Wirral (UK Parliament constituency)

Wirral
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1983
Number of members one
Replaced by Ellesmere Port and Neston, Wirral South, Wirral West and Birkenhead[1]
Created from West Cheshire

Wirral was a county constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

The constituency was located on the Wirral Peninsula, historically part of Cheshire in North West England, and was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. From 1974, its territory was split between the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, part of the metropolitan county of Merseyside, and the borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston which remained part of Cheshire.

It was abolished for the 1983 general election, and was succeeded by the constituencies of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Wirral South and Wirral West.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Birkenhead, and the Hundred of Wirral.

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Bromborough, Ellesmere Port and Whitby, Higher Bebington, Hoylake and West Kirby, Lower Bebington, and Neston and Parkgate, and the Rural District of Wirral.

1950-1955: The Urban Districts of Ellesmere Port, Hoylake, Neston, and Wirral.

1955-1974: The Municipal Borough of Ellesmere Port, and the Urban Districts of Hoylake, Neston, and Wirral. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

1974-1983: The Urban Districts of Hoylake, Neston, and Wirral, and the County Borough of Birkenhead wards of Prenton and Upton.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberPartyNotes
1885 Edward Cotton-Jodrell Conservative
1900 Joseph Hoult Conservative
1906 William Lever Liberal
1910 Gershom Stewart Conservative
1923 Stephen Dodds Liberal
1924 John Grace Conservative
1931 Christopher Clayton Conservative
1935 Alan Graham Conservative
1945 Selwyn Lloyd Conservative
1971 Speaker Resigned 1976
1976 by-election David Hunt Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Elections results

Elections in the 1880s

Cotton
General Election 1885: Wirral [2][3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Edward Cotton 4,756 59.3 N/A
Liberal James Tomkinson 3,261 40.7 N/A
Majority 1,495 18.6 N/A
Turnout 8,017 82.0 N/A
Registered electors 9,772
Conservative win (new seat)
General Election 1886: Wirral [2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Edward Cotton Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Wirral [2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Edward Cotton-Jodrell 5,599 64.7 N/A
Liberal Bernard Charles March-Phillipps De Lisle 3,051 35.3 N/A
Majority 2,548 29.4 N/A
Turnout 8,650 74.5 N/A
Registered electors 11,610
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 1895: Wirral [2][3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Edward Cotton-Jodrell Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Wirral [2][3][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Joseph Hoult 6,084 54.5 N/A
Liberal William Lever 5,079 45.5 N/A
Majority 1,005 9.0 N/A
Turnout 11,163 74.9 N/A
Registered electors 14,899
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Lever
General Election 1906: Wirral [2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Lever 8,833 55.3 +9.8
Conservative Joseph Hoult 7,132 44.7 -9.8
Majority 1,701 10.6 N/A
Turnout 15,965 82.3 +7.4
Registered electors 19,388
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +9.8

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Wirral [2][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Gershom Stewart 10,309 53.8 +9.1
Liberal E. Peter Jones 8,862 46.2 -9.1
Majority 1,447 7.6 18.1
Turnout 85.9 +3.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.1
General Election December 1910: Wirral [2][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Gershom Stewart 10,043 56.5
Liberal Arthur Jacob Ashton 7,727 43.5
Majority 2,316 13.0
Turnout 79.6
Conservative hold Swing

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

General Election 1918: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
C Unionist Gershom Stewart Unopposed
Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Wirral[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Gershom Stewart 12,888 51.0 n/a
Liberal Stephen Roxby Dodds 8,014 31.7 n/a
Labour James Edward Cameron Grant 4,363 17.3 n/a
Majority 4,874 19.3 n/a
Turnout 74.0 n/a
Unionist hold Swing
General Election 1923: Wirral [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Stephen Roxby Dodds 13,631 53.6 +21.9
Unionist Gershom Stewart 11,791 46.4 -4.6
Majority 1,840 7.2 26.5
Turnout 71.6 -2.4
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +13.3
General Election 1924: Wirral[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist John Grace 17,705 60.2
Liberal Stephen Roxby Dodds 11,697 39.8
Majority 6,008 20.4
Turnout 79.0
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General Election 1929: Wirral[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist John Grace 23,522 47.5
Liberal Stephen Roxby Dodds 15,158 30.6
Labour George Beardsworth 10,876 21.9 n/a
Majority
Turnout 78.7
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Christopher Clayton 44,935 81.53
Labour Stanley Wormald 10,117 18.47
Majority 34,758 63.07
Turnout 77.02
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1935: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Alan Graham 41,617 72.58
Labour Stanley Wormald 15,801 27.52
Majority 25,816 44.96
Turnout 69.67
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

  • Conservative: Alan Graham
  • Liberal: Thomas Mercer Banks
  • Labour: A Lois Bulley
General Election 1945: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 42,544 51.40
Labour A Lois Bulley 25,919 31.32
Liberal Eric Dorman-Smith 14,302 17.28
Majority 16,625 20.09
Turnout 75.40
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 29,232 57.05
Labour HA Kelly 15,993 31.21
Liberal Thomas Mercer Banks 6,018 11.74
Majority 13,239 25.84
Turnout 85.92
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1951: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 32,631 65.23
Labour Reginald B Chrimes 17,392 34.77
Majority 15,239 30.46
Turnout 81.74
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 33,027 67.40
Labour Reginald B Chrimes 15,976 32.60
Majority 27,051 34.80
Turnout 49,003 76.46
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1959: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 39,807 67.92
Labour Frederick W Venables 18,805 32.08
Majority 21,002 35.83
Turnout 58,612 82.52
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 32,084 50.05
Labour Millicent Aspin 17,445 27.21
Liberal Peter Howell Williams 14,574 22.74
Majority 14,639 22.84
Turnout 64,103 81.29
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1966: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 31,477 48.12
Labour Dennis V Hunt 21,624 33.06
Liberal Peter Howell Williams 12,313 18.82
Majority 9,853 15.06
Turnout 65,414 79.72
Conservative hold Swing +3.9

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Selwyn Lloyd 38,655 55.1
Labour R Gordon Paterson 22,197 31.7
Liberal Geraldine Jones 9,276 13.2
Majority 16,458 23.5
Turnout 74.2
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Speaker Selwyn Lloyd 38,452 51.2
Labour A. J. Whipp 22,605 30.1
Liberal Michael Gayford 14,123 18.8
Majority 15,847 21.1
Turnout 81.5
Speaker gain from Conservative Swing
General Election October 1974: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Speaker Selwyn Lloyd 35,705 50.8
Labour P. R. Thomas 22,217 31.6
Liberal Michael Gayford 12,345 17.6
Majority 13,488 19.2
Turnout 75.5
Speaker hold Swing
Wirral by-election, 1976
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Hunt 34,675 66.78 +15.97
Labour Adrian Bailey 10,562 20.34 -11.26
Liberal Michael Gayford 5,914 11.39 -6.21
English National Frank Hansford-Miller 466 0.90 N/A
Ind. Conservative Hilary Miller 307 0.59 N/A
Turnout 51,924
Majority 24,112 46.44
Conservative gain from Speaker Swing
General Election 1979: Wirral
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Hunt 44,519 59.0
Labour C. Ryder 21,188 28.1
Liberal R. Barnett 9,769 12.9
Majority 23,331 30.9
Turnout 77.8
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "'Wirral', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 237. ISBN 9781349022984.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  4. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
  5. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  6. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  7. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  8. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  9. 1 2 3 4 British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 Craig, F.W.S. (1983) ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tiverton		 Constituency represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
1960–1962		 Succeeded by
Barnet
Preceded by
Southampton Itchen		 Constituency represented by the Speaker
1971–1976		 Succeeded by
Cardiff West
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