Wirral South (UK Parliament constituency)

Wirral South
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wirral South in Merseyside
Location of Merseyside within England
County	Merseyside
Electorate	56,238 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Heswall, Bebington
1983–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Wirral Bebington & Ellesmere Port
Replaced by	Ellesmere Port & Bromborough, Wirral West, Birkenhead

Wirral South was a constituency^{[n 1]} in Merseyside in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1997 until 2024 by members of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished and its area split between three other constituencies, which were first contested at the 2024 general election.^[2]

Wirral South covered the central part of the Wirral peninsula including most of Heswall, Bebington and Bromborough. Wages and house prices are higher than the averages for the North West. Electoral Calculus describes the demographic as "Centrist", reflecting average views on the left-right and liberal-conservative scales.^[3]

In 1983, Wirral South arose for election following the national boundary review by taking over parts of two seats that were abolished to create it: Wirral and Bebington and Ellesmere Port, held by the Conservative Party since 1923 and 1979 respectively.

Political history

Barry Porter (Con) won the seat the first time when it was fought and at the next two general elections. He had ousted the Labour party candidate from Bebington and Ellesmere Port in 1979 which he held until the election in 1983. Following the death of Porter in late 1996, a by-election was held in February 1997, the last by-election of that Parliament, held a matter of weeks before the general election was called. It was won by Ben Chapman (Lab), who held the seat until retiring following controversy over his expenses.^[4] Labour narrowly managed to hold on in the 2010 general election, electing Alison McGovern. Since then it has consistently shifted towards Labour, she increased her majority to 4,599 in the 2015 election.^[5] She was re-elected in 2017 with a majority of 8,323, an increase of 7% over 2015, the biggest majority Labour has ever held in the seat and the biggest majority for any party in Wirral South since 1987.^[6] In 2019 she won Re-Election by a slightly narrower 14% margin.

The terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 mandated that the election was held on 7 May 2015. Alison McGovern was the sitting Member of Parliament for the Labour Party. The Conservative Party selected John Bell. Bell had previously stood for election in Clwyd South (2010)^[7] and Delyn (2005).^[8] He had also stood twice to be a Welsh Assembly Member.^[9][10] He stood in a local council by-election in 2011, for Wrexham County Council.^[11]

Map of boundaries 1983-2024

Since its creation in 1983, the constituency has consisted of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Bebington, Bromborough, Clatterbridge, Eastham, and Heswall. The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished prior to the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed to three neighbouring constituencies:^[2]

• 43.1% of the electorate (Bromborough and Eastham wards) to the new seat of Ellesmere Port and Bromborough
• 36.6% of the electorate (Clatterbridge and Heswall) wards to Wirral West
• 20.3% of the electorate (Bebington ward) to Birkenhead

General election 1987: Wirral South^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	24,821	50.2	3.5
	Labour	John Swarbrooke	13,858	28.0	5.4
	Liberal	Philip Gilchrist	10,779	21.8	1.9
Majority			10,963	22.2	7.8
Turnout			49,458	79.4	3.6
Registered electors			62,251		2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.5

General election 1992: Wirral South^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	25,590	50.8	0.6
	Labour	Helen Southworth	17,407	34.6	6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Cunniffe	6,581	13.1	8.7
	Green	Nigel Birchenough	584	1.2	New
	Natural Law	George Griffiths	182	0.4	New
Majority			8,183	16.2	6.0
Turnout			50,344	82.4	3.0
Registered electors			61,116		1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.0

By-election 1997: Wirral South^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	22,767	52.6	18.0
	Conservative	Leslie Byrom	14,879	34.4	16.4
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Clucas	4,357	10.1	3.0
	UKIP	Richard North	410	0.9	New
	Independent	Harold Bence	184	0.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Michael Cullen	156	0.4	New
	Ind. Conservative	Phillip Gott[17]	148	0.3	New
	Independent	Roger Taylor	132	0.3	New
	Independent	S. Anthony[18]	124	0.3	New
	Natural Law	Geoffery Mead	52	0.1	0.3
	21st Century Conservatives	Colin Palmer	44	0.1	New
	Independent	Frederick Astbury[19]	40	0.1	New
Majority			7,888	18.2	N/A
Turnout			43,293	71.5	10.9
Registered electors			60,512		1.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	17.2

General election 1997: Wirral South^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	24,499	50.9	16.3
	Conservative	Les Byrom	17,495	36.4	14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Gilchrist	5,018	10.4	2.7
	Referendum	Donald Wilcox	768	1.6	New
	People's Labour	Jane Nielsen	264	0.5	New
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Mead	51	0.1	0.3
Majority			7,004	14.5	N/A
Turnout			48,095	81.0	1.4
Registered electors			59,372		2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	15.4

General election 2001: Wirral South^[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	18,890	47.4	3.5
	Conservative	Tony Millard	13,841	34.8	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Gilchrist	7,087	17.8	7.4
Majority			5,049	12.6	1.9
Turnout			39,818	65.6	15.4
Registered electors			60,653		2.2
	Labour hold		Swing	1.0

General election 2005: Wirral South^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	16,892	42.5	4.9
	Conservative	Carl Cross	13,168	33.2	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Holbrook	8,568	21.6	3.8
	UKIP	David Scott	616	1.6	New
	Independent	Laurence Jones	460	1.2	New
Majority			3,724	9.4	3.2
Turnout			39,704	67.5	1.9
Registered electors			58,834		3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

General election 2010: Wirral South^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison McGovern	16,276	40.8	1.7
	Conservative	Jeff Clarke	15,745	39.5	6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Saddler	6,611	16.6	5.0
	UKIP	David Scott	1,274	3.2	1.6
Majority			531	1.3	8.1
Turnout			39,906	71.1	3.6
Registered electors			56,099		4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	4.0

General election 2015: Wirral South^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison McGovern	20,165	48.2	7.4
	Conservative	John Bell	15,566	37.2	2.3
	UKIP	David Scott	3,737	8.9	5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Jewkes	1,474	3.5	13.1
	Green	Paul Cartlidge	895	2.1	New
Majority			4,599	11.0	9.7
Turnout			41,837	73.5	2.4
Registered electors			56,956		1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	4.9

General election 2017: Wirral South^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison McGovern	25,871	57.2	9.0
	Conservative	Adam Sykes	17,548	38.8	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Carubia	1,322	2.9	0.6
	Green	Mandi Roberts	454	1.0	1.1
Majority			8,323	18.4	7.4
Turnout			45,195	78.5	5.0
Registered electors			57,670		1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	3.7

General election 2019: Wirral South^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison McGovern	22,284	51.2	6.0
	Conservative	Stewart Gardiner	16,179	37.1	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Carubia	2,917	6.7	3.8
	Brexit Party	Martin Waring	1,219	2.8	New
	Green	Harry Gorman	948	2.2	1.2
Majority			6,105	14.1	4.3
Turnout			43,547	76.2	2.2
Registered electors			57,280		0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	2.2

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside
• 1997 Wirral South by-election

• Wirral South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Wirral South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

53°20′03″N 3°02′00″W / 53.3342°N 3.0334°W / 53.3342; -3.0334