Conservative	Michael Loveridge	13,662	27.0	−11.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Cannon	5,940	11.7	−0.8
	Referendum	Peter Astbury	1,543	3.0	N/A
Majority			15,798	31.2	+26.8
Turnout			50,605	73.9	−8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.4

General election 1992: Crewe and Nantwich[18][15][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	28,065	45.7	+1.7
	Conservative	Brian Silvester	25,370	41.3	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Gwyn Griffiths	7,315	11.9	−2.0
	Green	Natalie Wilkinson	651	1.1	N/A
Majority			2,695	4.4	+2.5
Turnout			61,401	81.9	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Crewe and Nantwich[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	25,457	44.0	+2.9
	Conservative	Angela Browning	24,365	42.1	+1.5
	SDP	Kenneth Roberts	8,022	13.9	−4.4
Majority			1,092	1.9	+1.4
Turnout			57,844	79.3	+4.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: Crewe and Nantwich[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gwyneth Dunwoody	22,031	41.1	N/A
	Conservative	Patrick Rock	21,741	40.6	N/A
	SDP	John Pollard	9,820	18.3	N/A
Majority			290	0.5	N/A
Turnout			53,592	74.7	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire

Notes and references

Notes

References

1. "Crewe & Nantwich". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
2. Library, House of Commons (23 June 2017). "GE2017: Marginal seats and turnout".
3. "MP Gwyneth Dunwoody dies aged 77". BBC News. 17 April 2008.
4. "By-election to replace veteran MP". BBC News. 29 April 2008.
5. Watt, Nicholas (23 May 2008). "Conservatives win Crewe and Nantwich byelection with 7,860 majority". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
6. "Tories snatch Crewe from Labour". BBC News. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008. Tory candidate Edward Timpson won 7,860 more votes than his Labour rival, overturning a 7,000 Labour majority at the general election – a 17.6% swing.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
8. "Crewe & Nantwich Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
9. "Crewe & Nantwich parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. general election 2015 – Crewe and Nantwich BBC News
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. General Election 2010 – Crewe and Nantwich BBC News
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Aristotle: Crewe and Nantwich", Guardian Unlimited
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "UK General Election results June 1987". Political Science Resources.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "UK General Election results June 1983". Political Science Resources.