Crosby (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°29′28″N 3°01′44″W / 53.491°N 3.029°W / 53.491; -3.029

Crosby
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Crosby in Merseyside for the 2005 general election.

Outline map

Location of Merseyside within England.
County Merseyside
19502010
Number of members One
Replaced by Sefton Central, Bootle
Created from Waterloo

Crosby was a constituency in Merseyside, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until 2010. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

Prior to 1997, the constituency was seen as a safe seat for the Conservative Party. They held the seat from its creation in 1950 until the death in 1981 of Sir Graham Page. The resulting by-election was notable as it was won by Shirley Williams, one of the "gang of four" senior members of the Labour Party who had founded the new Social Democratic Party (SDP), becoming the first SDP member to be elected. However, Williams lost the seat to the Conservative candidate Malcolm Thornton at the 1983 general election.

Thornton held the seat until the 1997 election, when he lost to Labour's Claire Curtis-Thomas who held the seat until its abolition. On 7 October 2009, it was announced that Curtis-Thomas would stand down at the 2010 general election.[1]

Boundaries

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Crosby, and the Urban District of Litherland.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Crosby, the Urban District of Formby, and in the Rural District of West Lancashire the civil parishes of Altcar, Ince Blundell, Maghull, and Thornton, and part of the civil parish of Sefton.

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton wards of Blundellsands, Harington, Manor, Molyneux, Park, Ravenmeols, Sudell, and Victoria.

1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton wards of Blundellsands, Church, Harington, Manor, Ravenmeols, and Victoria.

The predecessor seat to Crosby was the Waterloo constituency, which existed between 1918 and 1950. Crosby constituency covered the whole town of Crosby which includes the localities of Great Crosby, Blundellsands, Brighton-le-Sands, Seaforth, Waterloo, Little Crosby, Hightown and Thornton, as well as the town of Formby and the village of Little Altcar, all in Sefton in Merseyside. On its abolition in 2010 it was bordered to the north by the constituency of Southport, to the east by Lancashire West and Knowsley North and Sefton East, and to the south by Bootle.

Following a review by the Boundary Commission for England, the Crosby constituency was abolished at the 2010 general election. It was replaced by the new Sefton Central seat, which includes parts of the former Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency. As a result Formby and Little Altcar are part of the new Sefton Central constituency and the town of Crosby has been divided between two constituencies, with the two electoral wards of southern Crosby, Church and Victoria, containing the urbanised bulk of the town which includes the areas of Great Crosby, Waterloo and Seaforth, being absorbed into the expanded Bootle constituency, represented by the Labour MP Joe Benton, and the two electoral wards of northern Crosby, Blundellsands and Manor, which contains residential suburban areas such as, Blundellsands, Brighton-Le-Sands, Little Crosby, Thornton, and Hightown, forming part of the new Sefton Central constituency represented by Bill Esterson, also a Labour MP.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[2]PartyNotes
1950 Malcolm Bullock Conservative Resigned 1953
1953 by-election Graham Page Conservative Died 1981
1981 by-election Shirley Williams Social Democratic
1983 Malcolm Thornton Conservative
1997 Claire Curtis-Thomas Labour
2010 constituency abolished: see Sefton Central & Bootle

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Claire Curtis-Thomas 17,463 48.2 6.9
Conservative Debi Jones 11,623 32.1 0.4
Liberal Democrat Jim Murray 6,298 17.4 +6.3
UKIP John Whittaker 454 1.3 +1.3
Communist Geoffrey Bottoms 199 0.5 +0.5
Clause 28 Children's Protection Christian Democrats David Braid 157 0.4 +0.4
Majority 5,840 16.1
Turnout 36,194 66.7 +1.6
Labour hold Swing 3.2
General Election 2001: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Claire Curtis-Thomas 20,327 55.1 +4.1
Conservative Robert Collinson 11,974 32.5 2.3
Liberal Democrat Tim Drake 4,084 11.1 0.4
Socialist Labour Mark Holt 481 1.3 N/A
Majority 8,353 22.6
Turnout 36,866 65.1 12.1
Labour hold Swing 3.2

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Crosby[3][4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Claire Curtis-Thomas 22,549 51.1 +22.3
Conservative Malcolm Thornton 15,367 34.8 13.9
Liberal Democrat Paul McVey 5,080 11.5 8.5
Referendum John Gauld 813 1.8 N/A
Liberal John Marks 233 0.5 N/A
Natural Law William Hite 99 0.2 N/A
Majority 7,182 16.3 3.7
Turnout 44,141 77.2
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 18.1
General Election 1992: Crosby[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm Thornton 32,267 47.4 +1.3
Labour Maria Eagle 17,461 25.7 +7.7
Liberal Democrat Mrs Helen Flo Clucas 16,562 24.3 11.6
Liberal John Marks 1,052 1.5 +1.5
Green F.P. Sean Brady 559 0.8 +0.8
Natural Law N.L. Paterson 152 0.2 +0.2
Majority 14,806 21.8 +11.5
Turnout 68,053 82.5 +2.8
Conservative hold Swing 3.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm Thornton 30,836 46.2 1.0
Social Democratic Anthony Francis Scott Donovan 23,989 35.9 6.1
Labour Christopher William Cheetham 11,992 18.0 +7.8
Majority 6,847 10.3
Turnout 79.6
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm Thornton 30,604 47.2
Social Democratic Shirley Williams 27,203 42.0
Labour Robert David Waring 6,611 10.2
Ecology Peter Michael Hussey 415 0.6
Majority 3,401 5.3
Turnout 77.9
Conservative hold Swing
By-election 1981: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic Shirley Williams 28,118 49.0 N/A
Conservative John Butcher 22,829 39.8 -17.1
Labour John Backhouse 5,450 9.5 -15.9
Ecology Richard Small 480 0.8 -1.6
Raving Loony Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel 223 0.4 N/A
Independent Tom Keen 99 0.2 N/A
Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident Bill Boaks 36 0.1 N/A
Independent John Kennedy 31 0.1 N/A
Independent Donald Potter 31 0.1 N/A
Majority 5,289 9.2 -22.4
Turnout 57,297 69.3 -5.9
Social Democratic gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 34,768 56.95
Labour Tony Mulhearn 15,496 25.38
Liberal A. Hill 9,302 15.24
Ecology P. Hussey 1,489 2.44
Majority 19,272 31.56
Turnout 75.18
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 29,764 51.51
Labour M.J. Hignett 17,589 30.44
Liberal A. Hill 10,429 18.05
Majority 12,175 21.07
Turnout 73.51
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 32,519 52.19
Labour Sean Francis Hughes 16,949 27.20
Liberal G. Woodcock 12,842 20.61
Majority 15,570 24.99
Turnout 80.07
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1970: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 24,042 56.71
Labour Peter J. Carswell 18,350 43.29
Majority 5,692 13.42
Turnout 71.44
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 21,980 54.07
Labour Alan J. Whipp 18,674 45.93
Majority 3,306 8.13
Turnout 72.19
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1964: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 21,538 48.63
Labour Robert Hodge 14,158 31.97
Liberal Norman W.M. Sellers 8,590 19.40
Majority 7,380 16.66
Turnout 76.66
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 29,801 66.90
Labour Douglas E. Brown 14,745 33.10
Majority 15,056 33.80
Turnout 77.48
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 29,161 68.00
Labour Ernest James Adams 13,725 32.00
Majority 15,436 35.99
Turnout 73.70
Conservative hold Swing
Crosby by-election 12 November 1953
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Graham Page 18,614
Labour Ernest James Adams 7,545
Independent Conservative J.A. Freeman 1,180
Majority 17,797
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1951: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harold Malcolm Bullock 25,034 70.95
Labour Mrs. Edith M.E. Edwards 10,251 29.05
Majority 14,783 41.90
Turnout 79.77
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1950: Crosby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harold Malcolm Bullock 22,347 60.3
Labour Ronald Howard Lewis 9,403 25.4
Liberal James Burnie 5,336 14.4
Majority 12,944 34.9
Turnout 84.5
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

  1. MP resigns over 'ludicrous hours' BBC News, Retrieved 7 October 2009
  2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
  3. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  4. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.60 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
  5. The 1997 election result is calculated relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.
  6. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
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