Wirral South (UK Parliament constituency)

Wirral South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, covering the south of the borough. Like its neighbour Wirral West, it is comprised of a predominantly middle-class area. It contains the towns of Bebington, Bromborough, Eastham and Heswall, and the rural area between them where the villages of Brimstage and Thornton Hough are situated.

History

The constituency was formed in 1983, from parts of the former seats of Wirral and Bebington and Ellesmere Port. Both had been held by the Conservative Party, for whom Barry Porter took the new seat in that year's general election. Following the death of Porter in late 1996, a by-election was held in February 1997. This was the last by-election of that Parliament, held a matter of weeks before the general election was called. It was won by Ben Chapman of the Labour Party, who has held the seat since. Chapman is retiring at the next general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1983	Barry Porter	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1997 by-election	Ben Chapman	Labour

Election results

Results in the 2000s

Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	TBC
	Conservative	Jeff Clarke
	Liberal Democrats	TBC

General Election 2005: Wirral South

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	N/A
	Independent (politician)	Laurence Jones	460	1.2	N/A
Majority			3,724	9.4
Turnout			39,704	67.5	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.6

General Election 2001: Wirral South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	18,890	47.4	−3.5
	Conservative	Tony Millard	13,841	34.8	−1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Gilchrist	7,087	17.8	+7.4
Majority			5,049	12.6
Turnout			39,818	65.6	−15.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Results in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wirral South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	24,499	50.9
	Conservative	Les Byrom	17,495	36.4
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Gilchrist	5,018	10.4
	Referendum	Donald Wilcox	768	1.6
	People's Labour	Jane Nielsen	264	0.5
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Mead	51	0.1
Majority			7,004	14.6
Turnout			48,095	81.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Wirral South by-election, 1997

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	22,767	52.6	+18.0
	Conservative	Leslie Byrom	14,879	34.4	−16.5
	Liberal Democrats	Flo Clucas	4,357	10.1	−3.0
	UKIP	Richard North	410	0.9
	Independent	Harold Bence	184	0.4
	Socialist Labour	Michael Cullen	156	0.4
	Disillusioned Conservative	Phillip Gott	148	0.3
	Independent	Roger Taylor	132	0.3
	Independent - anti tobacco donation	Anthony Samuelson	124	0.3
	Natural Law	Geoffery Mead	52	0.1	−0.2
	21st Century Foresters	Colin Palmer	44	0.1
	Independent - Thalidomide Action Group	Frederick Astbury	40	0.1
Majority			7,888	18.2
Turnout				71.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-17.24

General Election 1992: Wirral South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	25,590	50.8
	Labour	H. Southworth	17,407	34.6
	Liberal Democrats	E.T. Cunniffe	6,581	13.1
	Green	E. Birchenough	584	1.2
	Natural Law	G. Griffiths	182	0.4
Majority			8,183	16.3
Turnout			50,344	82.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside
• Wirral South by-election, 1997