Wirral South (UK Parliament Constituency)
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Wirral South 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, ...
in
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
, England 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 ...
by
Alison McGovern Alison McGovern (born 30 December 1980) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Minister for Employment since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral South since 2010. Early life The gra ...
of the Labour Party since 2010.


Constituency profile

Wirral South covers the central part of the Wirral peninsula including most of Heswall, Bebington and Bromborough. Wages and house prices are higher than the averages for the North West. Electoral Calculus describes the demographic as "Centrist", reflecting average views on the left-right and liberal-conservative scales.


History

In 1983, Wirral South arose for election following the national boundary review by taking over parts of two seats that were abolished to create it: Wirral and Bebington and Ellesmere Port, held by the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
since 1923 and 1979 respectively. ;Political history
Barry Porter George Barrington Porter (11 June 1939 – 3 November 1996) was a British lawyer and Conservative Party politician. Early life Educated at Birkenhead School and the University of Oxford, he trained as a solicitor and was a partner and later a ...
( Con) won the seat the first time when it was fought and at the next two general elections. He had ousted the Labour party candidate from Bebington and Ellesmere Port in 1979 which he held until the election in 1983. Following the death of Porter in late 1996, a by-election was held in February 1997, the last by-election of that Parliament, held a matter of weeks before the general election was called. It was won by Ben Chapman ( Lab), who held the seat until retiring following controversy over his expenses. Labour narrowly managed to hold on in the 2010 general election, electing
Alison McGovern Alison McGovern (born 30 December 1980) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Minister for Employment since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral South since 2010. Early life The gra ...
. Since then it has consistently shifted towards Labour, she increased her majority to 4,599 in the 2015 election. She was re-elected in 2017 with a majority of 8,323, an increase of 7% over 2015, the biggest majority Labour has ever held in the seat and the biggest majority for any party in Wirral South since 1987. In 2019 she won Re-Election by a slightly narrower 14% margin.


2015 general election

The terms of the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) (FTPA) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the first time set in legislation a default fixed election date for a general election to the Westminster parliament. Since the repeal ...
mandated that the election was held on 7 May 2015.
Alison McGovern Alison McGovern (born 30 December 1980) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Minister for Employment since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral South since 2010. Early life The gra ...
was the sitting
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 ...
for the Labour Party. The
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
selected John Bell. Bell had previously stood for election in Clwyd South (2010) and Delyn (2005). He had also stood twice to be a Welsh Assembly Member. He stood in a local council by-election in 2011, for Wrexham County Council.


Boundaries

Since its creation in 1983, the constituency has consisted of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Bebington, Bromborough, Clatterbridge, Eastham, and Heswall. The constituency is one of four covering the
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, ...
in
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
.


Members of Parliament


Elections


Elections in the 1980s


Elections in the 1990s


Elections in the 2000s


Elections in the 2010s


See also

*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside The county of Merseyside created in 1974 has 15 parliamentary constituencies — (sub-classified into 12 of borough type and three of county status affecting the level of expenses permitted and status of returning officer). The area, centr ...
* 1997 Wirral South by-election


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirral South (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in North West England Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral