Bury North is a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by ...

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 ...

, created in 1983 and 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 ...

. With a

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 ...

majority of 105 votes, it is the most marginal constituency for a sitting MP in the United Kingdom as of the 2019 general election.

History

;Summary of results Bury North is a

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

between

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and the

Conservatives 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 in ...

, and a bellwether constituency throughout most of its existence — the winner of the seat has tended to win the general election, with 2017 being an exceptional Labour gain, though it was subsequently regained by the Conservatives in 2019. In forerunner seats, the town of Bury did not have a Labour MP until 1964, since when Bury North has become reported on as an important marginal seat. The 2010 Conservative win at Bury North was the Conservative Party's sole gain in Greater Manchester. The 2015 general election result was narrower, which produced the fifth-most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. The 2019 general election result made this the most marginal constituency in Great Britain, with a narrow majority of 105 votes. Only Sinn Fein's majority of 57 in Fermanagh and South Tyrone was lower in the UK, and as

Sinn Fein In the philosophy of language, the distinction between sense and reference was an idea of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege in 1892 (in his paper "On Sense and Reference"; German: "Über Sinn und Bedeutung"), reflecting the ...

members do not take their seats, Daly's majority is therefore the smallest for that of a sitting MP.

Boundaries

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury wards of Church, East, Elton, Moorside, Ramsbottom, Redvales, Tottington, and

Unsworth Unsworth is a village and residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of Unsworth Ward, as of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census is 9,492. The village sits approximately north of ...

. 2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury wards of Church, East, Elton, Moorside, North Manor, Ramsbottom, Redvales, and Tottington. The constituency of Bury North covers the towns of

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, northwest of Bury, a ...

, Tottington and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. It was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Rossendale and Bury and Radcliffe. In those boundary changes Ramsbottom was transferred from Rossendale to Bury North, while with the loss of Ramsbottom, Rossendale was linked with Darwen. In 2010 the

area was transferred to

Bury South Bury South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the 2019 General Election it was the 10th most marginal seat in the country, with a majority of 402 for the Conservative Par ...

Constituency profile

Despite its name, Bury North includes the entirety of the town of Bury. A traditional Labour-Conservative marginal, Ramsbottom and Tottington are mostly Conservative, but in the case of Ramsbottom, not always overwhelmingly so, whereas the town of Bury itself (particularly the Bury East ward) is generally more favourable to Labour, with Elton being a marginal. Tottington, Church ward and the rural North Manor ward are safely Conservative, however Ramsbottom is now a Labour marginal, re-gained by the party in 2018. The 2011 Ramsbottom local election was famously a tie between the Labour and Conservative candidates, decided by drawing straws which Labour won and took control of the council. The wards surrounding the town centre include some terraced and social housing and is ethnically diverse. The Bury town centre itself features two large sixth form colleges, the 'World Famous' market famed for Black Pudding as well as newer shopping and leisure developments such as The Rock. Tourist attractions include the East Lancashire Heritage Railway and Fusiliers Museum. North of Bury the area becomes more rural, approaching the provincial towns of Tottington and Ramsbottom, which are becoming increasingly desirable for Manchester commuters looking for quieter housing overlooking the West Pennines. Ramsbottom features

Peel Monument :''See peel tower for the generic structure'' The memorial tower to Sir Robert Peel, high above Ramsbottom was planned and erected at the same time as Bury was preparing its statue to the then recently deceased statesman who was born in B ...

, a tower on Holcombe Hill dedicated to former Conservative Prime Minister

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

who was born in Bury. The tower is occasionally opened by volunteers, which offers views across Greater Manchester and as far out as Cheshire. The constituency voted Leave in the 2016 referendum with a margin close to that of the national average at an estimated 54%.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

This was the smallest Conservative majority at the 2019 general election.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

References

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Bury North
— presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bury North (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury