Stretford (UK Parliament constituency)

Stretford
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Stretford in Greater Manchester, showing boundaries used from 1983-1997
CountyGreater Manchester
1950–1997
SeatsOne
Replaced byStretford and Urmston, Manchester Central
1885–1950
SeatsOne
Type of constituencyCounty constituency
Created fromSouth West Lancashire

Stretford was a parliamentary constituency in North West England, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election. The constituency was centred on the town of Stretford and originally included an area to the south west of the city of Manchester. The boundaries changed considerably over its existence, at times extending east to include parts of the city itself and at other times including the towns of Irlam and Urmston to the west.

Boundaries

[edit]
Stretford in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974-83

1885–1918

[edit]

The Stretford Division of the County of Lancashire was formed by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The constituency consisted of a number of civil parishes and townships to the south and south-east of the city of Manchester and north-east of the borough of Stockport:[1]

An extension of the boundaries of Manchester meant that Rusholme became part of the city later in 1885. A further enlargement saw Burnage, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury and Withington included in Manchester in 1904. Similarly, the County Borough of Stockport was enlarged to include Reddish in 1901 and Heaton Norris in 1913.[2] These local government boundary changes did not affect the constituency until the next parliamentary redistribution in 1918.

1918–1950

[edit]

The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised constituencies throughout the United Kingdom. A new Stretford Division of Lancashire was formed. The areas in Manchester and Stockport passed to the Manchester Rusholme, Manchester Withington and Stockport constituencies.[2] The new Stretford constituency included areas further to the west and was defined as consisting of the following local government units of the administrative county of Lancashire:[3]

1950–1983

[edit]

For the 1950 general election, a new Stretford borough constituency was created. The constituency comprised the Municipal Borough of Stretford (successor to the urban district) and the urban district of Urmston.[4] The Astley area passed to the Leigh borough constituency and Clifton to the Farnworth county constituency.[2]

1983–1997

[edit]

Constituencies were redrawn for the 1983 general election to reflect the changes in local government in 1974. A new Stretford borough constituency, part of the Greater Manchester parliamentary county, was formed. The new constituency consisted of two wards of the City of Manchester, and five wards from the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. The Manchester wards were Moss Side and Whalley Range, and the Trafford wards were Clifford, Longford, Park, Stretford and Talbot. Urmston became part of the new constituency of Davyhulme.[5]

Abolition

[edit]

The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995, which came into effect for the 1997 general election, abolished the Stretford constituency. The area was redistributed, with Moss Side and Whalley Range added to an enlarged Manchester Central seat. The remainder became part of the new Stretford and Urmston constituency.[6] The last MP for Stretford, Tony Lloyd, was subsequently elected as the Member of Parliament for Manchester Central.

Members of Parliament

[edit]
Election Member[7] Party
1885 William Agnew Liberal
1886 Sir John Maclure Unionist
1901 by-election Charles Cripps Unionist
1906 Harry Nuttall Liberal
1918 Thomas Robinson Coalition Liberal
1922 National Liberal
1923 Liberal
1924 Constitutionalist
Liberal
Independent
1931 Gustav Renwick Conservative
1935 Anthony Crossley Conservative
1939 by-election Ralph Etherton Conservative
1945 Herschel Austin Labour
1950 Sir Samuel Storey Conservative
1966 Ernest Davies Labour
1970 Winston Churchill Conservative
1983 Tony Lloyd Labour
1997 constituency abolished

Elections

[edit]

Elections in the 1880s

[edit]
General election 1885: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Agnew 4,866 51.0
Conservative John MacClure 4,676 49.0
Majority 190 2.0
Turnout 9,542 85.7
Registered electors 11,140
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John MacClure 4,750 54.2 +5.2
Liberal William Agnew 4,011 45.8 −5.2
Majority 739 8.4 N/A
Turnout 8,761 78.6 −7.1
Registered electors 11,140
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +5.2

Elections in the 1890s

[edit]
General election 1892: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John MacClure 6,623 55.7 +1.5
Liberal William Agnew 5,278 44.3 −1.5
Majority 1,345 11.4 +3.0
Turnout 11,901 77.2 −1.4
Registered electors 15,425
Conservative hold Swing +1.5
General election 1895: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John MacClure Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

[edit]
General election 1900: Stretford[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John MacClure 7,519 60.4 N/A
Liberal Harry Nuttall 4,938 39.6 New
Majority 2,581 20.8 N/A
Turnout 12,457 65.9 N/A
Registered electors 18,909
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Maclure died 28 January 1901.[10]

Thomasson
1901 Stretford by-election: Stretford[11][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Cripps 7,088 55.0 −5.4
Liberal Franklin Thomasson 5,791 45.0 +5.4
Majority 1,297 10.0 −10.8
Turnout 12,879 65.4 −0.5
Registered electors 19,706
Conservative hold Swing −5.4
Nuttall
General election 1906: Stretford[12][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Harry Nuttall 11,131 57.3 +17.7
Conservative Charles Cripps 8,307 42.7 −17.7
Majority 2,824 14.6 N/A
Turnout 19,438 79.9 +14.0
Registered electors 24,326
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +12.3

Elections in the 1910s

[edit]
General election, January 1910: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[13][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Harry Nuttall 12,917 54.9 −2.4
Conservative Arthur Samuel 10,626 45.1 +2.4
Majority 2,921 9.8 −4.8
Turnout 23,543 85.2 +5.3
Registered electors 27,629
Liberal hold Swing −2.4
General election, December 1910: Lancashire South East, Stretford Division[14][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Harry Nuttall 11,343 52.0 −2.9
Conservative Arthur Samuel 10,467 48.0 +2.9
Majority 876 4.0 −5.8
Turnout 21,810 78.9 −6.3
Registered electors 27,629
Liberal hold Swing −2.9
General election, 1918: Lancashire, Stretford Division[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Liberal Thomas Robinson* 17,161 76.7 +24.7
Labour Joseph Hallsworth 5,216 23.3 New
Majority 11,945 53.4 +49.4
Turnout 22,377 61.4 −17.5
Registered electors 36,459
Liberal hold Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
* Robinson stood as an 'Independent Free Trade and Anti-Socialist' candidate, but he was claimed as a Liberal candidate and has thus been denoted as such.

Elections in the 1920s

[edit]
General election, 1922: Lancashire, Stretford Division[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Thomas Robinson 19,185 68.7 −8.0
Labour Alfred Hartley Turner 8,733 31.3 +8.0
Majority 10,452 37.4 −16.0
Turnout 27,918
National Liberal hold Swing
General election, 1923: Stretford[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Robinson 15,971 58.2 −10.5
Labour John Corlett 11,451 41.8 +10.5
Majority 4,520 16.4 −21.0
Turnout 27,422
Liberal hold Swing -10.5
General election, 1924: Lancashire, Stretford Division[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Constitutionalist Thomas Robinson 20,826 64.4 +6.2
Labour Joseph Robinson 11,520 35.6 −6.2
Majority 9,306 28.8 +12.4
Turnout 32,346
Constitutionalist hold Swing
General election, 1929: Stretford[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Thomas Robinson 25,799 58.6 −5.8
Labour Frank Anderson 18,199 41.4 +5.8
Majority 7,600 16.8 −12.0
Turnout 43,998
Independent hold Swing -5.8

Elections in the 1930s

[edit]
General election, 1931: Lancashire, Stretford Division
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gustav Renwick 39,002 75.3 New
Labour Frank Anderson 12,796 24.7 −16.7
Majority 26,206 50.6 N/A
Turnout 51,798
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
General election 1935: Lancashire, Stretford Division[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Crossley 34,874 64.4 −10.9
Labour Tom Myers 19,278 35.6 +10.9
Majority 15,596 28.8 −21.8
Turnout 54,152
Conservative hold Swing

Crossley died in an aeroplane crash off the coast of Denmark on 15 August 1939.[20]

By-election 1939: Lancashire, Stretford Division[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ralph Etherton 23,408 79.8 +15.4
Ind. Labour Party Bob Edwards 4,424 15.1 N/A
Communist Eric Gower 1,514 5.1 New
Majority 18,984 64.7 +35.9
Turnout 29,346
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

[edit]
General election 1945: Lancashire, Stretford Division[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Herschel Austin 35,715 54.8 +19.2
Conservative Ralph Etherton 29,421 45.2 −19.2
Majority 6,294 9.6 N/A
Turnout 65,136 78.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s

[edit]
General election 1950: Stretford Borough Constituency[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Storey 30,678 48.6 +3.4
Labour Herschel Austin 25,075 39.7 −15.1
Liberal Stephen Cawley 7,464 11.7 New
Majority 5,603 8.9 N/A
Turnout 63,217 86.9 +8.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1951: Stretford Borough Constituency[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Storey 35,419 58.0 +9.4
Labour Charles Mapp 25,694 42.0 +2.3
Majority 9,725 16.0 +7.1
Turnout 61,113 83.4 −3.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Stretford Borough Constituency[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Storey 33,101 60.9 +2.9
Labour Fred Barton 21,267 39.1 −2.9
Majority 11,834 21.8 +5.8
Turnout 54,368 76.1 −7.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Stretford Borough Constituency[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Storey 32,888 58.3 −2.6
Labour Edward Reid 23,538 41.7 +2.6
Majority 9,350 16.6 −5.2
Turnout 56,426 79.1 +3.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

[edit]
General election 1964: Stretford Borough Constituency[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Samuel Storey 22,004 40.0 −18.3
Labour Edward Cavanagh 20,080 36.5 −5.2
Liberal Michael Winstanley 12,884 23.4 New
Majority 1,924 3.5 −11.1
Turnout 54,968 79.2 +0.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Stretford Borough Constituency[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ernest Davies 24,739 47.1 +10.6
Conservative Samuel Storey 21,374 40.7 +0.7
Liberal Clifford L. Jones 6,382 12.2 −11.2
Majority 3,365 6.4 N/A
Turnout 52,495 77.1 −2.1
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1970s

[edit]
General election 1970: Stretford Borough Constituency[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Winston Churchill 28,629 53.8 +13.1
Labour Ernest Davies 24,614 46.2 −0.9
Majority 4,015 7.6 N/A
Turnout 53,243 74.9 −2.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election February 1974: Stretford Borough Constituency[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Winston Churchill 23,630 42.3 −11.5
Labour Kenneth Anthony 19,641 35.2 −11.0
Liberal Dennis Wrigley 12,558 22.5 New
Majority 3,989 7.1 −0.5
Turnout 55,829 82.0 +7.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Stretford Borough Constituency[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Winston Churchill 22,114 42.0 −0.3
Labour Peter N. Scott 20,877 39.7 +4.5
Liberal Dennis Wrigley 9,629 18.3 −4.2
Majority 1,237 2.3 −4.8
Turnout 52,620 76.5 −5.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Stretford Borough Constituency[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Winston Churchill 25,972 48.3 +6.3
Labour Peter N. Scott 21,466 39.9 +0.2
Liberal Dennis Wrigley 6,369 11.8 −6.5
Majority 4,506 8.4 +6.1
Turnout 53,807 77.7 +1.2
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

[edit]
General election 1983: Stretford Borough Constituency[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Lloyd 18,028 44.8
Conservative Walter Sweeney 13,686 34.1
SDP David Wilks 8,141 20.3
Independent Labour Syad Ud-Din 336 0.8 New
Majority 4,342 10.7
Turnout 40,191 70.0 +2.3
Labour win (new seat)

Boundary changes meant that the seat would notionally have been won by Labour in 1979 with a majority of 3,607. The sitting MP, Winston Churchill, moved to the newly created Davyhulme constituency which included part of the pre-1983 Stretford seat[34]

General election 1987: Stretford Borough Constituency[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Lloyd 22,831 55.2 +10.4
Conservative Daniel Dougherty 13,429 32.4 −1.7
SDP Dennis Lee 5,125 12.4 −7.9
Majority 9,402 22.8 +12.1
Turnout 41,385 71.9 +1.9
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

[edit]
General election 1992: Stretford Borough Constituency[36]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Lloyd 22,300 59.6 +4.4
Conservative John C.B. Rae 11,163 29.8 −2.6
Liberal Democrats Francis C. Beswick 3,722 9.9 −2.5
Natural Law Andrew Boyton 268 0.7 New
Majority 11,137 29.8 +7.0
Turnout 37,453 68.8 −3.1
Labour hold Swing +3.6

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ Seventh Schedule: Counties at Large, Number of Members and Names and Contents of Divisions Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. C.23)
  2. ^ a b c F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.II: Northern England, London, 1991
  3. ^ Ninth Schedule: Part II, Parliamentary counties: England, excluding Monmouthshire, Representation of the People Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 C. 64)
  4. ^ First Schedule, Representation of the People Act 1948, (11 & 12 Geo. 6, C 65.)
  5. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983 No. 417)
  6. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995, (S.I. 1995 No. 1626)
  7. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
  8. ^ a b c d e The General Election, The Times, 6 October 1900; p. 12
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  10. ^ C. W. Sutton (2004). "Maclure, Sir John William, first baronet (1835–1901)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34793. Retrieved 22 August 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. ^ Election Intelligence: Lancashire (Stretford Division) The Times, 27 February 1901, p. 10
  12. ^ The General Election, The Times, 19 January 1906, p. 10
  13. ^ Progress of the General Election, The Times, 20 January 1910, p. 6
  14. ^ Progress of the General Election, The Times, 10 December 1910, p. 7
  15. ^ a b The General Election, The Times, 16 November 1922, p. 6
  16. ^ The General Election, The Times, 7 December 1923, p. 6
  17. ^ The General Election, The Times, 30 October 1924, p. 6
  18. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49, FWS Craig
  19. ^ The General Election, The Times, 15 November 1935 p. 10
  20. ^ British Airways Liner Lost: M.P. Drowned With Four Others, Crash Off Danish Coast, 16 August 1939, p. 10
  21. ^ Unionist Victory at Stretford The Times, 11 December 1939, p. 5
  22. ^ "UK General Election results July 1945". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  23. ^ "UK General Election results February 1950". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  24. ^ "UK General Election results October 1951". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  25. ^ "UK General Election results May 1955". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  26. ^ "UK General Election results October 1959". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  27. ^ "UK General Election results October 1964". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  28. ^ "UK General Election results March 1966". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  29. ^ "UK General Election results 1970". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  30. ^ "UK General Election results, February 1974". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  31. ^ "UK General Election results, October 1974". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  32. ^ "UK General Election results, May 1979". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  33. ^ "UK General Election results, June 1983". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  34. ^ The Times Guide to the House of Commons June 1983. London: Times Books Ltd. 1983. pp. 91 & 280. ISBN 0-7230-0255-X.
  35. ^ "UK General Election results, June 1987". Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain. University of Keele. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  36. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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