City of Chester (UK Parliament constituency)

City of Chester
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of City of Chester in Cheshire.
Location of Cheshire within England.
County	Cheshire
Population	92,995 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	68,280 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Chester
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Chris Matheson (Labour)
Number of members	One
1545–1918
Number of members	1545–1880: Two 1885–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

The City of Chester is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Chris Matheson of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

The constituency covers the English city of Chester on the border of Wales and parts of the surrounding Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority, including the villages of Aldford, Capenhurst, Christleton, Guilden Sutton, Mollington, Newtown, Pulford and Saughall.

Much of the city of Chester itself is residential of varying characteristics, with more middle-class areas such as Upton and the large rural former council estate of Blacon. However, the estate of Blacon is, except where purchased under the right to buy, owned run and maintained by the Chester And District Housing Trust.CDHT.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cheshire, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the existing arrangement as a consequence of population changes. The electoral wards included in this modified constituency were (as at 12 April 2005):

• Blacon Hall, Blacon Lodge, Boughton, Boughton Heath, Christleton, City and St Anne's, College, Curzon and Westminster, Dodleston, Handbridge and St Mary's, Hoole All Saints, Hoole Groves, Huntington, Lache Park, Mollington, Newton Brook, Newton St Michaels, Saughall, Upton Grange, Upton Westlea and Vicars Cross, all from the Chester District^[3]

The changes were approved in 2007 and came into effect at the 2010 general election.^[4]

History

As part of a county palatine with a parliament of its own until the early 16th century Chester was not enfranchised (sent no MPs) until an Act of 1543 since which it returned two MPs to Parliament as a parliamentary borough until 1885, when the representation was reduced to one. For most of the 19th century, the seat was held by the Whigs and (later) the Liberals.

From 1910 until 1997, Chester was held by Conservative Party MPs. In most elections it was a safe seat, although the party's MPs had more marginal majorities at the 1929 general election over the Liberal candidate (when Labour formed a minority government) and at the 1992 election over the Labour candidate, when the Conservatives had a small parliamentary majority.

Labour's Christine Russell gained the seat easily at the 1997 election and held it until 2010. Her majority over the Conservatives had been reduced to under 1,000 at the 2005 election. The Conservative Stephen Mosley regained the seat for a term, before Labour's Chris Matheson was returned in 2015.

Four of the six candidates at the 2010 general election had contested the seat previously; Christine Russell (1997, 2001, 2005); Allan Weddell (2001, 2005); Ed Abrahms (2005) and Tom Barker (1992). All candidates had contested at least one election for local authorities for wards inside the constituency. The Liberal Democrats including their two predecessor parties amassed their largest share of the vote in 2005 at 21.9% of the vote.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1545 to 1660

Year	First member	Second member
1545	Sir Lawrence Smith [5]
1547	Richard Sneyd	William Aldersey[6]
1553 (Mar)	Richard Sneyd	Randall Mainwaring[6]
1553 (Oct)	Richard Sneyd	Thomas Massey[6]
1554 (Apr)	Richard Sneyd	William Aldersey[6]
1554 (Nov)	Richard Sneyd	Thomas Massey[6]
1555	William Gerard	William Aldersey[6]
1558	Sir Lawrence Smith	William Gerard[6]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Lawrence Smith	William Gerard[6]
1562/1563	William Gerard	John Yerworth[6]
1571	William Gerard	William Glasier[6]
1572 (Apr)	William Gerard	William Glasier[6]
1584 (Nov)	Richard Birkheved	Richard Bavand[6]
1586 (Sep)	Richard Birkheved	Peter Warburton[6]
1588/1589	Richard Birkheved	Peter Warburton[6]
1593	Richard Birkheved	Gilbert Gerard[6]
1597 (Sep)	Peter Warburton	William Brock[6]
1601	Hugh Glasier	Thomas Gamull[6]
1604	Thomas Lawton	Hugh Glasier
1614	Edward Whitby	John Bingley
1621–1622	Edward Whitby	John Ratcliffe
1624	Edward Whitby	John Savage
1625	Edward Whitby	Sir John Savage
1626	Edward Whitby	William Gamull
1628–1629	Edward Whitby	John Ratcliffe
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
Apr 1640	Sir Thomas Smith	Robert Brerewood
Nov 1640	Sir Thomas Smith†	Francis Gamull†
1645	William Edwards	John Ratcliffe
1653	Chester not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	Charles Walley	One seat only
1656	Edward Bradshaw	One seat only
1659	Jonathan Ridge	John Griffith

† Smith and Gamull were Both disabled from serving in 1644.

MPs 1660–1880

Year			First member[7]	First party	Second member[7]	Second party
		1660	John Ratcliffe		William Ince
		1661			Sir Thomas Smith, Bt
		1673	Robert Werden	Tory
		1675			William Williams
		1679	Sir Thomas Grosvenor, Bt	Tory
		1681	Roger Whitley	Whig
		1685	Sir Thomas Grosvenor, Bt	Tory	Robert Werden	Tory
		1689	Roger Whitley	Whig	George Mainwaring	Whig
		1690	Sir Thomas Grosvenor, Bt	Tory	Sir Richard Levinge, Bt	Tory
		1695			Roger Whitley	Whig
		January 1698			Thomas Cowper
		July 1698			Peter Shakerley	Tory
		1701	Sir Henry Bunbury, Bt	Tory
		1715			Sir Richard Grosvenor, Bt
		1727	Sir Thomas Grosvenor, Bt
		January 1733			Sir Robert Grosvenor, Bt
		March 1733	Sir Charles Bunbury, Bt
		1742	Philip Henry Warburton
		1754	Sir Richard Grosvenor, Bt
		1755			Thomas Grosvenor
		1761	Richard Wilbraham-Bootle
		1790	Viscount Belgrave
		1795			Thomas Grosvenor
		1802	Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor
		1807	John Grey Egerton
		1818	Viscount Belgrave	Tory
		1826			Lord Robert Grosvenor	Whig
		1830	Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bt	Conservative
		1831	Foster Cunliffe-Offley
		May 1832	John Finchett Maddock
		December 1832	Sir John Jervis	Liberal
		1847			Earl Grosvenor	Liberal
		1850	William Owen Stanley
		1857	Enoch Gibbon Salisbury
		1859	Philip Stapleton Humberston
		1865	William Henry Gladstone	Liberal
		1868	Henry Cecil Raikes	Conservative
		1869			Hon. Norman Grosvenor
		1874			John George Dodson	Liberal
		1880	Beilby Lawley	Liberal

• Constituency suspended (1880)

MPs since 1885

• Voting restored (1885)

Walter Foster

Election		Member[8][7]	Party
	1885	Balthazar Walter Foster	Liberal
	1886	Robert Armstrong Yerburgh	Conservative
	1906	Alfred Moritz Mond	Liberal
	1910, January	Robert Armstrong Yerburgh	Conservative
	1916 by-election	Sir Owen Cosby Philipps	Conservative
	1922	Sir Charles William Cayzer	Conservative
	1940 by-election	Sir Basil Nield	Conservative
	1956 by-election	John Meredith Temple	Conservative
	1974, February	Peter Morrison	Conservative
	1992	Gyles Brandreth	Conservative
	1997	Christine Russell	Labour
	2010	Stephen Mosley	Conservative
	2015	Chris Matheson	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: City of Chester[9][10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Matheson	22,118	43.2	+8.2
	Conservative	Stephen Mosley	22,025	43.1	+2.5
	UKIP	Steve Ingram	4,148	8.1	+5.5
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Thompson	2,870	5.6	-13.5
Majority			93	0.2
Turnout			51,161	70.8	+2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.9

General Election 2010: City of Chester[11][12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Mosley	18,995	40.6	+3.8
	Labour	Christine Russell	16,412	35.1	−3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Lizzie Jewkes	8,930	19.1	−2.8
	UKIP	Allan Weddell	1,225	2.6	+0.9
	English Democrats	Ed Abrams	594	1.3	+0.6
	Green	Malcolm Thomas Barker	535	1.1	+1.1
	Independent	John Whittingham	99	0.2	+0.2
Majority			2,583	5.5
Turnout			46,853	67.9	+3.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: City of Chester[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Russell	17,458	38.9	−9.6
	Conservative	Paul Offer	16,543	36.8	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mia Jones	9,818	21.9	+7.2
	UKIP	Allan Weddell	776	1.7	−0.3
	English Democrats	Ed Abrams	308	0.7	+0.7
Majority			917	2.0
Turnout			44,903	64.3	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.7

General Election 2001: City of Chester[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Russell	21,760	48.5	−4.5
	Conservative	David Ian Jones	14,866	33.1	−1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Tony Dawson	6,589	14.7	+5.2
	UKIP	Allan Weddell	899	2.0	N/A
	Independent	George Rogers	763	1.7	+1.4
Majority			6,894	15.4
Turnout			44,877	63.8	−14.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: City of Chester[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Russell	29,806	53.0	+11.0
	Conservative	Gyles Brandreth	19,253	34.2	−9.9
	Liberal Democrat	David Simpson	5,353	9.5	−3.4
	Referendum	Richard F.A. Mullen	1,487	2.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Ian Sanderson	204	0.4	N/A
	West Cheshire College In Crisis	William G. Johnson	154	0.3	N/A
Majority			10,553	18.2
Turnout			56,257	78.4	−5.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	10.5

General Election 1992: City of Chester[16][17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gyles Brandreth	23,411	44.1	−0.8
	Labour	David Eric Robinson	22,310	42.0	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	John Gordon Smith	6,867	12.9	−6.6
	Green	Malcolm Thomas Barker	448	0.8	N/A
	Natural Law	Stephen Richard Harold Cross	98	0.2	N/A
Majority			1,101	2.1	−7.2
Turnout			53,134	83.9	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: City of Chester[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morrison	23,582	44.86
	Labour	David Eric Robinson	18,727	35.62
	Liberal	Andrew Stunell	10,262	19.52
Majority			4,855	9.24
Turnout				79.84
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: City of Chester[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morrison	22,645	47.11
	Labour	David Eric Robertson	13,546	28.18
	Liberal	Andrew Stunell	11,874	24.70
Majority			9,099	18.93
Turnout				74.51
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morrison	28,764	51.43
	Labour	R.D. Blair	19,450	34.78
	Liberal	Andrew Stunell	7,711	13.79
Majority			9,314	16.65
Turnout				77.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morrison	23,095	44.01
	Labour	John Crawford	18,477	35.21
	Liberal	R.M. Green	10,907	20.78
Majority			4,618	8.80
Turnout				75.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morrison	24,527	44.29
	Labour	John Crawford	17,759	32.07
	Liberal	R. Green	13,098	23.65
Majority			6,768	12.22
Turnout				80.31
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Meredith Temple	25,877	52.04
	Labour	John Crawford	18,872	37.95
	Liberal	Michael J. G. Tompkins	4,978	10.01
Majority			7,005	14.09
Turnout				73.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Meredith Temple	21,673	46.05
	Labour	John Crawford	18,870	40.10
	Liberal	Peter James Samuel	6,516	13.85
Majority			2,803	5.96
Turnout				78.05
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Meredith Temple	23,172	48.82
	Labour	Anthony Bernard Blond	16,708	35.20
	Liberal	Peter James Samuel	7,583	15.98
Majority			6,464	13.62
Turnout				79.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Meredith Temple	27,847	61.42
	Labour	Lewis Carter-Jones	17,492	38.58
Majority			10,355	22.84
Turnout				78.69
	Conservative hold		Swing

City of Chester by-election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Meredith Temple	21,137	51.72	-4.94
	Labour	Lewis Carter-Jones	14,789	36.19	+4.56
	Liberal	John Desmond Seys-Llewellyn	4,942	12.09	+0.38
Majority			6,348
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Basil Edward Nield	24,905	56.66
	Labour	John McKay Forrester	13,903	31.63
	Liberal	John Desmond Seys-Llewellyn	5,145	11.71
Majority			11,002	25.03	-
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Basil Edward Nield	26,743	58.52
	Labour	John G. Hughes	18,958	41.48
Majority			7,785	17.03
Turnout				82.57
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Basil Edward Nield	23,660	51.41
	Labour	Campbell McKinnon	16,021	34.81
	Liberal	Arthur Harvey Willitt	6,342	13.78
Majority			7,639	16.60
Turnout				83.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Basil Edward Nield	19,064	50.33	n/a
	Labour	D. M. Hopkinson	13,585	35.87	n/a
	Liberal	Ashwood Everett Jones	5,229	13.80	n/a
Majority			5,479	14.46	n/a
Turnout				72.14	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

City of Chester by-election, 1940
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Basil Edward Nield	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Charles William Cayzer	16,882	50.37
	Liberal	Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans	10,183	30.38
	Labour	Miss Agnes Lois Bulley	6,450	19.25
Majority			6,699	19.99
Turnout				77.86
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: City of Chester
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Charles William Cayzer	18,174	51.73
	Liberal	Aubrey Herbert	11,770	33.50
	Labour	Joseph Lewis	5,186	14.76
Majority			6,404	18.23
Turnout				85.77
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Chester [20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Charles William Cayzer	13,454	41.3	-11.9
	Liberal	Aubrey Herbert	13,292	40.8	+17.2
	Labour	W. Herron	5,846	17.9	-5.3
Majority			162	0.5	-29.1
Turnout				82.3	+0.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-14.5

General Election 1924: Chester [21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Charles William Cayzer	12,491	53.2
	Liberal	William Craven Llewelyn	5,538	23.6
	Labour	George Beardsworth	5,451	23.2	-3.1
Majority			6,953	29.6	+12.5
Turnout				81.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Chester [22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Charles William Cayzer	9,985	45.4	-8.7
	Liberal	William Craven Llewelyn	6,212	28.3	+7.0
	Labour	George Muff	5,773	26.3	+1.7
Majority			3,773	17.1	-15.7
Turnout				78.6	-2.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	-7.9

General Election 1922 : Chester [23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Charles William Cayzer	11,938	54.1	-2.2
	Labour	George Muff	5,414	24.6
	Liberal	Joseph Banks	4,688	21.3
Majority			6,524	29.5
Turnout				81.2	+16.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Sir Owen Philipps

General Election 1918: Chester [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Owen Cosby Philipps	10,043	56.3
	Liberal	Edward Paul	4,993	28.0
	Labour	Arthur Mason	2,799	15.7
Majority			5,050	28.3
Turnout				65.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1900s

Alfred Mond

General Election 1906[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Moritz Mond	3,524	51.3	+6.5
	Conservative	Robert Armstrong Yerburgh	3,477	49.7	-6.5
Majority			47	0.6	13.0
Turnout				88.4	+7.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.5

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county 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.

References

1. "City of Chester: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. The Chester district and its constituent wards were abolished on 1 April 2009, when they became part of the new unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester; however, the boundaries of the parliamentary constituency remain fixed according to the wards in operation at 12 April 2005.
4. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, S.I. 2007/1681.
5. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/smith-sir-lawrence-1516-82
6. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-22.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
8. "Chester 1660-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. "Chester, City of". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/b12.stm
13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
18. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
21. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
22. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
23. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
24. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
25. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for City of Chester — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

Coordinates: 53°10′N 2°55′W / 53.167°N 2.917°W