Wallasey (UK Parliament constituency)

Wallasey is a constituency[n 1] created in 1918 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1992 by Angela Eagle, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Wallasey
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wallasey in Merseyside
Location of Merseyside within England
CountyMerseyside
Electorate65,732 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsWallasey, Seacombe, New Brighton, Liscard, Leasowe and Moreton
Current constituency
Created1918
Member of ParliamentAngela Eagle (Labour)
Number of membersOne
Created fromWirral (parts of) and Birkenhead

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Wallasey.

1950–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Leasowe, Liscard, Moreton, New Brighton, Seacombe, and Wallasey. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Leasowe and Moreton East, Liscard, Moreton West and Saughall Massie, New Brighton, Seacombe, and Wallasey. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

The constituency covers the town of Wallasey, at the north of the Wirral Peninsula, which comprises the six areas: Wallasey Village, Seacombe, Egremont, Liscard, New Brighton and Poulton, as well as Moreton and Leasowe. It is one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

Minor 2010 boundary reform and abortive proposals

The Boundary Commission initially proposed the abolition in its 2005 draft review: Wallasey was to have been linked with sections of the city of Liverpool in a cross-river constituency.[2][n 3][3] The areas are linked only by a road tunnel under the river Mersey. Following opposition from political parties, local MPs and local residents, the sub-plan was dropped.[4] The change made was the omission of a 40 electors' sub-neighbourhood from formerly shared ward: Hoylake and Meols in favour of Wirral West.

History

The seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Summary of results

Angela Eagle of the Labour Party gained the Wallasey seat in 1992. Eagle has achieved an absolute majority (plurality) of votes since the 1997 general election inclusive. The 2015 result made the seat the 39-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[5]

The seat was Conservative until 1992, with a three-year exception during World War II when represented by an ex-mayor who had been in both the Labour and Conservative parties. Increasing unemployment in the area saw the Conservative vote decline throughout the 1980s in local and general elections, only retaining Moreton West & Saughall Massie and Wallasey wards on the local level into the 2010s, with the remaining wards such as Leasowe and Seacombe safely Labour.

Opposition parties

A Conservative candidate has been runner-up since 1992. Weaker in Wallasey than national average, in 2015 the candidate from UKIP, Caton, amassed +8.8% swing.[n 4] Liberal Democrat, Brown, lost 11.3% of the vote in that year, whereas nationally the party suffered a record -15.2% swing. Neither Brown nor his Green Party counterpart achieved more than 5% of the vote thereby forfeiting their deposits.

Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 82.6% in 1992 to 57.5% in 2001 — elections at which Angela Eagle was elected, and the latter election saw record-low turnout nationwide.

Prominent frontbenchers

Rt Hon Ernest Marples was Postmaster General while running the telephone network run by the General Post Office, Marples introduced subscriber trunk dialling, which eliminated the compulsory use of operators on national phone calls. On 2 June 1957, Marples brought in British postcodes and made the first draw for the new Premium Bonds.[6] Marples was Minister of Transport (1959-1964).

His successor to the seat was the Rt Hon Lynda Chalker Minister for Europe (1986-1989) and Minister for Overseas Development (1989-1997).

Angela Eagle was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury for two years then Minister for Pensions and Ageing Society for a year at the close of the Brown Ministry, before becoming in opposition Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury until October 2011, when in the general Shadow Cabinet reshuffle of Ed Miliband, she succeeded the Rt Hon Hilary Benn as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. She unsuccessfully stood for Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party in 2015 and subsequently was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by Jeremy Corbyn.

Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8% and regional average of 4.4%, at 5.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[7]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[8] Party
1918Bouverie McDonaldCoalition Conservative
1922Robert ChadwickConservative
1931John Moore-BrabazonConservative
1942 by-electionGeorge ReakesIndependent
1945Ernest MarplesConservative
Feb 1974Lynda ChalkerConservative
1992Angela EagleLabour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Wallasey[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 29,901 64.3 -7.1
Conservative James Baker 11,579 24.9 +1.7
Brexit Party Martin York 2,037 4.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Vicky Downie 1,843 4.0 +2.4
Green Lily Clough 1,132 2.4 +1.1
Majority 18,322 39.4 -8.9
Turnout 46,492 70.1 -1.6
Labour hold Swing -4.4
General election 2017: Wallasey[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 34,552 71.5 +11.1
Conservative Andy Livsey 11,232 23.2 +0.5
UKIP Debbie Caplin 1,160 2.4 -9.3
Liberal Democrats Paul Childs 772 1.6 -0.7
Green Lily Clough 637 1.3 -1.7
Majority 23,320 48.3 +10.6
Turnout 48,353 71.7 +5.5
Labour hold Swing +5.3
General election 2015: Wallasey[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 26,176 60.4 +8.6
Conservative Chris Clarkson 9,828 22.7 -8.7
UKIP Geoffrey Caton 5,063 11.7 +8.8
Green Julian Pratt 1,288 3.0 +3.0
Liberal Democrats Kris Brown 1,011 2.3 -11.3
Majority 16,348 37.7 +17.3
Turnout 43,366 66.2 +3.0
Labour hold Swing +8.6
General election 2010: Wallasey[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 21,578 51.8 −2.7
Conservative Leah Fraser 13,071 31.4 +0.9
Liberal Democrats Steve Pitt 5,693 13.7 +0.9
UKIP Derek Snowden 1,205 2.9 +0.6
Independent Emmanuel Mwaba 107 0.3 N/A
Majority 8,507 20.4 −3.6
Turnout 41,654 63.2 +5.4
Labour hold Swing −1.8

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Wallasey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 20,085 54.8 −6.0
Conservative Leah Fraser 10,976 29.9 +1.9
Liberal Democrats Joanna Pemberton 4,770 13.0 +1.8
UKIP Philip Griffiths 840 2.3 N/A
Majority 9,109 24.8 -8.0
Turnout 36,671 57.5 −0.1
Labour hold Swing −4.0
General election 2001: Wallasey[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 22,718 60.8 −3.8
Conservative Lesley Rennie 10,442 28.0 +4.1
Liberal Democrats Peter Reisdorf 4,186 11.2 +2.9
Majority 12,276 32.8 -7.9
Turnout 37,346 57.6 −16.2
Labour hold Swing −4.0

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Wallasey[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 30,264 64.6 +15.7
Conservative Madelaine Wilcock 11,190 23.9 −18.0
Liberal Democrats Peter Reisdorf 3,899 8.3 +0.6
Referendum Roger Hayes 1,490 3.2 N/A
Majority 19,074 40.7 +33.7
Turnout 46,843 73.8 -8.8
Labour hold Swing +16.9
General election 1992: Wallasey[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Angela Eagle 26,531 48.9 +7.0
Conservative Lynda Chalker 22,722 41.9 −0.6
Liberal Democrats Neil Thomas 4,177 7.7 −7.9
Green Sally Davis 680 1.3 N/A
Natural Law Geoffrey Gay 105 0.2 N/A
Majority 3,809 7.0 N/A
Turnout 54,215 82.6 +2.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +3.8

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Wallasey[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lynda Chalker 22,791 42.5 −3.5
Labour Lawrence Duffy 22,512 42.0 +9.5
SDP Jonathan Richardson 8,363 15.6 −6.0
Majority 279 0.6
Turnout 53,945 79.8
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Wallasey[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lynda Chalker 22,854 46.0
Labour James Robertson 16,146 32.5
SDP Jonathan Richardson 10,717 21.6
Majority 6,708 13.5
Turnout 72.6
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1979: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lynda Chalker 26,548 49.65
Labour Hilary Hodge 21,167 39.58
Liberal Neil Thomas 5,269 9.85
National Front John Fishwick 491 0.92
Majority 5,381 10.06
Turnout 77.26
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lynda Chalker 23,499 43.96
Labour Gerald McNamara 21,529 40.27
Liberal Peter Tyrer 7,643 14.30
National Front John Fishwick 787 1.47
Majority 1,970 3.69
Turnout 76.27
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lynda Chalker 22,428 40.71
Labour Robert Paterson 19,936 36.18
Liberal Peter Tyrer 12,734 23.11
Majority 2,492 4.52
Turnout 79.45
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1970: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 24,283 44.99
Labour Clarence J Wells 21,172 39.22
Liberal David J Evans 5,577 10.33
Anti-Common Market John D Hill 2,946 5.46
Majority 3,111 5.76
Turnout 74.87
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1966: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 22,901 43.69
Labour Ronald G Truman 22,312 42.56
Liberal Gruffydd Evans 7,207 13.75
Majority 589 1.12
Turnout 76.06
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 24,784 46.00
Labour Ian Levin 18,663 34.64
Liberal Gruffydd Evans 10,432 19.36
Majority 6,121 11.36
Turnout 76.63
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1959: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 35,567 63.44
Labour Gordon Woodburn 20,501 36.56
Majority 15,066 26.87
Turnout 77.16
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 33,537 63.45
Labour William T Clements 19,319 36.55
Majority 14,218 26.90
Turnout 72.26
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 37,423 63.28
Labour Fred Jarvis 21,718 36.72
Majority 15,705 26.56
Turnout 79.72
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1950: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 33,904 57.08
Labour John London Hindle 18,989 31.97
Liberal Arthur Ward Jones 6,507 10.95
Majority 14,915 25.11
Turnout 82.47
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Ernest Marples 18,448 42.94
Independent George Reakes 14,638 34.07
Labour Co-op Thomas Findley 9,879 22.99
Majority 3,810 8.87
Turnout 75.23
Conservative hold Swing
1942 Wallasey by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent George Reakes 11,596 58.6
Conservative John Pennington 6,584 33.2
Independent Leonard Harrison Cripps 1,597 8.1
Majority 5,012
Turnout 34.2
Independent gain from Conservative Swing
Notes

Moore-Brabazon was forced to retire early in 1942 for stating publicly (in fact in the House) the Soviet Union and Germany would hopefully destroy each other at the Battle of Stalingrad.

1939/40

Another general election was in normal circumstances required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1935: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Moore-Brabazon 27,949 67.44
Labour John Airey 13,491 32.56
Majority 14,458 34.89
Turnout 66.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1931: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Moore-Brabazon 40,161 83.89
Labour John Mack 7,712 16.11
Majority 32,449 67.78
Turnout 77.10
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1929: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Robert Burton-Chadwick 21,457 46.0 −26.4
Liberal Hubert Phillips 13,628 29.2 N/A
Labour John Mack 11,545 24.8 −2.8
Majority 7,829 16.8 −28.0
Turnout 46,630 77.6 +2.9
Registered electors 60,075
Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 1924: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Robert Burton-Chadwick 22,599 72.4 +20.8
Labour John H. Warren 8,634 27.6 −20.8
Majority 13,965 44.8 +41.6
Turnout 31,233 74.7 +7.5
Registered electors 41,816
Unionist hold Swing +20.8
General election 1923: Wallasey [22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Robert Burton-Chadwick 13,995 51.6 −12.1
Liberal Tudor Morris 13,146 48.4 +12.1
Majority 849 3.2 −24.2
Turnout 27,141 67.2 −2.0
Registered electors 40,367
Unionist hold Swing −12.1
General election 1922: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Robert Burton-Chadwick 17,508 63.7 +8.5
Liberal Tudor Morris 9,984 36.3 +21.0
Majority 7,524 27.4 −11.2
Turnout 27,492 69.2 +6.4
Registered electors 39,737
Unionist hold Swing −6.3

Elections in the 1910s
General election 1918: Wallasey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
C Unionist Bouverie McDonald 14,633 55.2 N/A
Labour Walter Citrine 4,384 16.6 N/A
Liberal John Matthews Hay 4,055 15.3 N/A
NFDDSS Thomas David Owen 3,407 12.9 N/A
Majority 10,249 38.6 N/A
Turnout 26,479 62.8 N/A
Registered electors 42,174
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
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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.
  3. Proposed to contain the Liverpool wards of Everton and Kirkdale and the four Wirral wards Wallasey, New Brighton, Seacombe and Liscard.
  4. UKIP's swing nationally was +9.5% in 2015
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. "WIRRAL AND CITY TO SHARE MP; Historic constituency boundary changes to affect voters. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  3. "Cross-river ward set to be declared a non-starter". Liverpool Echo. 15 June 2005.
  4. "Cross-Mersey constituency ditched". June 15, 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. List of Labour MPs elected in 2015 by % majority UK Political.info. Retrieved 2017-01-29
  6. Arthur, Charles (7 October 2009). "Who would really benefit of postcode data were free?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  7. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  9. "Statement of persons nominated 2019" (PDF). 15 November 2019.
  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. "Wallasey". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/News/news_0001343.html
  15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  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. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
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