Warrington South (UK Parliament constituency)

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Warrington South Borough constituency
Warrington South shown within Cheshire, and Cheshire shown within England
Created:	1983
MP:	Helen Southworth
Party:	Labour
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Cheshire
EP constituency:	North West England

Warrington South 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.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of two covering the unitary authority of Warrington, Cheshire, the other being Warrington North. It covers the parts of the town lying south of the River Mersey, including Appleton, Grappenhall and Stockton Heath, the town centre and the Penketh and Sankey areas in the west of the town. It also includes the village of Lymm.

History

The constituency was created in 1983. Prior to then, the Warrington constituency covered the central part of the town and surrounding area, while the southern fringes were in the Runcorn constituency and the surrounding area to the north was covered by the Newton constituency. The current boundaries were introduced at the 1997 general election, when the number of constituencies in Cheshire were increased and the new Weaver Vale seat was created.

Politically, Warrington South is considered the more interesting of the two Warrington seats. While Warrington North is a safe seat for the Labour Party, Warrington South is regarded as a bellwether constituency, reflecting the fate of the major parties at the national level. As such it was held by the Conservatives from 1983 until 1992 (until 1987 by the former Runcorn MP Mark Carlisle, then by Chris Butler), when it was taken by Labour's Mike Hall. Hall moved to the new Weaver Vale seat in 1997, and Helen Southworth (also of the Labour Party) has represented the seat since then, with reduced majorities at each general election.

Most of the borough council seats in the constituency are held by the Liberal Democrats, who nevertheless have come third in all general elections, behind the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats have selected Jo Crotty to be their candidate at the next General Election. The Conservative candidate will be David Mowat .

On 15 June 2009, Helen Southworth MP announced that she would be retiring at the next General Election, and that the Labour Party would be selecting a Parliamentary candidate in the coming weeks. On 9 January 2010 Nick Bent was selected as the Labour candidate.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election results

In 2006 Paul Kennedy joined the Conservative Party, becoming a Conservative Councillor on Warrington Borough Council in May 2008, representing the Hatton, Stretton & Walton Ward.

Please note that the Paul Kennedy who stood in 1983 is not the same Paul Kennedy who stood in 2005.

References

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire

Coordinates: 53°22′N 2°33′W / 53.367°N 2.55°W / 53.367; -2.55

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