Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Birkenhead
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Birkenhead in Merseyside.
Location of Merseyside within England.
County	1861–1918 Cheshire1950–1974 Cheshire1974– Merseyside
Population	88,818 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	62,432 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Birkenhead
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of parliament	Frank Field (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Birkenhead East, Birkenhead West
1861–1918
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Birkenhead East, Birkenhead West
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Birkenhead /ˈbɜːrkənˌhɛd/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1979 by Frank Field of the Labour Party.^{[n 1]}

History

Birkenhead was enfranchised in 1861 and was a single constituency for 57 years until it was split as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1918 which took effect from the 1918 general election. Birkenhead East and West constituencies then covered its area and certain smaller neighbouring communities of The Wirral until the single Birkenhead constituency was re-established at the 1950 general election. Since then it has returned only Labour MPs, being a safe Labour seat with large majorities apart from a 7% majority in 1955.

Trivia

For the 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections Birkenhead had the fewest candidates of any British constituency: only candidates for the Labour Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat contested the seat.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the town of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, and the Birkenhead suburbs of Bidston, Claughton, Oxton, Prenton, Rock Ferry and Tranmere. It is one of four parliamentary constituencies within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

The Boundary Commission recommended that Birkenhead gain the entire Prenton ward from Wirral West (the ward was shared between the two constituencies) at the general election of 2010.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1861–1918

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1861	John Laird	Conservative
	1874	David MacIver	Conservative
	1885	Edward Bruce Hamley	Conservative
	1892	Arnold Keppel, Viscount Bury	Conservative
	1894	Elliott Lees	Conservative
	1906	Henry Harvey Vivian	Lib-Lab
	1910	Alfred Bigland	Conservative
	1918	constituency abolished: see Birkenhead East and Birkenhead West

MPs since 1950

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Percy Collick	Labour
	1964	Edmund Dell	Labour
	1979	Frank Field	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Birkenhead[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	26,468	67.6	+5.1
	Conservative	Clark Vasey	5,816	14.9	-4.1
	UKIP	Wayne Harling	3,838	9.8	+9.8
	Green	Kenny Peers	1,626	4.2	+4.2
	Liberal Democrat	Allan Brame	1,396	3.6	-15.0
Majority			20,652	52.8	+9.2
Turnout			39,144	62.7	+5.1
	Labour hold		Swing

^[5]

General Election 2010: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	22,082	62.5	−2.5
	Conservative	Andrew Gilbert	6,687	18.9	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Edward Kelly	6,554	18.6	+0.1
Majority			15,395	43.6	−2.9
Turnout			35,523	56.6	+6.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	18,059	65.0	−5.5
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Edward Kelly	5,125	18.4	+5.6
	Conservative	Howard Leonard Morton	4,602	16.6	−0.1
Majority			12,934	46.5	−7.3
Turnout			27,786	48.7	+0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.6

General Election 2001: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	20,418	70.5	−0.3
	Conservative	Brian Stewart	4,827	16.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrat	Roy Wood	3,722	12.8	+3.8
Majority			15,591	53.8	−1.8
Turnout			28,967	48.3	−17.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.9

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Birkenhead[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	27,825	70.8	+7.2
	Conservative	John Crosby	5,982	15.2	−9.9
	Liberal Democrat	Roy Wood	3,548	9.0	−0.7
	Socialist Labour	Mark Cullen	1,168	3.0	N/A
	Referendum	Richard Evans	800	2.0	N/A
Majority			21,843	55.6	+17.1
Turnout			39,323	65.8	−7.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

General Election 1992: Birkenhead[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	29,098	63.6	+4.9
	Conservative	Robert Glyn M. Hughes	11,485	25.1	−1.3
	Liberal Democrat	Pat M. Williams	4,417	9.7	−5.2
	Green	Tina R. Fox	543	1.2	N/A
	Natural Law	Bridget Griffiths	190	0.4	N/A
Majority			17,613	38.5	+6.2
Turnout			45,733	73.0	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	27,883	58.7	+9.1
	Conservative	Kenneth Johann Costa	12,511	26.4	−2.5
	Liberal	Richard Kemp	7,095	14.9	−5.9
Majority			15,372	32.3	+11.6
Turnout			47,489	72.3	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.8

General Election 1983: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	23,249	49.6	−0.3
	Conservative	Tom Peet	13,535	28.9	−6.8
	Liberal	Gordon C. Lindsay	9,782	20.8	+7.1
Majority			9,714	20.7	+6.5
Turnout			46,566	69.7	-4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.6

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Field	20,803	49.9	−1.4
	Conservative	P. Gill	14,894	35.7	+6.8
	Liberal	R Perkins	5,708	13.7	−6.1
	Workers Revolutionary	M. Fletcher	306	0.7	n/a
Majority			5,909	14.2	−8.2
Turnout			41,711	73.9	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.1

General Election October 1974: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edmund Dell	21,748	51.3	+6.1
	Conservative	E. Gearing	12,264	28.9	−1.0
	Liberal	G.C. Lindsay	8,380	19.8	−5.1
Majority			9,484	22.4	+7.1
Turnout			42,392	70.2	−6.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.6

General Election February 1974: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edmund Dell	20,696	45.2	−5.5
	Conservative	J.S. Pyke	13,702	29.9	−6.7
	Liberal	G.C. Lindsay	11,410	24.9	+13.0
Majority			6,994	15.3	+1.2
Turnout			45,808	76.5	+5.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.1

General Election 1970: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edmund Dell	20,980	50.7	−9.4
	Conservative	R. Kris	15,151	36.6	−1.8
	Liberal	D.T.G. Evans	4,926	11.9	N/A
	Communist	B. Williams	351	0.9	−0.6
Majority			5,829	14.1	−7.6
Turnout			41,408	70.8	−2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edmund Dell	24,188	60.1	+3.1
	Conservative	Robert Adley	15,438	38.4	−4.6
	Communist	B Williams	604	1.5	N/A
Majority			8,750	21.7	+7.7
Turnout			40,230	72.9	−1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.9

General Election 1964: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edmund Dell	23,994	57.0	+8.1
	Conservative	R.K. Morland	18,133	43.0	+1.8
Majority			5,861	14.0	+6.3
Turnout			42,127	74.4	−4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Collick	22,990	48.9	−4.6
	Conservative	K.G. Routledge	19,361	41.2	−5.3
	Liberal	G.F. Bilson	4,658	9.9	N/A
Majority			3,629	7.7	+0.7
Turnout			47,009	78.8	+3.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

General Election 1955: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Collick	24,526	53.5	−1.5
	Conservative	H.S. Oddie	21,345	46.5	+1.5
Majority			3,181	7.0	−3.0
Turnout			45,871	75.7	−7.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.5

General Election 1951: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Collick	29,014	55.0	+5.1
	Conservative	M. Reney-Smith	23,765	45.0	+6.6
Majority			5,249	10.0	−1.5
Turnout			52,779	82.8	−2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.9

General Election 1950: Birkenhead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Collick	26,472	49.9	N/A
	Conservative	H.B. Trevor-Cox	20,343	38.4	N/A
	Liberal	D.R. Green	5,234	9.9	N/A
	Communist	S. Coulthard	971	1.8	N/A
Majority			6,129	11.5	N/A
Turnout			53,020	84.9	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside

Notes and references

Notes

1. 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.

References

1. "Birkenhead: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
4. "Birkenhead". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
5. Parliamentary General Election Candidates, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council"BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Birkenhead". BBC News.
6. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 2010-12-25.C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.31 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
7. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.