Manchester Gorton was abolished for the 2024 general election. It will be split into the new constituencies of Manchester Rusholme and Gorton and Denton.[2]
Constituency profile
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]
History
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.
Boundaries
Map of boundaries 2010-2024
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]
The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised parliamentary seats throughout Great Britain. The redistribution reflected the boundary changes of 1890, with Gorton becoming a division of the parliamentary borough of Manchester. Denton and Haughton, which together had formed Denton Urban District in 1894, were transferred to the Mossley Division of Lancashire.[9][11]
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]
1955–1974: The Gorton North and Gorton South wards of the county borough of Manchester, and the urban districts of Audenshaw and Denton.[13]
In 1955 boundary changes were made based on the recommendations of the Boundary Commission appointed under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. Levenshulme passed to Manchester Withington while Openshaw formed the core of a new Manchester Openshaw seat.
1974–1983: The Gorton North and Gorton South wards of the county borough of Manchester, and the urban districts of Audenshaw and Denton.[14]
In 2018 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) implemented changes to Manchester's electoral wards including the merging of Gorton North and Gorton South to create a new ward, Gorton and Abbey Hey.[18] For the purposes of parliamentary elections the 2004–2018 ward boundaries are used.
Although Hodge was a member of the Coalition Government, no official Coalition Government endorsement was sent to any candidate
Election results for South-East Lancashire, Gorton Division
Elections in the 1910s
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;
Labour: John Hodge
Unionist: Fred H Carter[41]
In the event, the election was postponed on the outbreak of the Great War.
^A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^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.
References
^"Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^ ab"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
^"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
^Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.
^Ninth Schedule: Redistribution of Seats, Representation of the People Act 1918 (C.5)
^"Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 28 February 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (Manchester, Oldham and Ashton under Lyne) Order 1955. SI 1955/16". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2148–2150.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (Manchester) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/606, retrieved 28 February 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1983/417, retrieved 28 February 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1995/1626, retrieved 28 February 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2007/1681, retrieved 28 February 2023
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
^ ab"Political Notes". The Times, London. 13 February 1905. p. 6. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
^"Blackley & Broughton Parliamentary constituency". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^"Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll". Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Manchester Gorton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election 2010 | Constituency | Manchester Gorton". BBC News.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1999). The Almanac of British Politics (Sixth ed.). London: Routledge. p. 535. ISBN 0-415-18541-6.
^ abcdefghijThe Times House of Commons, 1950-1970
^Stevenson, Graham. "Abbott Syd". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
^ abcdF. W. S. Craig, ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949. Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-81467-1. hdl:2027/mdp.39015032111430. ISBN 978-1-349-81469-5.
^"Manchester & Salford: Only About Half The Voters Poll". The Manchester Guardian. 30 December 1918. p. 4.