Huyton (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1983

Huyton

Former county constituency
for the House of Commons

Huyton in Lancashire, showing boundaries used from 1974–1983

1950–1983
Seats| One
Created from| Widnes (north part of)
Replaced by| Knowsley South, Knowsley North, St Helens South and St Helens North[1]

Huyton (/ˈhaɪtən/ HY-tən) was a former constituency for the House of Commons. Created in 1950, it was centred on Huyton in Lancashire (later Merseyside), North West England, just beyond the borders of the city of Liverpool. The only MP was frontbench Labour politician, Harold Wilson who while representing the seat became Leader of the Labour Party in 1963 and prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976.

The constituency was dissolved under 1983 boundary changes—largely replaced by Knowsley South. This coincided with Wilson's retirement from Parliament.[2]

## Opposition parties

[edit]

The Liberals ran a candidate in the constituency on its creation in 1950 but did not run one again until 24 years later in 1974, by which time Wilson had become Leader of the Labour Party and served two terms as prime minister. The party finished in third place in all the elections it contested in this seat. Wilson achieved an absolute majority, save in the 1950 election, the runner up party always a Conservative party candidate, who polled best in 1951 with 48.7% of the vote.

Political forebears

The Widnes seat was, in the early 20th century, a marginal seat: in the elections immediately preceding 1950, it alternated between the two largest parties.

## Urbanisation

[edit]

The seat was more suburban at a time of relatively low employment in the sub-region in the 1950s. Council housing and private sector construction of relatively smaller homes by the 1980s complimented the overwhelmingly semi-detached housing stock, downgrading the local housing stock during the seat's existence while solving the problem of chronic housing shortages in the city itself; a time when Merseyside expanded by a programme of home building and motorway building within the confines of Huyton and its suburbs moved further out particularly to the Wirral and other areas on the fringe of the new metropolitan county. The M57 was completed bisecting the area in 1974, so also the M62.[3][4]

## Election expenses and type of returning officer

[edit]

The seat was classified as a higher-level expenses and returning officer county constituency rather than a borough constituency.

## Boundaries

[edit]

1950–1964: The Urban Districts of Huyton-with-Roby and Prescot, and in the Rural District of Whiston the parishes of Eccleston, Kirkby, Knowsley, and Windle.[5]

1964–1974: The Urban Districts of Huyton-with-Roby, Kirkby and Prescot, and in the Rural District of Whiston the parishes of Eccleston, Knowsley, and Windle.[6]

1974–1983: As prior less Kirkby. This was transferred to the redrawn Ormskirk constituency.

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party

|
|

| 1950 | Harold Wilson | Labour
| 1983 | Constituency abolished

## Election results

[edit]

### Elections in the 1950s

[edit]

General election 1950: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 21,536  | 48.4  |
| Conservative | Sydney Smart  | 20,702  | 46.5  |
| Liberal | Herbert Griffith Edwards  | 1,905  | 4.3  |
| Communist | Leo Joseph McGree  | 387  | 0.9  |
Majority | 834  | 1.9  |
Turnout | 44,530  | 85.0  |
| Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 23,582  | 51.3  | +2.9
| Conservative | Francis Leslie Neep  | 22,389  | 48.7  | +2.2
Majority | 1,193  | 2.6  | +0.7
Turnout | 45,971  | 84.8  | −0.2
| Labour hold | Swing | +0.3  |
General election 1955: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 24,858  | 52.7  | +1.4
| Conservative | Geraint Morgan | 22,300  | 47.3  | −1.4
Majority | 2,558  | 5.4  | +2.8
Turnout | 47,158  | 78.5  | −6.3
| Labour hold | Swing | +1.4  |
General election 1959: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 33,111  | 54.9  | +2.2
| Conservative | George Bentley Woolfenden  | 27,184  | 45.1  | −2.2
Majority | 5,927  | 9.8  | +4.4
Turnout | 60,295  | 77.9  | −0.6
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.2  |

### Elections in the 1960s

[edit]

General election 1964: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 42,213  | 63.9  | +9.0
| Conservative | Harold Tucker | 22,940  | 34.7  | −10.4
| Committee to Defeat Revisionism for Communist Unity | Michael Claude Watkins Baker  | 899  | 1.4  | New
Majority | 19,273  | 29.2  | +19.4
Turnout | 66,052  | 76.7  | −1.2
| Labour hold | Swing | +9.7  |
General election 1966: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 41,122  | 66.4  | +2.5
| Conservative | Thomas Lyrian Hobday  | 20,182  | 32.6  | −2.1
| National Teenage Party  | David Sutch | 585  | 0.9  | New
Majority | 20,940  | 33.8  | +4.6
Turnout | 61,889  | 70.1  | −6.6
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.3  |

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

General election 1970: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 45,583  | 63.1  | −3.3
| Conservative | John Nicholas McAlpine Entwistle  | 24,509  | 33.9  | +1.3
| Democratic | John Walter Gerald Sparrow  | 1,232  | 1.7  | New
| Communist | Joseph Ivor Kenny  | 890  | 1.2  | New
Majority | 21,074  | 29.2  | −4.6
Turnout | 72,214  | 70.1  | ±0.0
| Labour hold | Swing | −2.4  |
General election February 1974: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 31,767  | 56.7  | −5.4
| Conservative | Thomas Benyon | 16,462  | 29.4  | −4.5
| Liberal | N Snowden  | 7,584  | 13.5  | New
| More Prosperous Britain | Harold Smith  | 234  | 0.4  | New
Majority | 15,305  | 27.3  | −1.9
Turnout | 56,047  | 77.2  | +7.1
| Labour hold | Swing | −0.4  |
General election October 1974: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 31,750  | 60.8  | +4.1
| Conservative | William Peters  | 15,517  | 29.7  | +0.3
| Liberal | Michael Paul Braham  | 4,956  | 9.5  | −4.0
Majority | 16,233  | 31.0  | +3.7
Turnout | 52,223  | 71.1  | −6.1
| Labour hold | Swing | +1.9  |
General election 1979: Huyton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Harold Wilson | 27,449  | 51.9  | −8.9
| Conservative | Garnet Harrison  | 19,939  | 37.7  | +8.0
| Liberal | Philip Cottier  | 5,476  | 10.4  | +0.9
Majority | 7,510  | 14.2  | −16.8
Turnout | 52,864  | 72.4  | +1.3
| Labour hold | Swing | −8.5  |

## See also

[edit]

* Knowsley South parliamentary constituency

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "'Huyton', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. ^ "Harold Wilson". InfoBritain. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
3. ^ "The Motorway Archive – M57 Dates Page". www.iht.org. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
4. ^ "M62: Queens Drive to Eccles". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2007.
5. ^ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 27 October 2023
6. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (South-West Lancashire) Order 1955. SI 1960/463". Statutory Instruments 1960. Part III. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1961. pp. 2883–2884.

## Sources

[edit]

* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)
* Election results, 1950 - 1979 Archived 5 May 2004 at the Wayback Machine

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Belper

|  Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition
1963–1964  | Succeeded by

Kinross and Perthshire West

Preceded by

Kinross and Perthshire West

|  Constituency represented by the prime minister
1964–1970  | Succeeded by

Bexley

Preceded by

Bexley

|  Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition
1970–1974  | Succeeded by

Sidcup

Preceded by

Sidcup

|  Constituency represented by the prime minister
1974–1976  | Succeeded by

Cardiff South East