Halton (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°19′37″N 2°42′22″W / 53.327°N 2.706°W

Halton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Halton in Cheshire.
Location of Cheshire within England.
County	Cheshire
Electorate	70,322 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Runcorn and Widnes
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Derek Twigg (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Widnes and Runcorn[2]
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Halton is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Derek Twigg of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created in 1983. Throughout its lifetime it has been a safe seat for the Labour Party's incumbent MPs, of which there have been two.

Boundaries

Halton constituency sits on either side of the River Mersey and comprises Widnes, the original town of Runcorn (with a small part of the new town) and Hale village. It consists of 14 electoral wards; Hale, Ditton, Riverside, Hough Green, Broadheath, Kingsway, Birchfield, Farnworth, Appleton, Halton, Mersey, Heath, Grange and Halton Brook.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cheshire, in 2007 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):

• Appleton, Birchfield, Broadheath, Castlefields, Ditton, Farnworth, Grange, Hale, Halton Brook, Halton View, Heath, Hough Green, Kingsway, Mersey and Riverside from the borough of Halton

The changes were approved in 2007 and came into effect at the 2010 general election.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party	Notes
	1983	Gordon Oakes	Labour	Junior minister 1974–1976. Retired 1997, died 2005
	1997	Derek Twigg	Labour	Junior minister 2004—2008

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Halton[5][6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Twigg	28,292	62.8	+5.2
	Conservative	Matthew Lloyd	8,007	17.8	-2.4
	UKIP	Glyn Redican	6,333	14.1	+11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ryan Bate	1,097	2.4	-11.4
	Green	David Melvin	1,017	2.3	+0.7
	Independent	Vic Turton	277	0.6	+0.6
Majority			20,285	45.1
Turnout			45,023	61.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.8

Halton general election results (click for larger version)

General Election 2010: Halton[7][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Twigg	23,843	57.7	−5.4
	Conservative	Ben Jones	8,339	20.2	+0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Frank Harasiwka	5,718	13.8	−3.2
	BNP	Andrew Taylor	1,563	3.8	N/A
	UKIP	John Moore	1,228	3.0	N/A
	Green	Jim Craig	647	1.6	N/A
Majority			15,504	37.5
Turnout			41,338	60.0	+6.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Halton[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Twigg	21,460	62.8	−6.4
	Conservative	Colin Bloom	6,854	20.1	+1.5
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Barlow	5,869	17.2	+5.0
Majority			14,606	42.7
Turnout			34,183	53.1	−1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.9

General Election 2001: Halton[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Twigg	23,841	69.2	−1.7
	Conservative	Chris Davenport	6,413	18.6	+0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Walker	4,216	12.2	+4.9
Majority			17,428	50.6
Turnout			34,470	54.1	−14.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Halton[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Twigg	31,497	70.9	+11.3
	Conservative	Philip Balmer	7,847	17.7	−12.6
	Liberal Democrat	Janet Jones	3,263	7.3	−1.5
	Referendum	Reginald Atkins	1,036	2.3	N/A
	Liberal	David Proffitt	600	1.4	N/A
	Republican	John Alley	196	0.4	N/A
Majority			23,650	53.2
Turnout			44,439	68.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Halton[12][13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	35,005	59.7	+4.2
	Conservative	Grant L. Mercer	16,821	28.7	−1.6
	Liberal Democrat	David Reaper	6,104	10.4	−3.9
	Monster Raving Loony	Stephen Herley	398	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	Ms. Nichola G. Collins	338	0.6	N/A
Majority			18,184	31.0	+5.8
Turnout			58,666	78.3	+0.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Halton[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	32,065	55.5	+9.1
	Conservative	John Gregory Hardman	17,487	30.2	−3.4
	Social Democratic	Helen Frances Clucas	8,272	14.3	−5.7
Majority			14,578	25.3
Turnout			57,824	78.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.3

General Election 1983: Halton[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	24,752	46.4	N/A
	Conservative	Philip Pedley	17,923	33.6	N/A
	Social Democratic	Thomas Roderick Tilling	10,649	20.0	N/A
Majority			6,829	12.8	N/A
Turnout			53,324	73.3	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

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. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "'Halton', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
3. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, S.I. 2007/1681
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
5. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. "Halton". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. "2010 General Election Results: Halton". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
14. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.