Knowsley (UK Parliament constituency)

Constituency profile

The constituency mainly consists of low-income social housing and former social housing built to decant the residents displaced by post-war slum clearance in Liverpool. It includes Huyton to the south (once represented by Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and Kirkby to the north. Between them is the green space of Knowsley Hall and Park, the ancestral home of the Earls of Derby and the site of Knowsley Safari Park. In 2010, The Guardian summarised the area as "One of the most deprived areas in the country. The new parliamentary constituency folds in Knowsley North and Knowsley South."

The constituency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

History

Created for the 2010 general election (during the Boundary Commission for England's Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies), it was believed to present the safest seat in the country, with an estimated Labour majority of 24,333 votes. The area returned the second highest share of the vote seen by a candidate for the Labour Party, of 70.9%, behind the 72.0% achieved in Liverpool Walton. The same ranking of results nationally by percentage majority occurred in 2015, when it became the safest seat in the country in absolute terms, beating East Ham by 403 votes.

It ranked foremost by party majority in 2017, where it was followed directly by East Ham and 28 other seats won by Labour candidates, after which followed North East Hampshire. It achieved the highest majority for any British Member of Parliament since the advent of universal suffrage, with Labour winning with a majority of 42,214 votes, surpassing the 36,230-vote majority held by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in his Huntingdon constituency in 1992.

On its creation, the seat was won by George Howarth, who had served as MP for the predecessor seats of Knowsley North (1986–1997) and Knowsley North and Sefton East (1997–2010). On his retirement for the 2024 general election, he was succeeded by Anneliese Midgley on a reduced majority over Reform UK of 50.9%.

Boundaries

The constituency covers a large part of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, the main settlements being Huyton and Kirkby. It replaced most of the previous Knowsley South constituency, as well as the parts of Knowsley North and Sefton East in the Knowsley borough. Distant parts from the centre of the metropolitan borough were covered by the new St Helens South and Whiston and Garston and Halewood constituencies.

The seat is composed of the following electoral wards:

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Kirkby Central, Longview, Northwood, Page Moss, Park, Prescot West, Roby, St Bartholomews, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, Swanside, and Whitefield.

2024–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Northwood, Prescot North, Roby, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, and Whitefield. :Allowing for changes to ward names and boundaries, the constituency was reduced in size to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Page Moss and Swanside wards to Liverpool West Derby.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election.

| access-date = 10 May 2015}}

:* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament

Notes

References

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England.
2. "Knowsley". guardian.co.uk.
3. "Knowsley Boundary Commission for England".
4. (22 January 2010). "Altered Constituencies Data". The Guardian.
5. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015".
6. (2019-01-29). "General Election 2017: full results and analysis". parliament.uk.
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023".
8. {{Rayment-hc. k. 2. (March 2012)
9. "Knowsley Constituency declaration of result of poll". [[Knowsley Council]].
10. "Knowsley - General election results 2024". BBC News.
11. "Statement of persons nominated 2019".
12. (19 December 2019). "General Election 2019: results and analysis". House of Commons Library.
13. (11 May 2017). "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo.
14. "Election Data 2015". [[Electoral Calculus]].
15. "Election Data 2010". [[Electoral Calculus]].