Warrington South (UK Parliament constituency)

Warrington South is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andy Carter, a Conservative Party politician.[n 2]

Warrington South
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Warrington South in Cheshire
Location of Cheshire within England
County	Cheshire
Electorate	83,840 (2018)[1]
Major settlements	Great Sankey, Penketh, Warrington
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Andy Carter (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Warrington, Runcorn and Newton[2]

Constituency profile

Warrington South is one of two seats covering the Borough of Warrington, the other being Warrington North. The seat covers the parts of the town lying south of the River Mersey, including Appleton, Grappenhall and Stockton Heath, the town centre and the Penketh and Sankey areas in the west of the town. It also includes the village of Lymm.

Warrington is a historic and industrious town which grew significantly in economy and in population in the 20th century. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.3% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian. This contrasted with Warrington North at 4.3% of its population.[3]

Creation

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election following the major reorganisation of local authorities under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974. It comprised parts of the abolished constituencies of Newton, Runcorn and Warrington.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton and Stretton, Booths Hill, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Heatley, Latchford, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Statham, Stockton Heath, and Walton and Westy, and the Borough of Halton wards of Daresbury and Norton.[4]

Areas to the south of the Manchester Ship Canal, now part of the newly formed Borough of Warrington (including Lymm) and the Borough of Halton wards were previously part of Runcorn constituency. Great Sankey and Penketh, to the west of the town, were previously part of Newton. Also included a small part of the abolished Warrington constituency.

1997–2010: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton, Stretton and Hatton, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Howley and Whitecross, Latchford, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Stockton Heath, and Walton and Westy.[5]

Under the Fourth Periodic Review of constituencies, the number of constituencies in Cheshire was increased from 10 to 11 and the Borough of Halton wards were now included in the newly created constituency of Weaver Vale. To compensate for this loss, the town centre area was transferred from Warrington North.

2010–present: The Borough of Warrington wards of Appleton, Bewsey and Whitecross, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South, Hatton, Stretton and Walton, Latchford East, Latchford West, Lymm, Penketh and Cuerdley, Stockton Heath, and Whittle Hall.[6]

The current boundaries were introduced at the 2010 general election, following the Fifth Periodic Review. Minor changes due to revision of ward boundaries.

Political history

In 1983, the seat was won for the Conservatives by Mark Carlisle, who before the seat's creation had represented Runcorn. Carlisle served as Secretary of State for Education during part of the Thatcher ministry.

The seat has been relative to others a marginal seat since 2001 as well as a swing seat as its winner's majority has not exceeded 7.5% of the vote since the 16.3% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands three times since that year.

Warrington South is considered the more volatile of the two Warrington seats. While Warrington North is a safe seat for the Labour Party, Warrington South is often a bellwether and is regarded as a marginal constituency; it has been won by the largest party in each Parliament at every election with the exception of 1992, when it was taken by Labour's Mike Hall with a majority of just 0.3%, and again in 2017. Hall moved to the new Weaver Vale seat in 1997, but the seat was retained for the Labour party by Helen Southworth who represented the seat until her retirement at the 2010 election and successor candidate's defeat.

2010 election

On 15 June 2009, Helen Southworth announced her intention to retire the next year. Largely because of its close result in 2005, the seat was considered to be one of the key seats which the Conservative Party would have to win to become the largest party in Parliament. The BBC ranked Warrington South as the 85th most marginal seat.[7] The new boundaries were considered to be slightly more favourable to the Labour Party according to an academic, non-partisan election analysis.[8]

The Liberal Democrats had also identified Warrington South as a target seat. On election day the Liberal Democrat party held 22 of the 30 Borough Council seats in the wards which made up the constituency.[9] The importance of the Warrington South seat was underlined when Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat party leader, chose to visit the constituency the morning after the first of the televised "leaders' debates", which he had been widely perceived as having won.[10]

While all three parties made strenuous efforts to win the seat, it was the Conservative candidate David Mowat who was elected, although fewer than 5,000 votes separated all three parties.

Subsequent elections

In 2015 and 2017, the seat was considered an important Labour-Conservative marginal, the Liberal Democrats losing substantial ground here in both elections. The 2015 election saw Mowat re-elected with an increased majority; in 2017, it was regained by Labour's Faisal Rashid on a 4.4% swing. It was retaken for the Conservatives in 2019 by Andy Carter. In all three cases, the victory margin between first and second was smaller than overall vote of the third-placed Liberal Democrats, although the latter were a long way behind the top two parties.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[11]	Party
	1983	Mark Carlisle	Conservative
	1987	Chris Butler	Conservative
	1992	Mike Hall	Labour
	1997	Helen Southworth	Labour
	2010	David Mowat	Conservative
	2017	Faisal Rashid	Labour
	2019	Andy Carter	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Warrington South[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Carter	28,187	45.5	+1.3
	Labour	Faisal Rashid	26,177	42.3	-6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ryan Bate Sr	5,732	9.3	+3.9
	Brexit Party	Clare Aspinall	1,635	2.6	N/A
	SDP	Kevin Hickson	168	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,010	3.2	N/A
Turnout			61,899	72.0	-0.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.7

General election 2017: Warrington South[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Faisal Rashid	29,994	48.4	+9.3
	Conservative	David Mowat	27,445	44.3	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Barr	3,339	5.4	-0.2
	Independent	John Boulton	1,217	2.0	N/A
Majority			2,549	4.1
Turnout			61,995	72.4	+ 3.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.4

General election 2015: Warrington South[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mowat	25,928	43.7	+7.9
	Labour	Nick Bent	23,178	39.1	+6.1
	UKIP	Mal Lingley	4,909	8.3	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Barr	3,335	5.6	-21.9
	Green	Stephanie Davies	1,765	3.0	+2.2
	TUSC	Kevin Bennett	238	0.4	+0.4
Majority			2,750	4.6	+1.8
Turnout			59,353	69.4	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 2010: Warrington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mowat	19,641	35.8	+3.7
	Labour	Nick Bent	18,088	33.0	−8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Crotty	15,094	27.5	+3.5
	UKIP	Derek Ashington	1,624	3.0	+1.2
	Green	Stephanie Davies	427	0.8	+0.8
Majority			1,553	2.8
Turnout			54,874	68.2	+6.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Warrington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Southworth	18,972	40.5	−8.8
	Conservative	Fiona Bruce	15,457	33.0	0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Marks	11,111	23.7	+7.4
	UKIP	Gerry Kelley	804	1.7	+0.3
	Independent	Paul Kennedy[n 3]	453	1.0	+1.0
Majority			3,515	7.5
Turnout			46,797	61.8	0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.4

General election 2001: Warrington South[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Southworth	22,419	49.3	−2.9
	Conservative	Caroline Mosley	15,022	33.0	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Roger J. Barlow	7,419	16.3	+3.2
	UKIP	Joan Kelley	637	1.4	N/A
Majority			7,397	16.3
Turnout			45,497	61.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.7

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Warrington South[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Southworth	28,721	52.1
	Conservative	Chris Grayling	17,914	32.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Walker	7,199	13.1
	Referendum	Gerald Kelly	1,082	2.0
	Natural Law	Steve Ross	166	0.3
Majority			10,807	19.6
Turnout			55,082	76.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1992: Warrington South[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Hall	27,819	43.6	+7.8
	Conservative	Chris Butler	27,628	43.3	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Walker	7,978	12.5	−9.7
	Natural Law	Stephen Benson	321	0.5	N/A
Majority			191	0.3	−5.8
Turnout			63,746	82.0	+2.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Warrington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Butler	24,809	42.0	+0.1
	Labour	Albert Booth	21,200	35.9	+5.9
	Liberal	Ian Marks	13,112	22.2	−5.1
Majority			3,609	6.1
Turnout			59,121	75.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.9

General election 1983: Warrington South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Carlisle	22,740	41.9	N/A
	Labour	David Colin-Thomé	16,275	30.0	N/A
	Liberal	Ian Marks	14,827	27.3	N/A
	Ecology	Neil Chantrell	403	0.7	N/A
Majority			6,465	11.9	N/A
Turnout			54,245	74.5	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire
• History of Parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cheshire

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. Later, in 2006 Paul Kennedy joined the Conservative Party and became a local councillor in May 2008.

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "'Warrington South', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
3. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
4. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF).
5. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995".
6. "Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007".
7. "BBC NEWS - Election 2010 - Battlegrounds - Conservative Party Targets". bbc.co.uk.
8. Electoral Calculus South
9. "2009 - 2010 > Full Council". warrington.gov.uk.
10. "Nick Clegg makes first post TV debate appearance in Warrington". Warrington Guardian.
11. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
12. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
13. "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Warrington South". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
16. "Results & Constituencies Warrington South - 2001". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
17. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.