- Manchester Withington (UK Parliament constituency)
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Coordinates: 53°25′59″N 2°14′02″W / 53.433°N 2.234°W
Manchester, Withington Borough constituency for the House of Commons 
Boundary of Manchester, Withington in Greater Manchester.
Location of Greater Manchester within England.County Greater Manchester Electorate 73,656 (December 2010)[1] Current constituency Created 1918 Member of Parliament John Leech (Liberal Democrat) Number of members One Overlaps European Parliament constituency North West England Manchester, Withington is a parliamentary constituency in the city of Manchester. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system. The current MP is John Leech of the Liberal Democrats, first elected at the 2005 general election.
Contents
Boundaries
The current Manchester wards in the constituency are Burnage, Chorlton, Chorlton Park, Didsbury East, Didsbury West, Old Moat and Withington.
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Greater Manchester in the 2000s, the Boundary Commission for England made minor changes to the Withington constituency, creating a modified seat from the same electoral wards as above, with the new boundaries following any minor alterations made to the shapes of the wards.
History
A seat with a large student population, Manchester Withington was once a Conservative stronghold. It even resisted being gained by Labour in its massive landslide victories in 1945 and 1966. However, although Margaret Thatcher helped the Conservative majority grow in two elections, in 1987 the seat turned red for the first time and remained so until 2005 when it was gained by the Liberal Democrats, a reaction by many student voters opposing Labour's policy of top-up fees. The Conservatives have since dropped into third place and the Lib Dems have taken many of the former Labour votes.
Members of Parliament
John Leech is the current Liberal Democrat MP for the constituency. He was elected at the 2005 general election, defeating the Labour incumbent Keith Bradley who had held the seat since 1987.
Election Member[2] Party 1918 Alfred Deakin Carter Conservative 1922 Dr. Thomas Watts Conservative 1923 Ernest Darwin Simon Liberal 1924 Sir Thomas Watts Conservative 1929 Ernest Darwin Simon Liberal 1931 Edward Fleming Conservative 1950 Frederick Cundiff Conservative 1951 Sir Robert Cary, Bt Conservative Feb 1974 Fred Silvester Conservative 1987 Keith Bradley Labour 2005 John Leech Liberal Democrat Elections
Elections in the 2010s
General Election 2010: Manchester Withington [3] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Democrat John Leech 20,110 44.6 +2.4 Labour Lucy Powell 18,216 40.5 -0.4 Conservative Chris Green 5,005 11.1 +0.7 Green Brian Candeland 798 1.8 -2.5 UKIP Robert Gutfreund-Walmsley 698 1.5 +0.4 Independent Yasmin Zalzala 147 0.3 -0.1 Independent Marcus Farmer 57 0.1 +0.1 Majority 1,894 4.1 Turnout 45,075 62.2 +6.8 Liberal Democrat hold Swing +1.4 Elections in the 2000s
General Election 2005: Manchester, Withington[4] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Democrat John Leech 15,872 42.4 +20.4 Labour Keith Bradley 15,205 40.6 -14.3 Conservative Karen Bradley 3,919 10.5 -4.8 Green Brian Candeland 1,595 4.3 -0.1 UKIP Robert Gutfreund-Walmsley 424 1.1 Independent Ivan Benett 243 0.6 Independent Yasmin Zalzala 152 0.4 Their Party Richard Reed 47 0.1 Majority 667 1.8 Turnout 37,459 55.3 +3.4 Liberal Democrat gain from Labour Swing +17.3 General Election 2001: Manchester, Withington Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Keith Bradley 19,239 54.9 Liberal Democrat Yasmin Zalzala 7,715 22.0 Conservative Julian Samways 5,349 15.3 Green Michelle Valentine 1,539 4.4 Socialist Alliance John Clegg 1,208 3.4 Majority 11,524 32.9 Turnout 51.9 Elections in the 1990s
General Election 1997: Manchester, Withington[5] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Keith Bradley 27,103 61.56 +8.9 Conservative J Smith 8,522 19.4 -11.9 Liberal Democrat Y Zalzala 6,000 13.6 0.6 Referendum Party M Sheppard 1,079 2.5 N/A ProLife Alliance S Caldwell 614 1.4 N/A Socialist (GB) J White 376 0.9 N/A Rainbow Dream Ticket S Kingston 181 0.4 N/A Natural Law M Gaskell 152 0.4 +0.1 Majority 18,581 42.2 Turnout 65.82 Labour hold Swing +10.4 General Election 1992: Manchester, Withington[6] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Keith Bradley 23,962 52.7 +9.7 Conservative EN Farthing 14,227 31.3 −5.0 Liberal Democrat PG Hennell 6,457 14.2 −5.6 Green BA Candeland 725 1.6 +0.6 Natural Law CE Menhinick 128 0.3 N/A Majority 9,735 21.4 +14.7 Turnout 45,499 71.3 −5.9 Labour hold Swing +7.3 Election in the 1940s
General Election 1945: Manchester, Withington[7]
Manchester County Borough wards of Chorlton cum Hardy, Didsbury, Withington
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Edward Fleming 30,881 46.4 Labour R. Edwards 22,634 34.0 Liberal Leonard Behrens 13,107 19.7 Majority 8,247 12.4 Turnout 74.5 Conservative hold Swing See also
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester
Notes and references
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
- ^ Manchester Withington UK Polling
- ^ http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=2532
- ^ "UK General Election results May 1997". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/181.htm. Retrieved 2011-22-09.
- ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i14.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ UK General Election results: July 1945
Categories:- Parliamentary constituencies in Manchester
- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1918
- Withington
- Didsbury
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