Widnes (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1983

Widnes
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Widnes in Lancashire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
1885–1983
Seats	one
Created from	South West Lancashire
Replaced by	Halton, Knowsley South and St Helens South

Widnes was a county constituency in England, based on the town of Widnes, in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

History

The constituency was formed as a Parliamentary division of Lancashire in 1885, including Allerton, Cronton, Ditton, Garston, Hale, Halewood, Huyton with Roby, Little Woolton, Much Woolton, Speke, Tarbock, Whiston and Widnes.

In 1918 it was redefined to cover the municipal borough of Widnes, along with the urban districts of Prescot and Huyton with Roby and the Whiston Rural District. The two urban districts and part of the rural district (the parishes of Eccleston, Kirkby, Knowsley, and Windle) became part of a new Huyton constituency in 1950, with Widnes retaining the borough and the remainder of the rural district. In 1971 Widnes featured the last by-election to date to have only a Labour and a Conservative candidate. Its boundaries remained unchanged in 1974. In 1983 Widnes constituency was abolished and replaced by Halton constituency.

Boundaries

1950–1983: The borough of Widnes, and the rural district of Whiston except the parishes of Eccleston, Kirkby, Knowsley, and Windle.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1885	Tom Edwards-Moss	Conservative
1892	John Saunders Gilliat	Conservative
1900	William Walker	Coalition Conservative
1919 by-election	Arthur Henderson	Labour
1922	Christopher Clayton	Conservative
1929	Alexander Gordon Cameron	Labour
1931	Roland Robinson	Conservative
1935	Richard Pilkington	Conservative
1945	Christopher Shawcross	Labour
1950	James MacColl	Labour
1971 by-election	Gordon Oakes	Labour
1983	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	32,033	55.2	−4.0
	Conservative	B.G. Holder	21,752	37.5	+10.0
	Liberal	L.A. Self	4,290	7.4	−5.9
Majority			10,281	17.7
Turnout			58,075	74.2	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.0

General election October 1974: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	31,532	59.2	−5.9
	Conservative	A.H.K. Maynard	14,661	27.5	−7.5
	Liberal	A. Turner	7,067	13.3	N/A
Majority			16,871	31.7
Turnout			53,260	70.9	−2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

General election February 1974: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	35,654	65.1	+7.4
	Conservative	A.H.K. Maynard	19,155	35.0	−7.3
Majority			16,499	30.1
Turnout			54,809	73.7	+5.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.4

By-election 1971: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Oakes	22,880	69.1	+11.4
	Conservative	David Stanley	10,219	30.9	−11.4
Majority			12,661	38.3
Turnout			33,099
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.4

General election 1970: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	28,384	57.7	−3.0
	Conservative	Griffith H. Pierce	20,841	42.3	+3.0
Majority			7,543	15.3
Turnout			49,225	68.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	26,613	60.7	+3.9
	Conservative	Alan Pickering	17,235	39.3	−3.9
Majority			9,378	21.4
Turnout			43,848	72.8	−5.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1964: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	24,446	56.8	+4.8
	Conservative	Alan Pickering	18,572	43.2	−4.8
Majority			5,874	13.7
Turnout			43,018	77.9	−5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.8

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	21,218	52.0	+0.1
	Conservative	Bruce L. Butcher	19,620	48.0	−0.1
Majority			1,598	3.9
Turnout			40,838	83.4	+7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

General election 1955: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	19,823	51.9	−2.3
	Conservative	Beata Brookes	18,374	48.1	+2.3
Majority			1,449	3.8
Turnout			38,197	76.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	21,688	54.2	+0.1
	Conservative	Francis H. Wilson	18,315	45.8	−0.1
Majority			3,373	8.4
Turnout			40,003	87.4	−0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

General election 1950: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James MacColl	21,253	54.1	−4.7
	Conservative	Richard Pilkington	18,033	45.9	+4.7
Majority			3,220	8.2
Turnout			39,286	88.2	+12.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.7

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Shawcross	41,980	58.8	+14.8
	Conservative	Richard Pilkington	29,382	41.2	−14.8
Majority			12,598	17.7
Turnout			71,362	76.0	−3.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Pilkington	24,457	56.0	−6.1
	Labour	Alexander Gordon Cameron	19,187	44.0	+6.1
Majority			5,270	12.1
Turnout			43,644	79.7	−7.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.1

General election 1931: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roland Robinson	25,123	62.1
	Labour	Alexander Gordon Cameron	15,309	37.9
Majority			9,814	24.3
Turnout			40,432	87.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alexander Gordon Cameron	19,125	51.0	+4.7
	Unionist	Christopher Clayton	18,376	49.0	−4.7
Majority			749	2.0	9.4
Turnout			37,501	84.8	−1.0
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+4.7

General election 1924: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Christopher Clayton	15,476	53.7
	Labour	Joe Cotter	13,326	46.3
Majority			2,150	7.4
Turnout			28,802	85.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1923: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Christopher Clayton	12,808	47.1	−6.1
	Labour	Joe Cotter	12,020	44.2	−2.6
	Liberal	Harry Trevor Ellis	2,355	8.7	n/a
Majority			788	2.9	−3.5
Turnout			27,183	83.0	−3.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	-1.7

General election 1922: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Christopher Clayton	14,679	53.2
	Labour	Arthur Henderson	12,897	46.8
Majority			1,782	6.4
Turnout			27,576	86.8
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Widnes by-election, August 30 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Henderson	11,404	52.3	+11.9
C	Unionist	Francis Fisher	10,417	47.7	−11.9
Majority			987	4.6	N/A
Turnout			21,821	71.1	+8.1
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+11.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1918: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	William Walker	11,515	59.6	N/A
	Labour	Tom Williamson	7,821	40.4	N/A
Majority			3,694	19.2	N/A
Turnout			19,336	63.0	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

By-election, 1916: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Walker	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

General election December 1910: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Walker	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election January 1910: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Walker	5,758	55.2	+0.6
	Liberal	Louis Bernacchi	4,666	44.8	−0.6
Majority			1,092	10.4	+1.2
Turnout			10,424	88.5	+5.1
Registered electors			11,780
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.2

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Walker	5,017	54.6	−15.0
	Liberal	John Swinburne	4,165	45.4	+15.0
Majority			852	9.2	−30.0
Turnout			9,182	83.4	+11.7
Registered electors			11,005
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.0

General election 1900: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Walker	4,716	69.6	+16.1
	Liberal	M. C. Macinerney	2,062	30.4	−16.1
Majority			2,654	39.2	+32.2
Turnout			6,778	71.7	−10.9
Registered electors			9,447
	Conservative hold		Swing	+16.1

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Saunders Gilliat	3,973	53.5	+2.1
	Liberal	Henry Wade Deacon	3,456	46.5	−2.1
Majority			517	7.0	+4.2
Turnout			7,429	82.6	−0.9
Registered electors			8,998
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 1892: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Saunders Gilliat	3,866	51.4	−4.6
	Liberal	Henry Wade Deacon	3,661	48.6	+4.6
Majority			205	2.8	−9.2
Turnout			7,527	83.5	+2.7
Registered electors			9,014
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.6

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Edwards-Moss	3,719	56.0	−6.0
	Liberal	Augustine Birrell	2,927	44.0	+6.0
Majority			792	12.0	−12.0
Turnout			6,646	80.8	−4.0
Registered electors			8,223
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.0

General election 1885: Widnes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Edwards-Moss	4,327	62.0	N/A
	Liberal	Edmund Knowles Muspratt	2,650	38.0	N/A
Majority			1,677	24.0	N/A
Turnout			6,977	84.8	N/A
Registered electors			8,223
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

"'Widnes', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 2
"Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
^ Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
^ "Liberal Meeting at Widnes". Liverpool Mercury. 23 February 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
"The General Election". London Evening Standard. 4 December 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)

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