Manchester Withington is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jeff Smith of Labour.[n 2] Of the 30 seats with the highest percentage of winning majority in 2017, the seat ranks 25th with a 55.7% margin, and is the only one of the twenty nine of these seats won by the Labour Party in which the second-placed candidate was a Liberal Democrat, rather than Conservative.[2] This is despite being a Conservative seat right up to 1987, then becoming relatively safely Labour, then Liberal Democrat from 2005 to 2015 before they lost on a large swing in 2015, after which Smith substantially increased his majority.
History
In the post-war period, Manchester Withington has elected all three major parties. Mostly Conservative before 1987 (with three years of Liberal Party representation near its 1918 inception), it even resisted being gained by Labour in its massive landslide victories in 1945 and 1966. However, in 1987 the seat turned red for the first time and remained so until 2005 when it was gained by Liberal Democrat John Leech. Leech took the seat with an 18% swing – the largest of the 2005 General Election. He held it against future Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell in 2010. Amidst a UK-wide collapse in support for the Lib Dems, the seat swung back to Labour in 2015 and since 2017 has now become one of the safest Labour seats in the country, with an almost 30,000 majority for Jeff Smith. It is also one of the few seats in England outside London in 2015 where UKIP lost their deposit. Demographically contrasting with neighbouring inner-city seats with similarly high Labour majorities, it is the most affluent of all the Manchester seats, as it includes high-income, highly educated areas such as Didsbury and Chorlton.
Historic boundaries
Manchester Withington in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974-83
1918–1950
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, and Withington.
1950–1955
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Rusholme and Withington.
1955–1974
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Levenshulme, Old Moat, and Withington.
1974–1983
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington.[3]
1983–2010
Manchester Withington consisted of the City of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Chorlton, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington.
Boundaries
Map of boundaries 2010-2024
2010-2024
From 2010 to the present day Manchester Withington consists of the City of Manchester wards of:
Burnage (part), Chorlton (part), Chorlton Park (part), Didsbury East, Didsbury West, Old Moat, and Withington.
Chorlton; Chorlton Park; Didsbury East; Didsbury West; Old Moat; Withington.[4]
The boundaries will be subject to minor changes to align with revised ward boundaries, with the whole of the Burnage ward being included in the re-established constituency of Manchester Rusholme.
Members of Parliament
Jeff Smith is the current Labour MP for the constituency. He was first elected at the 2015 general election, defeating the Liberal Democrat incumbent John Leech who had held the seat since 2005. Both of the major parties' losing candidates in the 2010 election had become MPs elsewhere by the next election: Lucy Powell of Labour in Manchester Central in a 2012 by-election, and Conservative Chris Green in Bolton West in 2015.
This constituency contains the medium-to-high income average areas of Chorlton and Didsbury, as well as mixed[6] Old Moat and Withington neighbourhoods.[7] Manchester Withington is a seat south of Manchester's city centre with a sizeable student population. It also has a particularly high number of young professionals and graduates.[6] The southern border with Wythenshawe is the River Mersey, along which there are mostly green spaces, such as Fletcher Moss Park and Chorlton Water Park. Chorlton and Didsbury are mostly middle-class areas, with houses on leafy roads and thriving independent shops on their respective high streets. House prices are higher than other parts of Manchester, and the area has one of the highest proportion of graduates in the city. Many of the large Victorian family houses in Didsbury have been split into apartments for young professionals moving into the area.[8]
^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
^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
^Library, House of Commons (23 June 2017). "GE2017: Marginal seats and turnout".
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies (Manchester) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/606, retrieved 26 February 2023
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
^ ab"Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
^Jeff Smith [@JeffSmithetc] (16 March 2022). "Delighted to have been reselected to stand as the @UKLabour candidate for Manchester Withington at the next General Election ?? Thank you so much to the members in @WithingtonCLP who have supported me again, and to our unions and partner organisations for their backing" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES". SDP. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^"Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^"Blackley & Broughton Parliamentary constituency". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^"Manchester Withington - Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Pdf.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Manchester Withington". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Parliamentary Election Results 2005". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010.
^"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.
^"UK General Election results May 1997". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
^"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.
^British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 by FWS Craig
^BURDITT, George Frederick’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Sept 2017
External links
Manchester, Withington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
Manchester, Withington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
Manchester Withington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK