Westhoughton (UK Parliament constituency)
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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 Lancash ...
, 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 o ...
(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. T ...
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 sid ...
, Blackrod,
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, C ...
of
Anglezarke Anglezarke is a sparsely populated 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. The area has a large expanse ...
, 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, Edgworth, 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 townsh ...
,
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, and the parts of Rumworth, Sharples and Tonge with Haulgh 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 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 districts 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, 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 " constitue ...
". Westhoughton County Constituency was enlarged by the addition of Standish with Langtree Urban District and Wigan Rural District. 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 area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
: 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


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