Oldham West (UK Parliament constituency)

Oldham West
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1950–1997
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Oldham West and Royton
Created from	Oldham

Oldham West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham in the north-west of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.

Boundaries

1950-1983: The County Borough of Oldham wards of Coldhurst, Hartford, Hollinwood, Werneth, and Westwood, and the Urban District of Chadderton.

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Failsworth East, Failsworth West, Hollinwood, and Werneth.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1950	Leslie Hale	Labour
	1968 by-election	Bruce Campbell	Conservative
	1970	Michael Meacher	Labour
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Oldham West[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	22,533	47.6	N/A
	Conservative	Ian Macdonald Horobin	17,740	37.5	N/A
	Liberal	James Taylor Middleton	6,635	14.0	N/A
	Communist	W. Mawdsley	438	0.9	N/A
Majority			4,793	10.1	N/A
Turnout				85.1	N/A
	Labour win

General Election 1951: Oldham West[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	23,712	50.4
	Conservative	John Edward Poynder Grigg	19,517	41.5
	Liberal	Charles Philip Fothergill	3,823	8.1
Majority			4,195	8.9
Turnout				84.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Oldham West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	23,164	54.6
	Conservative	John Edward Poynder Grigg	19,265	45.4
Majority			3,899	9.2
Turnout				78.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Oldham West[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	22,624	55.0
	Conservative	John Harold Vick Sutcliffe	18,505	45.0
Majority			4,119	10.0
Turnout				79.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Oldham West[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	21,588	58.8
	Conservative	William Arthur Bromley-Davenport	15,152	41.2
Majority			6,436	17.5
Turnout				75.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Oldham West[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Leslie Hale	20,648	61.2
	Conservative	Keith Bruce Campbell	13,076	38.8
Majority			7,572	22.5
Turnout				72.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Oldham West by-election, 1968[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Bruce Campbell	11,904	46.5	+7.7
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	8,593	33.6	-27.6
	All-Party Alliance	John Creasey	3,389	13.2	N/A
	Liberal	David Green	1,707	6.7	N/A
Majority			3,311	12.9
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Oldham West[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	16,062	48.1
	Conservative	Keith Bruce Campbell	14,387	43.1
	Liberal	Brian Lomax	2,944	8.8	N/A
Majority			1,675	5.0
Turnout				67.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Oldham West[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	17,933	48.4
	Conservative	David Austin Trippier	11,628	31.4
	Liberal	Anthony Limont	7,505	20.3
Majority			6,305	17.0
Turnout				77.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Oldham West[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	18,444	53.2
	Conservative	David Austin Trippier	10,407	30.0
	Liberal	K. Stocks	5,838	16.8
Majority			8,037	23.2
Turnout				72.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Oldham West[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	17,802	52.4
	Conservative	J. Smith	12,025	35.4
	Liberal	K. Stocks	3,604	10.6
	National Front	G. Halliwell	515	1.5
Majority			5,777	17.0
Turnout				72.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Oldham West[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	17,690	44.1
	Conservative	David Dickinson	14,510	36.2
	Liberal	Rodney A. M. Smith	7,745	19.3
	Independent	James Street	180	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,180	7.9
Turnout				69.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Oldham West[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	20,291	49.4	+5.3
	Conservative	Joan Marie Jacobs	14,324	34.9	-1.3
	Liberal	Mary Rankin Mason	6,478	15.8	-3.5
Majority			5,967	14.5	+6.6
Turnout				71.9	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Oldham West[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Hugh Meacher	21,580	52.8	+3.4
	Conservative	Jonathan Gillen	13,247	32.4	-2.5
	Liberal Democrat	John D. Smith	5,525	13.5	-2.3
	Natural Law	Sheila Dalling	551	1.3	N/A
Majority			8,333	20.4	+5.9
Turnout			40,903	75.6	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
2. "Politics Resources". Election 1950. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
3. "Politics Resources". Election 1951. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
4. "Politics Resources". Election 1955. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
5. "Politics Resources". Election 1959. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
6. "Politics Resources". Election 1964. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
7. "Politics Resources". Election 1966. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
8. "1968 By Elections". British Elections Ephemera Archive. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
9. "Politics Resources". Election 1970. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
10. "Politics Resources". Election February 1974. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
11. "Politics Resources". Election October 1974. Politics Resources. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
12. "Politics Resources". Election 1979. Politics Resources. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
13. "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
14. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
15. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.