Stockport North (UK Parliament constituency)

Stockport North
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1950–1983
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Denton & Reddish and Stockport
Created from	Stockport

Stockport North was a borough constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until 1983.

Boundaries

The constituency was an urban one, originally located in the County of Cheshire and comprising wards of the County Borough of Stockport (and in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport from April 1974 until the seat's abolition in 1983). In 1950 it was defined as the following wards:

• Edgeley
• Heaton Lane
• Heaton Norris North
• Heaton Norris South
• Hollywood
• Lancashire Hill
• Old Road
• Reddish North
• Reddish South

All these wards had previously been part of the two-member constituency of Stockport.

A minor change in boundaries was made at the February 1974 election, because of changes in ward boundaries which had taken effect in 1971. The constituency was defined as the following wards:

• Cheadle Heath
• Edgeley
• Heaton Chapel
• Heaton Mersey
• Heaton Moor
• Heaton Norris
• Lancashire Hill
• Longford
• Reddish Green

The constituency was abolished at the 1983 general election, with 60% of the electorate going to the new single-member Stockport constituency, and 40% going to form the new Denton and Reddish constituency.

Members of Parliament

Always a fairly marginal seat, the constituency changed hands at the 1964, 1970 and February 1974 general elections.

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1950	Sir Norman Hulbert	Conservative
	1964	Arnold Gregory	Labour
	1970	Idris Owen	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Andrew Bennett	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished: see Stockport & Denton and Reddish

Election results

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Stockport North[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman John Hulbert	22,762	47.9	N/A
	Labour	AM Watson	19,134	40.3	N/A
	Liberal	William Hugh Evans	5,638	11.9	N/A
Majority			3,628	7.6	N/A
Turnout			47,534	88.5	N/A
	Conservative win

General Election 1951: Stockport North[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman John Hulbert	25,691	55.1	+7.2
	Labour	John Owen	20,893	44.9	+4.6
Majority			4,798	10.2	+2.6
Turnout			46,584	85.4	-3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Stockport North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman John Hulbert	23,547	55.4	+0.3
	Labour	Muriel Edith Nichol	18,980	44.6	-0.3
Majority			4,567	10.8	+0.6
Turnout			42,527	79.8	-5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Stockport North[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Norman John Hulbert	23,487	53.7	-1.7
	Labour	Mervyn Edward J. Swain	20,265	46.3	+1.7
Majority			3,222	7.4	-3.4
Turnout			43,752	82.1	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Stockport North[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arnold Gregory	18,969	44.5	-1.8
	Conservative	Sir Norman John Hulbert	17,067	40.1	-13.6
	Liberal	Barry Downs	6,560	15.4	+15.4
Majority			1,902	4.4
Turnout			42,596	81.5	-0.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	5.9

General Election 1966: Stockport North[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arnold Gregory	21,598	54.2	+9.7
	Conservative	Idris Wyn Owen	18,262	45.8	+5.7
Majority			3,336	8.4	+4.0
Turnout			39,860	79.1	-2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	2.0

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Stockport North[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Idris Wyn Owen	18,132	46.0	+0.2
	Labour	Arnold Gregory	17,261	43.8	-10.4
	Liberal	Samuel Collier	4,022	10.2	+10.2
Majority			871	2.2
Turnout			39,415	74.4	-4.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	5.3

General Election February 1974: Stockport North[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Francis Bennett	16,948	39.4	-4.4
	Conservative	Idris Wyn Owen	16,745	39.0	-7.0
	Liberal	P.J. Arnold	9,283	21.6	+11.4
Majority			203	0.4
Turnout			42,976	82.0	+7.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.3

General Election October 1974: Stockport North[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Francis Bennett	17,979	43.6	+4.2
	Conservative	Idris Wyn Owen	16,155	39.2	+0.2
	Liberal	P.J. Arnold	7,085	17.2	-4.4
Majority			1,824	4.4	+4.0
Turnout			41,219	78.0	-4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

General Election 1979: Stockport North[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Francis Bennett	18,789	44.1	+0.5
	Conservative	John William Last	18,456	43.3	+4.1
	Liberal	J. Hartley	5,096	12.0	-5.2
	National Front	K Walker	244	0.6	+0.6
Majority			333	0.8	-3.6
Turnout			42,585	79.5	+1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
2. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
3. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
4. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
5. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
6. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
7. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
8. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
9. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
10. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
11. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig

• Times Guides to the House of Commons