History of Parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cheshire
The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.
Under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, the boundaries of the historic/administrative county of Cheshire were significantly altered. Over half the electorate was transferred to the new metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, partly compensated by the addition of Warrington, Widnes and surrounding areas to the north which were transferred in from Lancashire. These changes were reflected in the following redistribution of parliamentary seats which did not come into effect until the 1983 general election, resulting in a net reduction in the county's representation from 17 to 10 MPs.
Number of seats
The table below shows the number of MPs representing Cheshire at each major redistribution of seats affecting the county.
Year | County
seats1 |
Borough
seats1 |
Total |
Historic county | |||
Prior to 1832 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
1832–1865 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
1865–18682 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
1868–1885 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
1885–1918 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
1918–1945 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
1945–1950 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
1950–1955 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
1955–1974 | 10 | 6 | 16 |
1974 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
Current county | |||
1974–19833 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
1983–1997 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
1997–present | 9 | 2 | 11 |
1Prior to 1950, seats were classified as County Divisions or Parliamentary Boroughs. Since 1950, they have been classified as County or Borough Constituencies.
2Borough of Birkenhead (1 member) enfranchised by Act of Parliament to replace disenfranchised boroughs.[1]
3Approximate equivalent number of constituencies. Prior to the redistribution coming into effect for the 1983 general election, 6 constituencies were split between Cheshire and the new counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside and 7 were wholly within the reconfigured county.
Constituency timeline
County seat Borough seat
Historic county to 1974
Constituency | Prior to 1832 | 1832-1865 | 1865-1868 | 1868-1885 | 1885-1918 | 1918-1945 | 1945-1950 | 1950-1955 | 1955-1974 | 1974 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cheshire | 1545-1832 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
South Cheshire | 1832-1868 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
West Cheshire | 1868-1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Wallasey | 1918--> | |||||||||
Birkenhead | 1865-1918 | 1950--> | ||||||||
Birkenhead East | 1918-1950 | |||||||||
Birkenhead West | 1918-1950 | |||||||||
Wirral | 1885--> | |||||||||
Bebington | 1950-1974 | |||||||||
Bebinton and Ellesmere Port | 1974--> | |||||||||
City of Chester | 1545-1885 (2 MPs) | 1885-1918 | 1918--> | |||||||
Eddisbury | 1885-1950 | |||||||||
Nantwich | 1955--> | |||||||||
Mid Cheshire | 1868-1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Northwich | 1885--> | |||||||||
North Cheshire | 1832-1868 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Runcorn | 1950--> | |||||||||
Knutsford | 1885--> | |||||||||
Bucklow | 1945-1950 | |||||||||
Altrincham | 1885-1945 | |||||||||
Altrincham and Sale | 1945--> | |||||||||
East Cheshire | 1868-1885 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Cheadle | 1950-1974 | 1974--> | ||||||||
Hazel Grove | 1974--> | |||||||||
Stockport | 1832-1950 (2 MPs) | |||||||||
Stockport North | 1950--> | |||||||||
Stockport South | 1950--> | |||||||||
Stalybridge | 1868-1918 | |||||||||
Hyde | 1885-1918 | |||||||||
Stalybridge and Hyde | 1918--> | |||||||||
Macclesfield | 1832-1885 (2 MPs) | 1885--> | ||||||||
Crewe | 1885--> | |||||||||
Constituency | Prior to 1832 | 1832-1865 | 1865-1868 | 1868-1885 | 1885-1918 | 1918-1945 | 1945-1950 | 1950-1955 | 1955-1974 | 1974 |
Current ceremonial county from 1974
Constituency | 1974-1983 | 1983-1997 | 1997-present |
---|---|---|---|
Wirral (part) | <--1983 | ||
Bebington and Ellesmere Port (part) | <--1983 | ||
Ellesmere Port and Neston | 1983-present | ||
City of Chester | <--present | ||
Nantwich | <--1983 | ||
Eddisbury | 1983-present | ||
Weaver Vale | 1997-present | ||
Northwich | <--1983 | ||
Runcorn | <--1983 | ||
Widnes (part) | <--1983 | ||
Halton | 1983-present | ||
Newton (part) | <--1983 | ||
Warrington | <--1983 | ||
Warrington North | 1983-present | ||
Warrington South | 1983-present | ||
Knutsford (part) | <--1983 | ||
Tatton | 1983-present | ||
Cheadle (part) | <--1983 | ||
Macclesfield | <--present | ||
Congleton | 1983-present | ||
Crewe | <--1983 | ||
Crewe and Nantwich | 1983-present | ||
Constituency | 1974-1983 | 1983-1997 | 1997-present |
Boundary reviews
Historic county
Prior to 1832 | As a county palatine, Cheshire was unrepresented in the House of Commons until 1545. Under the terms of the Chester and Cheshire (Constituencies) Act 1542, the County of Chester (Cheshire) was thereafter represented by two Knights of the Shire and the City of Chester was represented by 2 burgesses. | |
1832 | The Great Reform Act of 1832[2] radically changed the representation of the House of Commons, with the County being divided into the Northern and Southern Divisions, both returning 2 MPs. North Cheshire covered the northern and eastern parts of the county, comprising the Hundreds of Bucklow and Macclesfield; South Cheshire covered the southern and western parts, comprising the Hundreds of Broxton, Eddisbury, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral. In addition to Chester, the Parliamentary Boroughs of Macclesfield and Stockport were established, both returning 2 MPs. | |
1865 | Under the terms of the Appropriation of Seats (Sudbury and Saint Alban's) Act 1861,[1] Birkenhead was enfranchised as a single-member Parliamentary Borough. It was first contested at the 1865 general election. | |
1868 | Under the Reform Act of 1867,[3] the county was further divided, with the creation of Mid Cheshire, comprising the Bucklow and Northwich Hundreds, transferred from North Cheshire and South Cheshire respectively. Stalybridge was established as a single-member Borough.
Subsequently, the Boundary Act 1868[4] renamed the Northern and Southern Divisions as East Cheshire and West Cheshire respectively. | |
1885 | Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885,[5] the three 2-member county divisions were replaced by eight single-member constituencies, namely Altrincham, Crewe, Eddisbury, Hyde, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Northwich and Wirral. The Parliamentary Borough of Macclesfield was disenfranchised due to corruption. The representation of the City of Chester was reduced to one MP. | ![]() Cheshire 1885–1918 |
1918 | Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the number of constituencies in Cheshire was increased by one. The major changes were:
Other boundary changes included:
|
![]() Cheshire 1918–1950 |
1945 | The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 set up Boundary Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies (those exceeding an electorate of 100,000) in time for the 1945 election.[6] This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Cheshire was allocated one additional seat, by splitting the Altrincham Division into two seats:
| |
1950 | As a result of the redistribution enacted by the Representation of the People Act 1948,[7] Cheshire's representation remained at 15 seats. However, there were significant changes to the make-up of the constituencies as follows:
|
![]() Cheshire 1950–1955 |
1955 | The First Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies resulted in the creation of Nantwich, formed from parts of the constituencies of Crewe (the urban district of Nantwich and most of the rural district of Nantwich) and Northwich (the urban districts of Middlewich and Winsford and parts of the rural districts of Northwich and Tarvin).
The only other change was the transfer of the urban districts of Alsager and Sandbach from Knutsford to Crewe.[8] |
![]() Cheshire 1955–1974 |
1974 | The Second Periodic Review,[9] which came into effect for the February 1983 election, resulted in the creation of Hazel Grove. This constituency was carved out of the Cheadle constituency, leaving the urban district of Cheadle and Gatley, to which the urban district of Wilmslow was added, transferred from Knutsford. Alderley Edge was transferred from Knutsford to Macclesfield.
In the Wirral, Bebington was abolished, being replaced by Bebington and Ellesmere Port, with the latter transferred from the Wirral constituency. The parts of the county borough of Birkenhead previously in Bebington were transferred back to the Birkenhead constituency, with the exception of Prenton ward, which was transferred to Wirral. Upton ward was also transferred to Wirral, from Birkenhead. |
![]() Cheshire 1974 (Feb) |
Current ceremonial county
1974 | Shortly after the Second Periodic Review came into effect, the county was subject to a major reconfiguration under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972. As a result, with effect from 1 April 1974, the constituencies of Altrincham and Sale, Hazel Grove, Stalybridge and Hyde1, Stockport North and Stockport South, most of Cheadle and northern parts of Knutsford were now part of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester; and the constituencies of Birkenhead and Wallasey and the majority of Bebington and Ellesmere Port, and Wirral were now part of the new metropolitan county of Merseyside.
|
![]() Cheshire 1974 (Apr) – 1983 |
1983 | The next change to parliamentary constituency boundaries, following the recommendations of the Third Periodic Review,[10] reflected the change in county boundaries and reorganisation of local government authorities in 1974 arising from the Local Government Act 1972. This review did not come into effect for a further nine years, at the 1983 general election, and resulted in wholescale changes, with only the constituencies of City of Chester and Macclesfield being retained in the reconfigured county. Bebington and Ellesmere Port, Crewe, Knutsford, Nantwich, Newton, Northwich, Runcorn, Warrington, Widnes and Wirral were abolished and the following new constituencies were created:
|
![]() Cheshire 1983–1997 |
1997 | The Fourth Review[11] saw another increase in the number of constituencies, with the creation Weaver Vale, which was made up as follows:
Other changes included:
|
![]() Cheshire 1997–2010 |
2010 | At the Fifth Periodic Review[12] there were no changes to Cheshire's representation, with only minor changes to boundaries due primarily to the revision of local authority ward boundaries. The Halton Borough ward of Castlefield was transferred from Weaver Vale to Halton. | ![]() Cheshire 2010–present |
Communities timeline
Community | 1885-1918 | 1918-1945 | 1945-1950 | 1950-1955 | 1955-1974 | 1974-1983 | 1983-1997 | 1997-present | Community |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wallasey | Wirral | Wallasey | Part of Merseyside
from 1 April 1974 | ||||||
Birkenhead | Birkenhead | Birkenhead East/ | Birkenhead/Bebinton | Birkenhead/
Wirral |
Birkenhead/
Wirral West | ||||
Hoylake | Wirral | Wirral | Wirral West | ||||||
Heswall | Wirral South | ||||||||
Bebington | Bebington | Bebinton and | |||||||
Ellesmere Port | Wirral | Ellesmere Port | Ellesmere Port | ||||||
Neston | Wirral | Neston | |||||||
Chester | City of Chester | Chester | |||||||
Tarporley/Malpas | Eddisbury | Northwich | Nantwich | Eddisbury | Eddisbury | Tarporley/Malpas | |||
Winsford | Northwich | Winsford | |||||||
Audlem | Eddisbury | Crewe | Crewe and | Audlem | |||||
Nantwich | Crewe | Crewe | Crewe and
Nantwich |
Nantwich | |||||
Crewe | Crewe | Crewe | |||||||
Alsager | Knutsford | Congleton | Alsager | ||||||
Sandbach | Northwich | Sandbach | |||||||
Middlewich | Northwich | Northwich | Nantwich | Middlewich | |||||
Congleton | Macclesfield | Macclesfield | Macclesfield | Macclesfield | Congleton | ||||
Macclesfield | Macclesfield | Macclesfield | Macclesfield | ||||||
Disley | Knutsford | Disley | |||||||
Bollington/Poynton | Knutsford | Bollington/Poynton | |||||||
Alderley Edge | Knutsford | Tatton | Alderley Edge | ||||||
Wilmslow | Cheadle | Tatton | Wilmslow | ||||||
Knutsford | Knutsford | Knutsford | |||||||
Northwich | Northwich | Weaver Vale | Northwich | ||||||
Frodsham | Eddisbury | Runcorn | Eddisbury | Frodsham | |||||
Runcorn | Northwich | Halton | Runcorn | ||||||
Part of Lancashire
prior to 1 April 1974 |
Widnes | Widnes | |||||||
Warrington | Warrington North/ | Warrington | |||||||
Stockton Heath/Grappenhall | Knutsford | Runcorn | Warrington South | Stockton Heath/Grappenhall | |||||
Lymm | Altrincham | Altrincham | Bucklow | Lymm | |||||
Sale1 | Altrincham and Sale | Altrincham
and Sale |
Altrincham | Part of Greater
from 1 April 1974 | |||||
Altrincham | |||||||||
Hale/Bowdon | Bucklow | Knutsford | |||||||
Carrington/Partington | Davyhulme | Stretford and | |||||||
Northenden/Baguley/ | Manchester Wythenshawe
(part of County Borough of Manchester 1933-1974) |
Wythenshawe | |||||||
Cheadle/Gatley | Cheadle | Cheadle | Cheadle | ||||||
Bramhall | Knutsford | Hazel Grove | |||||||
Hazel Grove | Hyde | Hazel Grove | |||||||
Marple/Romiley/Bredbury | Macclesfield | ||||||||
Hyde | Stalybridge and Hyde | ||||||||
Stalybridge/Dukinfield | Stalybridge | ||||||||
Stockport | Stockport
(2 MPs) |
Stockport (2 MPs) | Stockport North/Stockport South | Stockport | |||||
Reddish | Stretford | Stockport North | Denton and Reddish | ||||||
Community | 1885-1918 | 1918-1945 | 1945-1950 | 1950-1955 | 1955-1974 | 1974-1983 | 1983-1997 | 1997-present | Community |
1 Part of Sale was in Davyhulme 1983-1997 and part was in Wythenshawe and Sale East 1997-present
References
- Great Britain; Rickards, George K. (George Kettilby) (1807). The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland [1807-1868/69]. unknown library. London, His Majesty's statute and law printers.
- Kingdom, Parliament of the United. Reform Act.
- "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF).
- Great Britain (1868). The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland [1807-1868/69]. unknown library. His Majesty's statute and law printers.
- Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
- Gay, Oonagh (2020-12-27). "The Rules for the Redistribution of Seats- history and reform". Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) - "Representation of the People Act 1948". www.legislation.gov.uk.
- Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
- "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970".
- "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983".
- "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995".
- "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007".