Macclesfield (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Macclesfield County constituency |
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| Macclesfield shown within Cheshire, and Cheshire shown within England | |
| Created: | 1832, 1885 |
| MP: | Sir Nicholas Winterton |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Cheshire |
| EP constituency: | North West England |
Macclesfield 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.
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[edit] Boundaries
The constituency covers the eastern part of the Borough of Macclesfield in Cheshire, containing the town of Macclesfield itself and the area surrounding it, such as Bollington and Prestbury, as well as Disley and Poynton. Much of the constituency is commuter territory for Manchester, with affluent villages such as Prestbury.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cheshire, the Boundary Commission for England proposed minor changes to the existing arrangement as a consequence of population changes with Henbury ward proposed to be transferred into the Tatton constituency, however following representations this proposal was dropped and the outer boundary of the Macclesfield constituency is to remain unchanged provided parliament approves [1], the wards as follows:
- Bollington Central, Bollington East, Bollington West, Disley and Lyme Handley, Gawsworth, Henbury, Macclesfield Bollinbrook, Macclesfield Broken Cross, Macclesfield Central, Macclesfield East, Macclesfield Hurdsfield, Macclesfield Ivy, Macclesfield Ryles, Macclesfield South, Macclesfield Tytherington, Macclesfield West, Poynton Central, Poynton East, Poynton West, Prestbury, Rainow and Sutton.
[edit] History
Macclesfield was first represented in Parliament after the Reform Act of 1832, from when it had two members of Parliament. This situation lasted until 1880, when after problems at the general election that year it was decided to declare the election void and suspend the writ of election (so no by-election could take place).
In September 1880 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate further. A report of March 1881 confirmed the allegations of corruption. As a result the borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption. The disenfranchisement took effect on 25 June 1885, when the town was transferred to the East Cheshire constituency.
However under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the Macclesfield constituency was recreated with extended boundaries, as a county division, later in 1885. From the United Kingdom general election, 1885 it has elected one MP.
Macclesfield is a safe seat for the Conservative Party, having been held by them since the 1918 General Election.The Tories (4 councillors) ironically are not all that strong in the town of Macclesfield itself; both the Lib Dems (7 councillors) and Labour (6 councillors) have more local representation,but this is easily balanced by the staunchly Conservative small towns and villages surruonding the main town,especially Prestbury. The current MP is Sir Nicholas Winterton, who was first elected at a by-election in 1971 and has held the seat since then.
[edit] Members of Parliament
From 1832 until 1880, Macclesfield was represented by two members of Parliament.
- 1832 – 1868: John Brocklehurst
- 1832 – 1837: John Ryle
- 1837 – 1847: Thomas Grimsditch
- 1847 – 1852: John Williams, Liberal
- 1852 – 1868: Edward Christopher Egerton
- 1868 – 1880: William Coare Brocklehurst
- 1868 – 1880: David Chadwick
The Macclesfield constituency was recreated in 1885, and subsequently has elected one MP only.
- 1885 – 1886: William Coare Brocklehurst, Liberal
- 1886 – 1906: William Bromley-Davenport (Financial Secretary to the War Office [2] [3]), Conservative
- 1906 – 1918: Colonel William Brocklehurst Brocklehurst, Liberal
- 1918 – 1939: John Rumney Remer, Conservative
- 1939 – 1945: W. Garfield Weston, Conservative
- 1945 – 1971: Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, Baron Harvey of Prestbury (later Baron Harvey of Prestbury), Conservative
- 1971 – present: Sir Nicholas Winterton, Conservative
[edit] Election results
| General Election 2005: Macclesfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Nicholas Winterton | 22,628 | 49.6 | +0.7 | |
| Labour | Stephen Carter | 13,227 | 29.0 | -4.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Catherine O'Brien | 8,918 | 19.5 | +1.5 | |
| Veritas | John Scott | 848 | 1.9 | +1.9 | |
| Majority | 9,401 | 20.6 | |||
| Turnout | 45,621 | 63.1 | +0.8 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2001: Macclesfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Nicholas Winterton | 22,284 | 48.9 | -0.7 | |
| Labour | Stephen Carter | 15,084 | 33.1 | -0.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Flynn | 8,217 | 18.0 | +1.3 | |
| Majority | 7,200 | 15.8 | |||
| Turnout | 45,585 | 62.3 | -12.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
