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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Heywood And Middleton North (UK Parliament Constituency)

Heywood and Middleton is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Chris Clarkson of the Conservative Party.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposes that two of the Middleton wards will be included in a new constituency named Blackley and Middleton South and this seat will be renamed Heywood and Middleton North, to be first contested at the 2024 general election.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the west half of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, including the towns of Heywood and Middleton, and some of the western fringes of Rochdale itself such as Castleton. Norden and Bamford are strong Conservative areas, with several million-pound houses, but all other wards are mostly favourable to Labour. Middleton includes the large overspill council estate of Langley though the South Middleton ward includes a relatively affluent area in Alkrington Garden Village, but even this ward generally returns Labour councillors.

Electoral Calculus categorises the seat as a "Somewhere" demographic, indicating socially conservative, economically soft left views and strong support for Brexit.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Heywood North, Heywood South, Heywood West, Middleton Central, Middleton East, Middleton North, Middleton South, and Middleton West.

1997–2010: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Castleton, Heywood North, Heywood South, Heywood West, Middleton Central, Middleton East, Middleton North, Middleton South, Middleton West, and Norden and Bamford.

2010–2024: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Bamford, Castleton, East Middleton, Hopwood Hall, Norden, North Heywood, North Middleton, South Middleton, West Heywood, and West Middleton.

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 general election the constituency of Heywood and Middleton North will be composed of the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

  • Bamford; Castleton; Hopwood Hall; Norden; North Heywood; North Middleton; Spotland and Falinge; West Heywood; West Middleton.

East Middleton and South Middleton wards will now be included in the new constituency of Blackley and Middleton South, partly compensated by the addition of the Spotland and Falinge ward from Rochdale.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats of Heywood and Royton and Middleton and Prestwich and had been held by the Labour Party since then until the 2019 Election.

From 1983 until his retirement in 1997, the MP was Jim Callaghan, not to be confused with a former Prime Minister with the same name.

In a 2014 by-election UKIP came within 617 votes of winning the seat, which was on the same day as the Rochester and Strood by-election, and in 2015 it produced one of their largest results in the country, as a result the constituency heavily voted to Leave in the referendum and swung to the Conservatives for the first time in 2019, in line with many other Leave-voting Labour seats in the North and Midlands.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1983 Jim Callaghan Labour
1997 Jim Dobbin Labour Co-op
2014 by-election Liz McInnes Labour
2019 Chris Clarkson Conservative
2024 Elsie Blundell Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Heywood and Middleton North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Elsie Blundell 15,069 40.6 Decrease -2.5
Reform UK Steve Potter 8,987 24.2 Increase +15.8
Conservative Laura-Beth Thompson 6,423 17.3 Decrease -24.2
Independent Chris Furlong 4,349 11.7 Increase +11.7
Liberal Democrats Tom Shaw 2,302 6.2 Increase +2.0
Majority 6082 16.4 N/A
Turnout 37,130 50 -8.3
Labour hold Swing

Heywood and Middleton North is the only constituency (in England or Wales) where the Green Party of England and Wales didn’t stand a candidate.

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Chris Clarkson 20,453 43.1 +5.1
Labour Liz McInnes 19,790 41.7 ―11.6
Brexit Party Colin Lambert 3,952 8.3 New
Liberal Democrats Anthony Smith 2,073 4.4 +2.2
Green Nigel Ainsworth-Barnes 1,220 2.6 New
Majority 663 1.4 N/A
Turnout 47,488 59.2 ―3.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +8.4
General election 2017: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Liz McInnes 26,578 53.3 +10.2
Conservative Chris Clarkson 18,961 38.0 +18.9
UKIP Lee Seville 3,239 6.5 ―25.7
Liberal Democrats Bill Winlow 1,087 2.2 ―1.1
Majority 7,617 15.3 +4.4
Turnout 49,865 62.4 +1.7
Labour hold Swing ―4.4
General election 2015: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Liz McInnes 20,926 43.1 +3.0
UKIP John Bickley 15,627 32.2 +29.6
Conservative Iain Gartside 9,268 19.1 ―8.1
Liberal Democrats Anthony Smith 1,607 3.3 ―19.4
Green Abi Jackson 1,110 2.3 N/A
Majority 5,299 10.9 ―2.0
Turnout 48,538 60.7 +3.2
Labour hold Swing ―16.3
2014 Heywood and Middleton by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Liz McInnes 11,633 40.9 +0.8
UKIP John Bickley 11,016 38.7 +36.1
Conservative Iain Gartside 3,496 12.3 ―14.9
Liberal Democrats Anthony Smith 1,457 5.1 ―17.6
Green Abi Jackson 870 3.1 New
Majority 617 2.2 ―10.7
Turnout 28,472 36.0 -21.5
Labour hold Swing ―18.5
General election 2010: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jim Dobbin 18,499 40.1 ―8.2
Conservative Mike Holly 12,528 27.2 +5.4
Liberal Democrats Wera Hobhouse 10,474 22.7 +2.5
BNP Peter Greenwood 3,239 7.0 +2.6
UKIP Victoria Cecil 1,215 2.6 +0.7
Independent Chrissy Lee 170 0.4 New
Majority 5,971 12.9 ―13.6
Turnout 46,125 57.5 +3.7
Labour Co-op hold Swing ―6.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jim Dobbin 19,438 49.8 ―7.9
Conservative Stephen Pathmarajah 8,355 21.4 ―6.2
Liberal Democrats Crea Lavin 7,261 18.6 +7.4
BNP Gary Aronsson 1,855 4.7 New
Liberal Philip Burke 1,377 3.5 +0.9
UKIP John Whittaker 767 2.0 New
Majority 11,083 28.4 ―1.7
Turnout 39,053 54.6 +1.5
Labour Co-op hold Swing ―0.9
General election 2001: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jim Dobbin 22,377 57.7 0.0
Conservative Marilyn Hopkins 10,707 27.6 +4.6
Liberal Democrats Ian Greenhalgh 4,329 11.2 ―4.4
Liberal Philip Burke 1,021 2.6 +1.1
Christian Democrats Christine West 345 0.9 New
Majority 11,670 30.1 ―4.6
Turnout 38,779 53.1 −15.3
Labour Co-op hold Swing ―2.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jim Dobbin 29,179 57.7 +11.2
Conservative Sebastian Grigg 11,637 23.0 ―8.6
Liberal Democrats David Clayton 7,908 15.6 ―4.3
Referendum Christine West 1,076 2.1 New
Liberal Philip Burke 750 1.5 ―0.3
Majority 17,542 34.7 +15.8
Turnout 50,550 68.4 -6.5
Labour Co-op win
General election 1992: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 22,380 52.3 +2.4
Conservative Eric Ollerenshaw 14,306 33.4 ―0.9
Liberal Democrats Michael B. Taylor 5,252 12.3 ―3.5
Liberal Philip Burke 757 1.8 New
Natural Law Anne-Marie Scott 134 0.3 New
Majority 8,074 18.9 +3.3
Turnout 42,829 74.9 +1.1
Labour hold Swing +1.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 21,900 49.9 +6.6
Conservative Roy Walker 15,052 34.3 +0.5
SDP Ian Greenhalgh 6,953 15.8 ―6.3
Majority 6,848 15.6 +6.1
Turnout 43,905 73.8 +3.9
Labour hold Swing +3.2
General election 1983: Heywood and Middleton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Callaghan 18,111 43.3
Conservative Christine Hodgson 14,137 33.8
SDP Arthur Rumbelow 9,262 22.1
BNP Kenneth Henderson 316 0.8
Majority 3,974 9.5
Turnout 41,826 69.9
Labour win (new seat)

See also