Widnes (UK Parliament constituency)

Widnes
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
18851983
Number of members one
Replaced by Halton, Knowsley South and St Helens South[1]

Widnes was a county constituency in England, based on the town of Widnes, in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

History

The constituency was formed as a division of the Parliamentary county of Lancashire in 1885, including Allerton, Cronton, Ditton, Garston, Hale, Halewood, Huyton with Roby, Little Woolton, Much Woolton, Speke, Tarbock, Whiston and Widnes.

In 1918 it was redefined to cover the municipal borough of Widnes, along with the urban district of Huyton with Roby and the Whiston Rural District. The two urban districts and part of the rural district became part of a new Huyton constituency in 1950, with Widnes retaining the borough and the remainder of the rural district. In 1971 Widnes featured the last by-election to date to have only a Labour and a Conservative candidate. Its boundaries remained unchanged in 1974. In 1983 Widnes constituency was abolished and replaced by Halton constituency.[2]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Tom Cottingham Edwards-Moss Conservative
1892 John Saunders Gilliat Conservative
1900 William Hall Walker Coalition Conservative
1919 by-election Arthur Henderson Labour
1922 George Christopher Clayton Conservative
1929 Alexander Gordon Cameron Labour
1931 Roland Robinson Conservative
1935 Richard Antony Pilkington Conservative
1945 Christopher Nyholm Shawcross Labour
1950 James MacColl Labour
1971 by-election Gordon Oakes Labour
1983 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gordon Oakes 32,033 55.2 4.0
Conservative B.G. Holder 21,752 37.5 +10.0
Liberal L.A. Self 4,290 7.4 -5.9
Majority 10,281 17.7
Turnout 58,075 74.2 +3.3
Labour hold Swing 7.0
General Election October 1974: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gordon Oakes 31,532 59.2 5.9
Conservative A.H.K. Maynard 14,661 27.5 7.5
Liberal A. Turner 7,067 13.3 N/A
Majority 16,871 31.7
Turnout 53,260 70.9 2.8
Labour hold Swing +0.8
General Election February 1974: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gordon Oakes 35,654 65.1 +7.4
Conservative A.H.K. Maynard 19,155 35.0 7.3
Majority 16,499 30.1
Turnout 54,809 73.7 +5.0
Labour hold Swing +7.4
By-election 1971: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gordon Oakes 22,880 69.1 +11.4
Conservative David Stanley 10,219 30.9 11.4
Majority 12,661 38.3
Turnout 33,099
Labour hold Swing +11.4
General Election 1970: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 28,384 57.7 3.0
Conservative Griffith H. Pierce 20,841 42.3 +3.0
Majority 7,543 15.3
Turnout 49,225 68.7
Labour hold Swing 3.0

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 26,613 60.7 +3.9
Conservative Alan Pickering 17,235 39.3 3.9
Majority 9,378 21.4
Turnout 43,848 72.8 5.1
Labour hold Swing +3.9
General Election 1964: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 24,446 56.8 +4.8
Conservative Alan Pickering 18,572 43.2 4.8
Majority 5,874 13.7
Turnout 43,018 77.9 5.5
Labour hold Swing +4.8

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 21,218 52.0 +0.1
Conservative Bruce L. Butcher 19,620 48.0 0.1
Majority 1,598 3.9
Turnout 40,838 83.4 +7.0
Labour hold Swing +0.1
General Election 1955: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 19,823 51.9 2.3
Conservative Beata Brookes 18,374 48.1 +2.3
Majority 1,449 3.8
Turnout 38,197 76.4
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1951: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 21,688 54.2 +0.1
Conservative Francis H. Wilson 18,315 45.8 0.1
Majority 3,373 8.4
Turnout 40,003 87.4 0.8
Labour hold Swing +0.1
General Election 1950: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James MacColl 21,253 54.1 4.7
Conservative Richard Antony Pilkington 18,033 45.9 +4.7
Majority 3,220 8.2
Turnout 39,286 88.2 +12.2
Labour hold Swing 4.7

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Christopher Nyholm Shawcross 41,980 58.8 +14.8
Conservative Richard Antony Pilkington 29,382 41.2 14.8
Majority 12,598 17.7
Turnout 71,362 76.0 3.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +14.8

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Richard Antony Pilkington 24,457 56.0 6.1
Labour Alexander Gordon Cameron 19,187 44.0 +6.1
Majority 5,270 12.1
Turnout 43,644 79.7 7.8
Conservative hold Swing 6.1
General Election 1931: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Roland Robinson 25,123 62.1
Labour Alexander Gordon Cameron 15,309 37.9
Majority 9,814 24.3
Turnout 40,432 87.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Alexander Gordon Cameron 19,125 51.0 +4.7
Unionist George Christopher Clayton 18,376 49.0 -4.7
Majority 749 2.0 9.4
Turnout 84.8 -1.0
Labour gain from Unionist Swing {{{swing}}}
General Election 1924: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist George Christopher Clayton 15,476 53.7
Labour Joseph Patrick Cotter 13,326 46.3
Majority 2,150 7.4
Turnout 85.8
General Election 1923: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist George Christopher Clayton 12,808 47.1 -6.1
Labour Joseph Patrick Cotter 12,020 44.2 -2.6
Liberal H.T. Ellis 2,355 8.7 n/a
Majority 788 2.9 -3.5
Turnout 83.0 -3.8
Unionist hold Swing -1.7
General Election 1922: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist George Christopher Clayton 14,679 53.2
Labour Arthur Henderson 12,897 46.8
Majority 1,782 6.4
Turnout 86.8
Unionist gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Widnes by-election, August 30 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Arthur Henderson 11,404 52.3
Coalition Conservative Francis Fisher 10,417 47.7
Majority 987 4.6
Turnout 71.1
Labour gain from Coalition Conservative Swing
General Election 1918: Widnes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Coalition Conservative William Hall Walker 11,515 59.6
Labour Tom Williamson 7,821 40.4
Majority 3,694 19.2
Turnout 63.0

References

  1. "'Widnes', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 2

Sources

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