Knowsley is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since its 2010 creation by

George Howarth Sir George Edward Howarth (born 29 June 1949) is a British Labour Party politician who serves as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Knowsley. He also served the seat's predecessors since being elected in a by-election in 1986, firstly as the ...

of the Labour Party.

History

Created for the 2010 general election (during the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 2000 and 2007 by the four boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the UK Parliament. The changes for England, Wales and Northern Ir ...

), 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 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%. It is t ...

. The same ranking of results nationally occurred in 2015. 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 North East Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative who has served as Environment Secretary since 2022. History The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of t ...

Boundaries

The new constituency covers a large part of the metropolitan borough, main settlements being

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...

and

Kirkby Kirkby ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495 making it the largest ...

. 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 The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and dist ...

: *Cherryfield Kirkby Central; Longview; Northwood; Page Moss; Park;

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civ ...

West; Roby; St Bartholomews; St Gabriels; St Michaels; Shevington; Stockbridge; Swanside; Whitefield ''in the

Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley 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, ...

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. In 2015, it became the safest seat in the country in absolute votes (not percentage of majority), beating East Ham by 403 votes. Neighbouring

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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

in his

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

constituency in 1992. The constituency mainly consists of low-income

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

and former social housing built to decant the residents displaced by post-war

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. It includes

to the south (once represented by Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

) and

to the north. Between them is the green space of Knowsley Hall and Park, the ancestral home of the

Earls of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

and the site of

Knowsley Safari Park Knowsley Safari is a safari park and tourist attraction near Prescot, England. It is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). It contributes to conservat ...

. 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."'' The constituency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election.http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf :* ''Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowsley (UK Parliament Constituency) Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Parliamentary constituencies in North West England Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2010