Westhoughton was a
parliamentary 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England. Centred on the former mining and cotton town of
Westhoughton
Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.[Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...]
(MP) to 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
Parliament of the United Kingdom
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 suprema ...
.
The constituency was created for the
1885 general election, and abolished for the
1983 general election.
History and boundaries
1885–1918
The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
divided the existing constituency of
South East Lancashire into eight single-member seats. The new seat of South-East Lancashire, Westhoughton Division comprised an area surrounding, but not including, the
County Borough of Bolton
Bolton was, from 1838 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England conterminate with the town of Bolton.
History
Bolton was created a free Borough in 1253 when William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, granted a charter. However, ...
. It consisted of the towns of
Aspull
Aspull is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, Aspull, along with Haigh, is surrounded by greenbelt and agricultural land, separated from Westhoughton, on its southeast side, ...
,
Blackrod
Blackrod is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a po ...
,
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
,
Little Lever
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
, and Westhoughton, and the surrounding
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
of
Anglezarke
Anglezarke is a sparsely populated Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is an agricultural area used for sheep farming, also site of reservoirs that were built to supply water to Liverpool. T ...
,
Bradshaw,
Breightmet
Breightmet is a neighbourhood of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,584. Historically a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of ...
,
Darcy Lever
Darcy Lever is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the area lies on the B6209 (Radcliffe Road), between Bolton and Little Lever. Its history dates to the time of William ...
,
Edgworth
Edgworth is a small village within the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It is north east of North Turton between Broadhead Brook on the west (expanded artificially to form the Wayoh Reservoir) and Quarlton Brook in the sou ...
,
Entwistle,
Great Lever
Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses running to Bolton town centre, Farnwo ...
,
Harwood,
Heaton,
Longworth
Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. The 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. The village lies between Faringdon, to its west, and Oxford, to the north-east. The 2011 Cen ...
,
Lostock,
Middle Hulton
Middle Hulton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Deane in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. It was located south-west of Bolton.
History
The ancient district of Hulton contained three townships, Over Hulton, Mid ...
,
Over Hulton
Over Hulton is a suburb of Westhoughton within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester,
England.
Historically part of Lancashire, it lies south west of Bolton.
History
The ancient district of Hulton, contained three townshi ...
,
Quarlton
Quarlton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. It lay north east of Bolton.
Topynomy
Quarlton is derived from the Old English ''cweorn'' and ''dun'' meaning th ...
and
Rivington
Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, ...
, plus
Turton Urban District
Turton Urban District was, from 1873 to 1974, a local government district centred on the historical area of Turton in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.
History Background
Turton was a township and chapelry of the civil and e ...
, and the parts of
Rumworth
Rumworth is an electoral ward of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 16,250. Historically it was part of the hundred of Salford in Lancashire and centre of the Parish of Deane which once cov ...
,
Sharples and
Tonge with Haulgh
Tonge with Haulgh was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England.
History
Toponymy
The first part of the township, Tonge, as its name implies, is located on the tongue o ...
outside the
Parliamentary Borough of Bolton.
[F A Youngs Jr., ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol.II: Northern England, London 1991]
1918–1950
The
Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...
reorganised parliamentary seats throughout
Great Britain and Ireland. Constituencies were redefined in terms of the
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
and
rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...
s created by the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
. Lancashire, Westhoughton Division consisted of five adjoining urban districts: Aspull,
Blackrod
Blackrod is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a po ...
,
Hindley,
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
and
Westhoughton
Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.[Representation of the People Act 1948
The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...]
. The Act introduced the term "
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...
". Westhoughton County Constituency was enlarged by the addition of
Standish with Langtree Urban District and
Wigan Rural District
Wigan Rural District was an administrative district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. The rural district comprised an area to the north, but did not include the town of Wigan.
The district was created by the Local Government Act 1894 a ...
.
[ The revised boundaries were first used at the 1950 general election, and were unchanged until abolition.
]
Abolition
The 1983 redistribution of seats reflected local government reforms made in 1974. The bulk of the seat became part of the parliamentary county of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
: Blackrod, Horwich and Westhoughton formed part of the new Bolton West county constituency, Aspull and Standish part of Wigan borough constituency and Hindley was included in Leigh borough constituency. Some parishes in the north of the old constituency remained in Lancashire, and were included in Chorley county constituency.[''The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983'' (S.I. 1983 No.417)]
Members of Parliament
Election results
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1920s
* Endorsed by the Coalition Government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
References
{{coord, 53.60, -2.64, display=title, region:GB, format=dms
Parliamentary constituencies in North West England (historic)
Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983
Westhoughton