Manchester Withington is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

since 2015 by Jeff Smith of Labour.

Constituency profile

Demographically contrasting with neighbouring inner-city seats with similarly high Labour majorities, this constituency is the most affluent of all the Manchester seats, as it contains the medium-to-high income average areas of Chorlton and Didsbury, as well as mixed Old Moat and Withington neighbourhoods. Manchester Withington is a seat south of Manchester's city centre with a sizeable student population. It also has a particularly high number of young professionals and graduates. The southern border with

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...

is the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

, along which there are mostly green spaces, such as Fletcher Moss Park and Chorlton Water Park. Chorlton and Didsbury are mostly middle-class areas, with houses on leafy roads and thriving independent shops on their respective high streets. House prices are higher than other parts of Manchester, and the area has one of the highest proportion of graduates in the city. Many of the large Victorian family houses in Didsbury have been split into apartments for young professionals moving into the area.

History

In the post-war period, Manchester Withington has elected all three major parties. Mostly

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

before 1987 (with three years of

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

representation near its 1918 inception), it even resisted being gained by Labour in its

landslide victories A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome. The term became ...

in 1945 and 1966. However, in 1987 the seat turned red for the first time and remained so until 2005 when it was gained by Liberal Democrat John Leech. Leech took the seat with an 18% swing – the largest of the 2005 general election. He retained the seat in 2010, with both of the major parties' losing candidates becoming MPs elsewhere by the next election:

Lucy Powell Lucy Maria Powell (born 10 October 1974) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since July 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has been the Member of Pa ...

of Labour in Manchester Central in a 2012 by-election, and Conservative Chris Green in

Bolton West Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Phil Brickell, a Labour Party politician. Constituency profile The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separ ...

in 2015. Amidst a UK-wide collapse in support for the Lib Dems, the seat swung back to Labour in 2015 and in 2017 it became one of the safest Labour seats in the country, with an almost 30,000 majority for Jeff Smith. It was also one of the few seats in England outside London in 2015 where

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

lost their deposit. Smith retained the seat in 2019 with a slightly reduced majority, but this was halved in 2024 when a resurgent

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

jumped from fourth to second place, overtaking the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives falling to fourth place, narrowly avoiding losing their deposit.

Boundaries

Historic

1918–1950: The County Borough of Manchester wards of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, and Withington. 1950–1955: The County Borough of Manchester wards of Rusholme and Withington. 1955–1974: The County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Levenshulme, Old Moat, and Withington. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington. 1983–2018: The City of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Chorlton, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington.2018–2024: The City of Manchester wards of

Burnage Burnage is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, south of the city centre and bisected by Kingsway. The population at the 2011 census was 15,227. It lies within the Greater Manchester Metropolitan area, in the historic count ...

(part), Chorlton (part), Chorlton Park (part), Didsbury East, Didsbury West,

Old Moat Old Moat is a suburban area of Manchester, England. The population of its electoral ward at the 2011 census was 14,490. History Old Moat estate The "Old Moat estate" is a large estate of 1920s built social housing named after a former mano ...

, and

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...

. ''Following a local government review of ward boundaries which became effective from May 2018, the contents of the constituency were adjusted, but this did not affect its boundaries.''

Current

Further to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the City of Manchester (as they existed on 1 December 2020): * Chorlton; Chorlton Park; Didsbury East; Didsbury West; Old Moat; Withington. The boundaries were subject to minor changes to align with the revised ward boundaries, with the whole of the Burnage ward being included in new constituency of Gorton and Denton.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Election in the 1940s

Election in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Notes

References

External links

Manchester, Withington UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 53.433, -2.234, display=title, region:GB_scale:100000

Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Withington Didsbury