Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°18′43″N 2°23′02″W / 53.312°N 2.384°W

Tatton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Tatton in Cheshire.
Location of Cheshire within England.
County	Cheshire
Electorate	65,200 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	George Osborne (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Runcorn, Cheadle, Northwich & Knutsford
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Tatton is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1983-1997: The Borough of Macclesfield wards of Dean Row, Fulshaw, Handforth, High Legh, Hough, Knutsford Nether, Knutsford Over, Knutsford South, Knutsford West, Lacey Green, Mere, Mobberley, Morley and Styal, and Plumley, and the District of Vale Royal wards of Barnton, Castle, Cogshall, Lostock Gralam, Marston and Wincham, Northwich, Rudheath and Whatcroft, Seven Oaks, Shakerley, Winnington, Witton North, and Witton South.

1997-2010: The Borough of Macclesfield wards of Alderley Edge, Dean Row, Fulshaw, Handforth, High Legh, Hough, Knutsford Nether, Knutsford Over, Knutsford South, Knutsford West, Lacey Green, Mere, Mobberley, Morley and Styal, Nether Alderley, and Plumley, and the District of Vale Royal wards of Barnton, Cogshall, Lostock Gralam, Marston and Wincham, Rudheath and Whatcroft, Seven Oaks, and Shakerley.

2010-present: The Borough of Macclesfield wards of Alderley Edge, Chelford, Dean Row, Fulshaw, Handforth, High Legh, Hough, Knutsford Bexton, Knutsford Nether, Knutsford Norbury Booths, Knutsford Over, Lacey Green, Mere, Mobberley, Morley and Styal, and Plumley, and the District of Vale Royal wards of Barnton, Cogshall, Lostock and Wincham, Rudheath and South Witton, Seven Oaks and Marston, and Shakerley.

The constituency is the north-western part of the Cheshire East unitary authority, including the towns of Knutsford and Wilmslow, and a number of villages such as Alderley Edge, Chelford, Handforth and Mobberley, in Cheshire. It also covers a small, north-east, part of the Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority, including some of the outskirts of Northwich.

The constituency is named after Tatton Park, a stately home in this area.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Runcorn, Cheadle, Northwich and Knutsford. It was held by the Conservative Neil Hamilton until 1997.

Tatton shot to fame during the 1997 general election campaign, becoming one of the highest-profile constituencies at that election. Following Hamilton's implication in the Cash for Questions scandal of the 1990s, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats withdrew their candidates in favour of the former BBC journalist Martin Bell, who stood as an Independent, while those two parties supported his "anti-corruption" campaign. Bell was ultimately victorious, with a majority of over 11,000 over Hamilton.

Bell did not contest the seat at the 2001 election, and the seat was won by Conservative George Osborne with a majority of 8,611 (20.8%).

Prominent members of the frontbenches

Osborne held the seat at the 2005 election with an increased majority, and became the Shadow Chancellor that year, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2010, one of the highest frontbench government positions.

Constituency profile

Tatton includes Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and other outlying villages which have high property prices. The seat largely comprises prosperous villages and small towns set amidst Cheshire countryside, featuring country parks, hills, recreation grounds and golf courses,^[2] previously dominated by countryside however since the 1950s, with a largely built-up, suburban character, on the fringes of Greater Manchester. The largest centres of population are Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Knutsford. Its proximity to Manchester means Tatton forms part of the commuter belt to the city.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1983	Neil Hamilton	Conservative
	1997	Martin Bell	Independent
	2001	George Osborne	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Tatton[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Osborne	26,552	58.6	+4.0
	Labour	David Pinto-Duschinsky	8,311	18.3	+1.1
	UKIP	Stuart Hutton	4,871	10.8	+10.8
	Liberal Democrat	Gareth Wilson	3,850	8.5	−14.1
	Green	Tina Rothery	1,714	3.8	+3.8
Majority			18,241	40.3	+8.3
Turnout			45,298	70.2	-0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

General Election 2010: Tatton[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Osborne	24,687	54.6	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	David Lomax	10,200	22.6	+0.8
	Labour	Richard Jackson	7,803	17.3	−6.2
	Independent	Sarah Flannery	2,243	4.9	+4.9
	The True English (Poetry) Party	Michael George Gibson	298	0.7	+0.1
Majority			14,487	32.0	+3.7
Turnout			45,231	70.6	+9.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Tatton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Osborne	21,447	51.8	+3.7
	Labour	Justin Piers Richard Madders	9,716	23.5	−3.8
	Liberal Democrat	William John Ainsley Arnold	9,016	21.8	+3.2
	UKIP	Diane Christine Bowler	996	2.4	+0.5
	Independent	Michael George Gibson	239	0.6	+0.6
Majority			11,731	28.3	3.6
Turnout			41,414	64.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

General Election 2001: Tatton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Osborne	19,860	48.1	+10.7
	Labour	Steven Graham Conquest	11,249	27.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Ash	7,685	18.6	N/A
	UKIP	Mark Brian Birch Sheppard	769	1.9	N/A
	Independent Green	Peter Sharratt	734	1.8	N/A
	Tatton Group	Vivianne Chantale Allinson	505	1.2	N/A
	Independent	William John Batchelor	322	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Jonathan Boyd Hunt	154	0.4	N/A
Majority			8,611	20.8
Turnout			41,278	63.5
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Tatton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Martin Bell	29,354	60.2	N/A
	Conservative	Neil Hamilton	18,277	37.5	−17.6
	Independent Conservative	Sam Hill	295	0.6	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Simon Lowther Kinsey	184	0.4	N/A
	Miss Moneypenny's Glamorous One Party	Burnel Graig Penhaul	128	0.3	N/A
	Albion Party	John Richard Muir	126	0.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Michael Paul Kennedy	123	0.3	N/A
	Lord Byro versus the Scallywag Tories	David Laurence Bishop	116	0.2	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Ralph Nicholas	113	0.2	N/A
	Juice Party	Julian Matthew Price	73	0.1	N/A
Majority			11,077	22.7
Turnout			48,792	76.1
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing	38.9

General Election 1992: Tatton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Hamilton	31,658	55.1	+0.5
	Labour	Jonathan Michael Kelly	15,798	27.5	+5.9
	Liberal Democrat	Catherine Veronica Hancox	9,597	16.7	−6.9
	Feudal Party	Michael George Gibson	410	0.7	+0.2
Majority			15,860	27.6	−3.4
Turnout			57,463	80.8	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Tatton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Hamilton	30,128	54.6	0.0
	Social Democratic	Ms. Bridie Gaskin	13,034	23.6	−3.6
	Labour	Hazel Blears	11,760	21.3	+3.1
	Feudal Party	Michael George Gibson	263	0.5	N/A
Majority			17,094	31.0
Turnout			55,185	76.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

General Election 1983: Tatton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Hamilton	27,877	54.6	N/A
	Social Democratic	David Levy	13,917	27.2	N/A
	Labour	David William Davies	9,295	18.2	N/A
Majority			13,960	27.3	N/A
Turnout			51,089	74.3	N/A
	Conservative 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. OS Map with Listed Buildings and Parks marked
3. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
5. "Tatton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
6. http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/electoral_services/parliamentary_general_election/tatton_constituency.aspx, Cheshire East Council
7. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Sources

• Data for the 2005 election are from the BBC.
• Data for the 2001 election are from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/.
• Data for the 1997 and 1992 results are taken from The Guardian.
• Data for 1983 and 1987 elections taken from http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk.htm