Liverpool West Derby (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°26′20″N 2°53′28″W / 53.439°N 2.891°W

Liverpool, West Derby
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Liverpool, West Derby in Merseyside.
Location of Merseyside within England.
County	Merseyside
Electorate	62,709 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Stephen Twigg (Labour Co-operative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Liverpool
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Liverpool, West Derby is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Stephen Twigg of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Liverpool ward of West Derby.

1918-1950: The County Borough of Liverpool wards of Anfield, Breckfield, and West Derby.

1950-1955: The County Borough of Liverpool wards of Croxteth and West Derby.

1955-1983: The County Borough of Liverpool wards of Clubmoor, Croxteth, Dovecot, and Gillmoss.

1983-1997: The City of Liverpool wards of Clubmoor, Croxteth, Dovecot, Gillmoss, and Pirrie.

1997-2010: The City of Liverpool wards of Clubmoor, Croxteth, Dovecot, Gillmoss, Pirrie, and Tuebrook.

2010-present: The City of Liverpool wards of Croxteth, Knotty Ash, Norris Green, Tuebrook and Stoneycroft, West Derby, and Yew Tree.

The constituency is one of five covering the city of Liverpool and covers the northeast of the city, including Croxteth, Gillmoss, Knotty Ash, Norris Green, Tuebrook, and Stoneycroft as well as West Derby itself.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Merseyside, the Boundary Commission created a modified West Derby constituency, which was fought at the 2010 general election.

Their initial proposal to create a cross-border "Croxteth and Kirkby" constituency (which would have contained electoral wards from Knowsley borough, as well as from Liverpool) was dropped on its public consultation.

History

The seat was created in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and can be considered a safe seat from 1964 to date for the Labour Party, their candidates having been victorious in every general election since then. However, in the early 1980s it was briefly held by the Social Democratic Party as a result of the sitting Labour MP Eric Ogden being among many defectors.^{[n 3]} Labour regained the seat at the 1983 general election, when Bob Wareing was first elected.

Before 1964, it was held by the Conservatives, although their share of the vote has declined considerably; so much so that in four recent general elections, they have finished in fourth place, however they placed third in 2015.

In the general elections of 1997 and 2001, the seat was the only constituency in England in which a minor party came second, the continuing Liberal Party (after the Liberal-SDP merger) who had ^{[n 4]} all three local councillors for one electoral ward in the area.^[2] In the 2005 election, however, the Liberals were pushed into third place by the Liberal Democrats and fell to fourth in 2015, with UKIP taking second place.

Sir F E Smith

Sir Frederick Edwin Smith, then Solicitor-General in the David Lloyd George Coalition Government, was returned for West Derby in the General Election of December 1918 when constituency reorganisation abolished his former neighbouring Walton seat. He sat for only two months, being promoted Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Lord Birkenhead in February 1919. He was the first of two MPs for this seat to achieve the highest legal office.

David Maxwell Fyfe

Maxwell Fyfe, KC, MP from 1935-54 (including World War II) became the highest judge in the country, the Lord Chancellor, having been the Attorney General and Solicitor General for England and Wales. He helped to co-write the European Convention on Human Rights and was one of the key prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials jointly with the (Labour-member) prosecutor Sir Hartley Shawcross. At this task was a "capable lawyer, efficient administrator and concerned housemaster".^[3] There were misgivings in some quarters as to how Fyfe would perform, cross-examination not being regarded as one of his strengths. However his cross-examination of Hermann Göring is one of the most noted cross-examinations in history.^[4]"Faced with sustained and methodical competence rather than brilliance, Goering ^{[n 5]}... crumbled".^[5]

Stephen Twigg

Stephen Twigg ousted Michael Portillo in the normally right-leaning Enfield, Southgate and served it from 1997 until the 2005 election, briefly serving as schools minister before that election, which he lost, before five years later standing for this normally left-leaning seat in Liverpool.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1885	Lord Claud Hamilton	Conservative
	1888 by-election	Hon. William Cross	Conservative
	1893 by-election	Walter Long	Conservative
	1900	Samuel Wasse Higginbottom	Conservative
	1903 by-election	William Rutherford	Conservative
	1918	Sir F. E. Smith, Bt	Conservative
	1919 by-election	Sir William Reginald Hall	Conservative
	1923	Charles Sydney Jones	Liberal
	1924	Sir John Sandeman Allen	Conservative
	1935	David Maxwell Fyfe	Conservative
	1954 by-election	John Woollam	Conservative
	1964	Eric Ogden	Labour
	1981		SDP
	1983	Bob Wareing	Labour
	2007		Independent
	2010	Stephen Twigg	Labour Co-operative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Liverpool West Derby[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Stephen Twigg	30,842	75.2	+11.0
	UKIP	Neil Miney	3,475	8.5	+5.4
	Conservative	Ed McRandal	2,710	6.6	-2.6
	Liberal	Steve Radford	2,049	5.0	-4.3
	Green	Rebecca Lawson	996	2.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Twigger	959	2.3	-10.2
Majority			27,367	66.7	+16.1
Turnout			41,031	64.2	+7.5
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-2.8

General Election 2010: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Stephen Twigg	22,953	64.1	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Twigger	4,486	12.5	−2.7
	Liberal	Steve Radford	3,327	9.3	−2.5
	Conservative	Pamela Hall	3,311	9.3	+1.1
	UKIP	Hilary Jones	1,093	3.1	+1.1
	Socialist Labour	Kai Anderson	614	1.7	−0.6
Majority			18,467	50.6
Turnout			35,784	56.7	+11.0
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	19,140	62.83	−3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Patrick Moloney	3,915	12.85	+2.0
	Liberal	Steve Radford	3,606	11.84	−3.1
	Conservative	Peter Garrett	2,567	8.4	+0.4
	Socialist Labour	Kai Anderson	698	2.3	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Baden	538	1.8	N/A
Majority			15,225	50.0	−1.3
Turnout			30,464	47.2	+1.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.7

General Election 2001: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	20,454	66.2	−5.0
	Liberal	Steve Radford	4,601	14.9	+5.0
	Liberal Democrat	Patrick Moloney	3,366	10.9	+1.9
	Conservative	William Clare	2,486	8.0	−0.7
Majority			15,853	51.3
Turnout			30,907
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.0

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	30,002	71.2	+3.0
	Liberal	Steve Radford	4,037	9.6	+7.0
	Liberal Democrat	Ann Hines	3,805	9.0	−3.2
	Conservative	Neil C. Morgan	3,656	8.7	−7.9
	Referendum	Peter R. Forrest	657	1.6	N/A
Majority			25,965	61.6
Turnout			42,157	61.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

General Election 1992: Liverpool West Derby[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	27,014	68.2	+2.9
	Conservative	Stephen Fitzsimmons	6,589	16.6	−2.6
	Liberal Democrat	Gillian Sarah Bundred	4,838	12.2	−3.3
	Liberal	Derek Curtis	1,021	2.6	N/A
	Natural Law	Christopher John Higgins	154	0.4	N/A
Majority			20,425	51.6	+5.5
Turnout			39,616	69.8	−3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	29,021	65.3	+10.8
	Conservative	John Edwin Backhouse	8,525	19.2	−8.3
	Social Democratic	Malcolm Ferguson	6,897	15.5	−2.5
Majority			20,496	46.1
Turnout			44,443	73.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.6

General Election 1983: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Wareing	23,905	54.5
	Conservative	William M. Trelawney	12,062	27.5
	Social Democratic	Eric Ogden	7,871	18.0
Majority			11,843	27.0
Turnout			43,838	69.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	22,576	55.5	−5.0
	Conservative	D P M Hudson	14,356	35.3	+6.4
	Liberal	A Humphreys	3,765	9.3	−1.4
Majority			8,220	20.2	−11.4
Turnout			40,697
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	23,964	60.48	+5.8
	Conservative	J Last	11,445	28.88	−1.8
	Liberal	R Ousby	4,215	10.64	−3.1
Majority			12,519	31.6	+7.6
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	22,689	54.68	−2.6
	Conservative	J Last	12,716	30.65	−12.0
	Liberal	P. Gilchrist	5,701	13.74	N/A
	People	D. Pascoe	388	0.94	N/A
Majority			9,973	24.0	+9.4
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	22,324	57.3	+0.44
	Conservative	Michael Anthony Latham	16,619	42.7	−0.4
Majority			5,705	14.65	+0.88
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	19,988	56.9	+2.2
	Conservative	Peter Wynford Innes Rees	15,150	43.12	-2.20
Majority			4,838	13.77	+4.42
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Ogden	21,134	54.7	+0.7
	Conservative	John Victor Woollam	17,519	45.3	+0.7
Majority			3,615	9.35	1.43
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Victor Woollam	22,719	53.96	+0.70
	Labour	Aubrey Paxton	19,386	46.04	-0.70
Majority			3,333	7.92	+1.41
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Victor Woollam	21,124	53.26	+1.34
	Labour	Cyril Rawlett Fenton	18,540	46.74	-1.34
Majority			2,584	6.51	+2.67
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Victor Woollam	21,158
	Labour Co-op	Cyril Rawlett Fenton	18,650
Majority			2,508
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

David Maxwell Fyfe

General Election 1951: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Maxwell Fyfe	27,441	51.61
	Labour	Lewis C. Edwards	25,734	48.39
Majority			1,707	3.21
Turnout				80.32
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Maxwell Fyfe	27,449	51.92	-2.35
	Labour	Bertie Kirby	25,417	48.08	-2.35
Majority			2,032	3.84	-4.69
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Maxwell Fyfe	21,798	54.27
	Labour	Richard Lewis	18,370	45.73
Majority			3,428	8.53
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Maxwell Fyfe	21,196	58.35
	Labour	James Haworth	10,218	28.13
	Liberal	D.K. Mitchell	4,911	13.52
Majority			10,978	30.22
Turnout				62.60
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Sandeman Allen	32,202	78.01
	Labour	Joseph Jackson Cleary	9,077	21.99
Majority			23,125	56.02
Turnout				74.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Liverpool West Derby[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir John Sandeman Allen	16,794	42.7	-9.8
	Labour	William Harvey Moore	14,124	36.0	+6.4
	Liberal	Arthur Probyn Jones	8,368	21.3	+3.4
Majority			2,670	6.7	-16.2
Turnout				73.1	-4.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	-8.1

General Election 1924: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Sandeman Allen	15,667	52.5	+6.7
	Labour	Thomas Gallon Adams	8,807	29.6	n/a
	Liberal	Charles Sydney Jones	5,321	17.9	-36.3
Majority
Turnout				77.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Sydney Jones	12,942	54.2	n/a
	Unionist	Sir William Reginald Hall	10,952	45.8	-24.7
Majority			1,990	8.4	49.4
Turnout				63.5	-1.5
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Reginald Hall	16,179
	Labour	David Rowland Williams	6,785
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

William Reginald Hall

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir William Reginald Hall	6,062	56.5	-10.9
	Labour	George Nelson	4,670	43.5	+10.9
Majority			1,392	13.0	-21.8
Turnout			10,732	34.3	-20.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	-10.9

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

F.E. Smith

1918 General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Sir Frederick Edwin Smith	11,622	67.4	N/A
	Labour	George Nelson	5,618	32.6	N/A
Majority			6,004	34.8	N/A
Turnout			17,240	55.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1900s

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1903[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rutherford	5,455
	Liberal	R. D. Holt	5,251
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

1900 General Election: Liverpool West Derby[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S W Higginbottom	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

1895 General Election: Liverpool West Derby[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Hume Long	4,622
	Liberal	Oscar Browning	1,686
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1893[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Hume Long	3,632
	Liberal	D. Shilton Collin	2,275
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

1892 General Election: Liverpool West Derby[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cross	4,107
	Liberal	F R Smith	2,925
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1888[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cross	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

1886 General Election: Liverpool West Derby[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claud Hamilton	3,804
	Liberal	Serjt Hemphill	2,244
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

1885 General Election: Liverpool West Derby[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claud Hamilton	4,213
	Liberal	M Guthrie	3,068
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside

Notes and references

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. See Labour Party (UK), who at the time called for withdrawal from the EEC (the Common Market) and removal of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. These considerable defections caused Labour to change its policies.
4. Terms of office to date: 2003-2015
5. [(alternative spelling for Göring]

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Councillors at Liverpool City Council
3. Tusa & Tusa (1983), p.136.
4. Dutton (2004)
5. Tusa & Tusa, p.287.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
7. "Liverpool West Derby". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
8. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
9. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F.W.S.
10. The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 170 (194 in web page)