Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2010 onwards

Sefton Central

County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Sefton Central in North West England

County| Merseyside
Electorate| 74,746 (2023)[1]
Major settlements| Crosby and Formby
Current constituency
Created| 2010
Member of Parliament| Bill Esterson (Labour)
Seats| One
Created from| Crosby
Knowsley North & Sefton East

Sefton Central is a constituency represented since its creation in 2010 by Bill Esterson of the Labour Party.[n 1][n 2]

## Boundaries

[edit]

Map of 2010–2024 boundaries

### 2010-2024

[edit]

The constituency was created for the 2010 general election, replacing much of Crosby along with part of Knowsley North and Sefton East.The constituency comprised the following electoral wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton:[2]

* Blundellsands
* Harington
* Manor
* Molyneux
* Park
* Ravenmeols
* Sudell

### Current

[edit]

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

* Ainsdale; Blundellsands; Harington; Manor; Molyneux (polling districts C1, C2 and C3); Park; Ravenmeols; Sudell.[3]

The Ainsdale ward was transferred from Southport, offset by the loss of the Aintree district in the Molyneux ward to Liverpool Walton.

The constituency covers Merseyside northern residential suburban areas of Crosby, Blundellsands, Brighton-Le-Sands, Little Crosby, Thornton, and Hightown, Formby, Ainsdale, Maghull and the villages and localities of Carr Houses, Freshfield, Ince Blundell, Kennessee Green, Lady Green, Little Altcar, Lunt, Lydiate, Melling, Sefton, and Waddicar, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton.

## History

[edit]

This seat was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election.[4]

At the time, eleven of the constituency's twenty-one councillors were Conservatives followed by the Liberal Democrats who had ten,[n 3] whereas analysis by Rallings and Thrasher indicated that had the Sefton Central constituency existed in 2005, the result would have been: Labour 45.6%, Conservative 33.6%, LibDem 19.2%, giving a Labour majority of 4,950. The Labour Party candidate's majority was 3,862 suggesting a moderate two-party swing.[4]

The area covered by this seat and its immediate predecessor Crosby was historically a strong area for the Conservatives. However, since Labour gained that seat in the 1997 election, they have held it with fairly comfortable margins for 20 years. In 2015, an 8.1% swing to Labour saw them take the area with their biggest ever majority of 11,846 votes (24.2%),[4] in accordance with the significant swing to Labour in Merseyside compared to 2010; this margin was surpassed in 2017, as Labour won more than 60% of the vote in the seat and a majority of over 30% for the first time. This suggests that since 2010, Sefton Central has changed from a key marginal between the major parties to a Labour safe seat.

## Constituency profile

[edit]

The constituency has a working population whose income is close to the national average, and close to average reliance on social housing.[5] At the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 2.4% of the population claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.2%.[6] The borough contributing to the seat has a medium 28.5% of its population without a car, 25.1% of the population without any qualifications and a 24.1% with Level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure, 70.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 UK Census across the district.[7]

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member[8] | Party

|
|

| 2010 | Bill Esterson | Labour

## Elections

[edit]

### Elections in the 2020s

[edit]

General election 2024: Sefton Central [9][10] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Bill Esterson | 26,772  | 56.4  | +3.8
| Conservative | Marcus Bleasdale  | 8,490  | 17.9  | −16.4
| Reform UK | Nagender Chindam  | 5,767  | 12.2  | +8.6
| Green | Kieran Dams  | 3,294  | 6.9  | +4.8
| Liberal Democrats | Gareth Lloyd-Johnson  | 2,630  | 5.5  | −1.1
| Independent | Ralph James  | 496  | 1.0  | N/A
Majority  | 18,282  | 38.5  | +20.3
Turnout | 47,449  | 63.9  | −12.5
| Labour hold | Swing | +10.1  |

Changes are from the notional 2019 results on the 2024 boundaries.[11]

### Elections in the 2010s

[edit]

General election 2019: Sefton Central[12][13] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Bill Esterson | 29,254  | 57.5  | –5.5
| Conservative | Wazz Mughal  | 14,132  | 27.8  | –5.2
| Liberal Democrats | Keith Cawdron  | 3,386  | 6.7  | +4.0
| Brexit Party | Paul Lomas  | 2,425  | 4.8  | New
| Green | Alison Gibbon  | 1,261  | 2.5  | +1.2
| Liberal | Angela Preston  | 285  | 0.6  | New
| Renew | Carla Burns  | 137  | 0.3  | New
Majority  | 15,122  | 29.7  | –0.3
Turnout | 50,880  | 72.9  | –2.6
| Labour hold | Swing | –0.1  |
General election 2017: Sefton Central[14] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Bill Esterson | 32,830  | 63.0  | +9.2
| Conservative | Jade Marsden  | 17,212  | 33.0  | +3.4
| Liberal Democrats | Daniel Lewis  | 1,381  | 2.7  | –1.6
| Green | Mike Carter  | 656  | 1.3  | –1.1
Majority  | 15,618  | 30.0  | +5.8
Turnout | 52,079  | 75.5  | +3.1
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.9  |
General election 2015: Sefton Central[15][16] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Bill Esterson | 26,359  | 53.8  | +11.9
| Conservative | Valerie Allen  | 14,513  | 29.6  | –4.3
| UKIP | Tim Power  | 4,879  | 10.0  | +5.8
| Liberal Democrats | Paula Keaveney  | 2,086  | 4.3  | –15.6
| Green | Lindsay Melia  | 1,184  | 2.4  | New
Majority  | 11,846  | 24.2  | +16.2
Turnout | 49,021  | 72.4  | +0.6
| Labour hold | Swing | +8.1  |
General election 2010: Sefton Central[17] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Bill Esterson | 20,307  | 41.9  | –3.7
| Conservative | Debi Jones | 16,445  | 33.9  | +0.4
| Liberal Democrats | Richard Clein  | 9,656  | 19.9  | +0.7
| UKIP | Peter Harper  | 2,055  | 4.2  | +3.5
Majority  | 3,862  | 8.0  | −4.1
Turnout | 48,463  | 71.8  | +11.0
| Labour hold | Swing | +2.0  |

## See also

[edit]

* List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. ^ A share of the vote based on the 2008 local election in these seven wards gave Conservative 42.3% Liberal Democrat 34.2% Labour 18.1%.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
2. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, Office of Public Sector Information
3. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
4. ^ a b c Election history for Sefton Central, UK Parliament, n.d., retrieved 19 August 2020
5. ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
6. ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
7. ^ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
8. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)
9. ^ "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL" (PDF). Sefton Council. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
10. ^ "Sefton Central - General Election Results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
11. ^ "Notional election for the constituency of Sefton Central". UK Parliament.
12. ^ "Statement of persons nominated 2019".
13. ^ "Sefton Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
14. ^ "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
15. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. ^ "Sefton Central". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
17. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Sefton Central UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
* Sefton Central UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

* v
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