West Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with West Lancashire (borough).
West Lancashire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of West Lancashire in Lancashire
Outline map
Location of Lancashire within England
County Lancashire
Electorate 73,028 (December 2010)
Major settlements Ormskirk, Skelmersdale and Burscough
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of Parliament Ashley Dalton (Labour)
Seats One
Created from Ormskirk and Ince

West Lancashire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Following the resignation of Labour MP Rosie Cooper on 30 November 2022, the seat was won by the party's candidate Ashley Dalton in the by-election held on 9 February 2023.

Constituency profile

The constituency is located in southern Lancashire, and borders Merseyside to the south and west and Greater Manchester to the east. Skelmersdale is the largest town and an electorally strong area for the Labour Party, followed by the more Conservative-inclined Ormskirk, and Burscough. The constituency shares its boundaries with the southern part of the borough of West Lancashire, while the northern part of the borough is in the South Ribble constituency.

Farming is a significant industry in the constituency, with much of the farmland classed as grade 1 or grade 2. The entirety of the constituency is within the North West Green Belt.

West Lancashire is home to a significant proportion of those working at managerial and professional levels and an above average retired age quotient. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.

Boundaries


1983–1997: Aughton Park, Aughton Town Green, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough, Derby, Digmoor, Downholland, Halsall, Hesketh-with-Becconsall, Knowsley, Lathom, Moorside, Newburgh, North Meols, Rufford, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Tarleton, Upholland North, and Upholland South.

1997–2010: Aughton Park, Aughton Town Green, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough, Derby, Digmoor, Downholland, Halsall, Knowsley, Lathom, Moorside, Newburgh, Parbold, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Upholland North, Upholland South, and Wrightington.

2010–present: Ashurst, Aughton and Downholland, Aughton Park, Bickerstaffe, Birch Green, Burscough East, Burscough West, Derby, Digmoor, Halsall, Knowsley, Moorside, Newburgh, Parbold, Scarisbrick, Scott, Skelmersdale North, Skelmersdale South, Tanhouse, Upholland, and Wrightington. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be unchanged.

History

The seat was established under the third periodic review of Westminster constituencies of 1983.

The new seat took in parts of Ormskirk and Ince, both abolished in the review. Ince had elected Labour MPs since 1906, but Ormskirk had a mixed and longer history as a more marginal seat. Both seats were represented by Labour MPs when they were abolished.

The seat's first member, Ken Hind, held the seat for two terms as a Conservative, winning the first election in the landslide Conservative result of 1983. In 1992 the seat was won by Colin Pickthall of the Labour Party, who was succeeded by Rosie Cooper in 2005. The 2010 result was more marginal, with a 9.0% majority, but was not within the 50 most narrowly won seats for Cooper's party.

In September 2022 Rosie Cooper announced she had accepted a new role as Chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and would therefore resign as MP, triggering a by-election.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1983 Ken Hind Conservative
1992 Colin Pickthall Labour
2005 Rosie Cooper Labour
2023 by-election Ashley Dalton Labour

Elections

West Lancashire constituency election results from 1983 to 2023

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ken Hind 25,458 46.3
Labour Josie Farrington 18,600 33.8
SDP Andrew D. Sackville 10,983 20.0
Majority 6,858 12.5
Turnout 55,041 74.4
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1987: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ken Hind 26,500 43.7 –2.6
Labour Colin Pickthall 25,147 41.5 +7.7
SDP Robert Jermyn 8,972 14.8 –5.2
Majority 1,353 2.2 –10.3
Turnout 60,619 79.7 +5.3
Conservative hold Swing –5.1

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Pickthall 30,128 47.1 +5.6
Conservative Ken Hind 28,051 43.9 +0.2
Liberal Democrats Peter F. Reilly 4,884 7.6 –7.2
Green Philip J. Pawley 546 0.9 New
Natural Law Bevin H. Morris 336 0.5 New
Majority 2,077 3.2 N/A
Turnout 63,945 82.6 +2.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +2.7
General election 1997: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Pickthall 33,022 60.3 +10.9
Conservative Chris J. Varley 15,903 29.1 –13.3
Liberal Democrats Arthur R. Wood 3,938 7.2 +0.2
Referendum Michael Carter 1,025 1.9 New
Natural Law John D. Collins 449 0.8 +0.3
Independent David Hill 392 0.7 New
Majority 17,119 31.2 +24.4
Turnout 54,729 74.6 –8.0
Labour hold Swing +12.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Pickthall 23,404 54.5 –5.8
Conservative Jeremy Myers 13,761 32.0 +2.9
Liberal Democrats John Thornton 4,966 11.6 +4.4
Independent David Hill 523 1.2 +0.5
Independent David Braid 317 0.7 New
Majority 9,643 22.5 –8.7
Turnout 42,971 58.8 –15.8
Labour hold Swing –4.4
General election 2005: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rosie Cooper 20,746 48.1 –6.4
Conservative Alf Doran 14,662 34.0 +2.0
Liberal Democrats Richard Kemp 6,059 14.0 +2.4
UKIP Alan Freeman 871 2.0 New
English Democrat Stephen Garrett 525 1.2 New
Clause 28 David Braid 292 0.7 0.0
Majority 6,084 14.1 –8.4
Turnout 43,155 57.7 –1.1
Labour hold Swing –4.2

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rosie Cooper 21,883 45.1 –2.9
Conservative Adrian Owens 17,540 36.2 +2.2
Liberal Democrats John Gibson 6,573 13.6 –0.5
UKIP Damon Noone 1,775 3.7 +1.6
Green Peter Cranie 485 1.0 New
Clause 28 David Braid 217 0.4 –0.3
Majority 4,343 8.9 –5.2
Turnout 48,473 63.8 +6.1
Labour hold Swing –2.6
General election 2015: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rosie Cooper 24,474 49.3 +4.2
Conservative Paul Greenall 16,114 32.4 –3.8
UKIP Jack Sen1 6,058 12.2 +8.5
Green Ben Basson 1,582 3.2 +2.2
Liberal Democrats Daniel Lewis 1,298 2.6 –11.0
Independent David Braid 150 0.3 –0.1
Majority 8,360 16.9 +7.9
Turnout 49,676 70.0 +6.2
Labour hold Swing +3.9

1: After nominations were closed, Sen was suspended from UKIP after sending an allegedly anti-semitic tweet to Liverpool Wavertree Labour candidate Luciana Berger. His name still appeared on ballot papers with the UKIP party name.

General election 2017: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rosie Cooper 32,030 58.9 +9.6
Conservative Samuel Currie 20,341 37.4 +5.0
Liberal Democrats Jo Barton 1,069 2.0 –0.6
Green Nate Higgins 680 1.3 –1.9
War Veterans Pro-Traditional Family David Braid 269 0.5 +0.2
Majority 11,689 21.5 +4.6
Turnout 54,103 74.4 +4.4
Labour hold Swing +2.3
General election 2019: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rosie Cooper 27,458 52.1 –6.8
Conservative Jack Gilmore 19,122 36.3 –1.1
Liberal Democrats Simon Thomson 2,560 4.9 +2.9
Brexit Party Marc Stanton 2,275 4.3 New
Green John Puddifer 1,248 2.4 +1.1
Majority 8,336 15.8 –5.7
Turnout 52,663 72.0 –2.4
Labour hold Swing –2.9

Elections in the 2020s

By-election 2023: West Lancashire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ashley Dalton 14,068 62.3 +10.2
Conservative Mike Prendergast 5,742 25.4 -10.9
Reform UK Jonathan Kay 997 4.4 +0.1
Liberal Democrats Jo Barton 918 4.1 -0.8
Green Peter Cranie 646 2.8 +0.5
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 210 0.9 New
Majority 8,326 36.9 +21.0
Turnout 22,639 31.4 -40.7
Labour hold Swing +10.5

See also