Knowsley (UK Parliament constituency)

Knowsley is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by George Howarth of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Knowsley
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Knowsley in Merseyside
Location of Merseyside within England
CountyMerseyside
Electorate79,334 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsHuyton, Kirkby, Knowsley, Roby
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentGeorge Howarth (Labour)
Number of membersOne
Created fromKnowsley South,
Knowsley North and Sefton East

History

Created for the 2010 general election (during the Boundary Commission for England's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies[2]), 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 occurred in 2015.[3] 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.[4]

Boundaries

The new constituency covers a large part of the metropolitan borough, 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 are covered by the new St Helens South and Whiston and Garston and Halewood constituencies.

The seat has electoral wards:

Constituency profile

Before its first general election in 2010, it was believed to present the safest seat in the country, with an estimated Labour majority of 24,333 votes.[5] In 2015, it became the safest seat in the country in absolute votes (not percentage of majority), beating East Ham by 403 votes. Neighbouring Liverpool Walton has the highest percentage majority.

In 2017, it became the seat with the highest majority for any British Member of Parliament since the advent of universal suffrage, with Howarth winning a majority of 42,214 votes for Labour, surpassing the 36,230-vote majority held by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in his Huntingdon constituency in 1992.

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."[6]

The constitutency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

Members of Parliament
Election Member[7] Party
2010 George Howarth Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Knowsley [8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Howarth 44,374 80.8 -4.6
Conservative Rushi Millns 4,432 8.1 -1.2
Brexit Party Tim McCullough 3,348 6.1 N/A
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 N/A
Majority 39,942 72.7 3.4
Turnout 54,938 65.4 2.4
Labour hold Swing 4.6

This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election.[9]

General election 2017: Knowsley[10]
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 76.1 7.8
Turnout 55,483 67.8 3.7
Labour hold Swing 2.3
General election 2015: Knowsley[11][12]
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 -2.3
Liberal Democrats Carl Cashman 1,490 2.9 -10.4
Green Vikki Gregorich 1,270 2.5 N/A
Majority 34,655 68.3 +10.8
Turnout 50,728 64.1 +8.0
Labour hold Swing
General election 2010: Knowsley[13]
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 +2.6
Majority 25,690 57.5
Turnout 44,654 56.1 +2.3
Labour hold Swing -0.2
* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament
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See also
  • List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A borough 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. "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. "Knowsley Boundary Commission for England". Archived from the original on 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  3. The respective percentages became 68.3% and 72.3% List of Labour MPs elected in 2015 by % majority UK Political.info. Retrieved 2017-01-29
  4. Baker, Carl; Hawkins, Oliver; Audickas, Lukas; Bate, Alex; Cracknell, Richard; Apostolova, Vyara; Dempsey, Noel; McInnes, Roderick; Rutherford, Tom; Uberoi, Elise (2019-01-29). "General Election 2017: full results and analysis". parliament.uk. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Altered Constituencies Data". The Guardian. 22 January 2010.
  6. "Knowsley". guardian.co.uk.
  7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
  8. "Statement of persons nominated 2019" (PDF).
  9. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
  10. "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
  11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. "Knowsley". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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