The seat covered Gorton, Fallowfield, Levenshulme, Longsight, Rusholme and Whalley Range to the south and east of the city centre, which are diverse and liberal suburbs, with some levels of deprivation such as in Longsight. Most housing is made of red brick terraced houses. There is a large student population, particularly in Fallowfield which includes several halls of residence and private rented houses serving students of Manchester's large universities, though the universities’ campuses are in Manchester Central. The seat includes the Curry Mile of takeaways and restaurants, Gorton Monastery, and small urban parks such as Debdale Park and Platt Fields Park.
The seat was ethnically diverse[3] and its residents were less wealthy than the UK average.[4]
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the existing seat of South East Lancashire into eight single-member constituencies. The Gorton Division (of Lancashire) was one of these seats. It was renamed the Gorton Division of Manchester in 1918: the area had been incorporated as part of the County Borough of Manchester in 1890.
Manchester Gorton has returned MPs from the Labour Party since 1935, with majorities exceeding 17% since 1979. The 2015 general election result made the seat the eighth-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[5]
From 1983 to 2017, Sir Gerald Kaufman, Father of the House of Commons, represented the constituency. His death in February 2017 triggered a by-election which was due to be held on 4 May 2017, but this was subsequently countermanded (that is, cancelled) after the House of Commons voted for a snap general election to be held on 8 June 2017.[6][n 2] At that election, the Conservatives returned their lowest vote share for any seat in Great Britain, at 7.3%.[7] The newly-elected MP, Afzal Khan became an opposition frontbencher. In 2019, he was re-elected with a commanding lead over the Conservatives, their vote share still in single digits. Khan remained on the frontbench until November 2023.
Manchester Gorton in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974-83
1885–1918: The Gorton Division of the parliamentary county of South East Lancashire was defined as consisting of the parishes of Denton, Haughton, and Openshaw, and the parish of Gorton (except for the detached part in the parliamentary borough of Manchester).[8]
The constituency comprised an area bounded on the west by the city of Manchester and to the east and south by the county boundary with Cheshire.
In 1890, Manchester's municipal boundaries were extended to include Gorton and Openshaw, although constituency boundaries remained unchanged until 1918.[9] Prior to 1918 the constituency consisted of four wards: Gorton North, Gorton South, Openshaw and St. Mark's.
1918–1950: The Gorton division of the parliamentary borough of Manchester was defined as consisting of the Gorton North, Gorton South and Openshaw wards of the county borough of Manchester.[10]
1950–1955: The borough constituency of Manchester, Gorton was defined as consisting of the Gorton North, Gorton South, Levenshulme and Openshaw wards of the county borough of Manchester.[12]
Expected General Election 1914–15: Under the terms of the Parliament Act 1911 a General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
^"Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
^ abcF A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.II: Northern England, London 1991
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