Wigan (UK Parliament constituency)

Wigan
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wigan in Greater Manchester.
Location of Greater Manchester within England.
County	Greater Manchester
Electorate	76,779 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Lisa Nandy (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Wigan, South West Lancashire
1545–1885
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Wigan
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Wigan is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Lisa Nandy, a member of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

History

Wigan was one of the important places called upon to send a representative (a 'burgess') to the Model Parliament of 1295 and to another in January 1307, however was not summoned during the remainder of the medieval period to send its representative to Westminster, instead waiting until Henry VIII's grant of two members to the town which is believed to have already been incorporated as a borough in 1246 following the issue of a charter by Henry III. After the end of the Middle Ages, in the Tudor period, Wigan was one of four boroughs in Lancashire possessing Royal Charters; the others were Lancaster, Liverpool and Preston.

The seat saw a reduction of the number of its members under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which imposed single-member constituencies nationwide.^{[n 3]}

The death of Roger Stott in office in 1999 made him the fourth Wigan MP in the twentieth century to die in office (uniquely for a constituency in the United Kingdom): (the others being John Parkinson, Ronald Williams and William Foster).

Political history

The seat has been held by the Labour Party since 1918, and given the solid Labour majorities is considered as a safe seat.

Prominent frontbenchers

• William Ewart was of an age when Private members bills were more important to social advancement than government bills: in 1834 he successfully carried a bill to abolish hanging in chains, and in 1837 he was successful in getting an act passed to abolish capital punishment for cattle-stealing and other similar offences. In 1850 he carried a bill for establishing free libraries supported out of public rates, and in 1864 he was instrumental in getting the Act of 1864 passed that legalized the use of the metric system of weights and measures.
• Hon. Algernon Egerton was Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (1874-1880)
• Alan Fitch was Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a mid-level whip in the First Wilson ministry (1968-70).
• Roger Stott was a longtime joint chairman of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to James Callaghan during his government.

Boundaries

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Greater Manchester prior to the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission recommended alterations to the existing constituencies in the Wigan metropolitan borough area. The electoral wards proposed in the altered Wigan constituency were:

• Aspull New Springs Whelley, Douglas, Ince, Pemberton, Shevington with Standish Lower Ground, Standish-with-Langtree, Wigan Central, and Wigan West in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.^[2]

Other seats within the Wigan borough are Makerfield and Leigh, while Atherton is contained within Bolton West. However the boundary changes were never implemented after being defeated in Parliament 334 to 292 January 2013.^[3] Fresh proposals to reduce the number of MP's by 50 are expected to be published September 2016.^[4]

Constituency profile

The seat is productive and has excellent links to Manchester as well as close links to the M6 just within its western border, however has witnessed a drop in manufacturing supporting the economy of Greater Manchester, particularly in textiles which have been unable in production of more general items to compete with the Indian subcontinent and the Far East, for this seat a lesser employer also of note in its vicinity until the mid 20th century was coal mining which has ceased in this part of Lancashire.^{[n 4]}

Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, and regional average of 4.4%, at 5.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[5]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1295	William le Teinterer	Henry le Bocher
1306/7 (Jan)	Simon Payer	John de Mersee
1307-1545	No Members returned to Parliament
1545	Thomas Chaloner	John Eston[6]
1547 (Nov)	Alexander Barlowe	Thomas Carus[6]
1552/3 (Mar)	Alexander Barlowe	Gilbert Gerard[7]
1553 (Oct)	Alexander Barlowe	Gilbert Gerard[7]
1554 (Apr)	Alexander Barlowe	William Barnes[6]
1554 (Nov)	Alexander Barlowe	John Barnes[6]
1555	Alexander Barlowe	Gilbert Gerard[7]
1558	Ralph Barton	Thomas Smith[6]
1559 (Jan)	William Gerard II	Thomas Bromley[8]
1562/3 (Mar)	William Gerard II	John Ratcliffe[8]
1571	William Gerard II	Owen Ratcliffe[8]
1572	Edward Fitton (the younger) on Queen's Service and repl. 1581 by Richard Molyneux	Edward Elrington[8]
1584 (Nov)	Thomas Grimsditch	William Gerard III[8]
1586	William Gerard III	Peter Legh[8]
1588 (Dec)	Peter Legh	William Leycester[8]
1593	William Gerard III	Michael Heneage[8]
1597 (Oct)	Edward Legh	Nicholas Smyth[8]
1601 (Oct)	Roger Downes	John Pulteney[8]
1604	Sir William Cooke	Sir John Pulteney
1614	Sir Gilbert Gerard[9]	Sir Richard Molyneux
1621	Sir Thomas Gerard, 1st Baronet (died and replaced 1621 by George Garrard)	Roger Downes
1624	Sir Anthony St John	Francis Downes
1625	Francis Downes	Edward Bridgeman
1626	Sir Anthony St John	Sir William Pooley
1628	Edward Bridgeman	Sir Anthony St John
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

MPs 1640–1885

Year		First member[10]	First party		Second member[10]	Second party
April 1640		Orlando Bridgeman	Royalist		Alexander Rigby	Parliamentarian
November 1640
May 1642	Bridgeman expelled - seat vacant
1646		John Holcroft
December 1648	Holcroft excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
August 1650				Rigby died - seat vacant
1653	Wigan was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Robert Markland			Hugh Forth
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		William Gardiner			Hugh Forth
October 1660		John Molyneux			Roger Stoughton
1661		The Earl of Ancram			Geoffrey Shakerley
February 1679					Roger Bradshaigh
September 1679					William Banks
1681					Viscount Colchester
1685					Lord Charles Murray
1689		Sir Edward Chisenhall			William Banks
1690		Sir Richard Standish			Peter Shakerley
1694		John Byrom
1695		Sir Roger Bradshaigh
1698					Orlando Bridgeman
1701					Sir Alexander Rigby
1702					Orlando Bridgeman
1705					Brigadier Emanuel Scrope Howe	Whig
1708					Major Henry Bradshaigh
1713					George Kenyon
1715					The Earl of Barrymore
1727					Peter Bold
1734					The Earl of Barrymore
March 1747		Richard Clayton
June 1747					Hon. Richard Barry
1754		Sir William Meredith	Tory
1761		Fletcher Norton			Simon Luttrell
1768		George Byng			Beaumont Hotham
1775					John Morton	Tory
August 1780					Henry Simpson Bridgeman
September 1780		Hon. Horatio Walpole	Tory
1782					John Cotes	Tory
1784		Orlando Bridgeman [mpnotes 1]	Tory
1800		George Gunning
1802		John Hodson	Tory		Sir Robert Holt Leigh	Tory
1820		James Alexander Hodson	Tory		Lord Lindsay	Tory
1825					Lieutenant-Colonel James Lindsay	Tory
March 1831		John Hodson Kearsley	Tory
May 1831					Ralph Thicknesse	Whig
1832		Richard Potter	Whig
1835					John Hodson Kearsley	Conservative
1837					Charles Strickland Standish	Whig
1839		William Ewart	Radical
1841		Peter Greenall	Conservative		Thomas Bright Crosse [mpnotes 2]	Conservative
1842					Charles Strickland Standish	Whig
1845		Hon. James Lindsay	Conservative
1847					Ralph Anthony Thicknesse	Whig
1854					Joseph Acton	Whig
1857		Francis Sharp Powell	Conservative		Henry Woods	Whig
1859		Hon. James Lindsay	Conservative			Liberal
1866		Nathaniel Eckersley	Conservative
1868		John Lancaster	Liberal
1874		Lord Lindsay	Conservative		Thomas Knowles	Conservative
1881		Francis Powell [mpnotes 3]	Conservative
1881	Writ suspended following corrupt election - seat vacant
December 1882		Hon. Algernon Egerton	Conservative
1883					Nathaniel Eckersley	Conservative
1885	Representation reduced to one member

MPs since 1885

Election		Member[10]	Party
	1885	Sir Francis Powell	Conservative
	1910 (January)	Henry Twist	Labour
	1910 (December)	Reginald James Neville	Conservative
	1918	John Parkinson	Labour
	1942 by-election	William Foster	Labour
	1948 by-election	Ronald Williams	Labour
	1958 by-election	Alan Fitch	Labour
	1983	Roger Stott	Labour
	1999 by-election	Neil Turner	Labour
	2010	Lisa Nandy	Labour

Notes

1. The Honourable Orlando Bridgeman from 1796
2. On petition, the election of Crosse was declared void and after scrutiny of the votes his opponent, Standish, was declared duly elected.
3. On petition, Powell's election was declared void and the writ was suspended. The following year a new writ was issued and a by-election was held

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Wigan^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lisa Nandy	23,625	52.2	+3.7
	Conservative	Caroline Kerswell	9,389	20.7	−4.0
	UKIP	Mark Bradley	8,818	19.5	+13.8
	Green	Will Patterson	1,273	2.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Clayton	1,255	2.8	-12.6
	Wigan Independents	Gareth Fairhurst	768	1.7	N/A
	Independent	Brian Parr	165	0.4	N/A
Majority			14,236	31.4	+7.6
Turnout			45,293	59.5	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Wigan^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lisa Nandy	21,404	48.5	−9.6
	Conservative	Michael Winstanley	10,917	24.7	+5.8
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Clayton	6,797	15.4	−1.5
	UKIP	Alan Freeman	2,516	5.7	+2.3
	BNP	Charles Mather[15]	2,506	5.7	N/A
Majority			10,487	23.8	-10.5
Turnout			44,140	58.4	+6.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Wigan^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Neil Turner	18,901	55.1	−6.6
	Conservative	John Coombes	7,134	20.8	0.0
	Liberal Democrat	Denise Capstick	6,051	17.7	+2.9
	UKIP	John Whittaker	1,166	3.4	N/A
	Community Action	Kevin Williams	1,026	3.0	N/A
Majority			11,767	34.3
Turnout			34,278	53.3	+0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	3.3

General Election 2001: Wigan^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Neil Turner	20,739	61.7	−6.8
	Conservative	Mark Page	6,996	20.8	+3.9
	Liberal Democrat	Trevor Beswick	4,970	14.8	+4.8
	Socialist Alliance	Dave Lowe	886	2.6	N/A
Majority			13,743	40.9
Turnout			33,591	52.5	−15.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

Wigan by-election, 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Neil Turner	9,641	59.6	−9.0
	Conservative	Tom Peet	2,912	18.0	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan Rule	2,148	13.3	+3.3
	UKIP	John Whittaker	834	5.2	N/A
	Socialist Labour	William Kelly	240	1.5	N/A
	Green	Chris Maile	190	1.2	+0.2
	National Democrats	Stephen Ebbs	100	0.6	N/A
	Natural Law	Paul Davis	64	0.4	+0.2
	Independent	David Braid	58	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,729	41.6
Turnout				25
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Wigan^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Roger Stott	30,043	68.6	+5.6
	Conservative	Mark A. Loveday	7,400	16.9	−6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Trevor R. Beswick	4,390	10.0	−1.0
	Referendum	Anthony Bradborne	1,450	3.3	N/A
	Green	Christopher Maile	442	1.0	N/A
	Natural Law	William J. Ayliffe	94	0.2	−0.2
Majority			22,643	51.7
Turnout			43,819	67.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Wigan^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Roger Stott	34,910	63.0	+1.5
	Conservative	Edward J.W. Hess	13,068	23.6	−0.9
	Liberal Democrat	George Davies	6,111	11.0	−3.0
	Liberal	Kevin Joseph White	1,116	2.0	−12.0
	Natural Law	Mrs Annie B. Tayler	197	0.4	N/A
Majority			21,842	39.4	+2.3
Turnout			55,402	76.2	−0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987:Wigan^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Roger Stott	33,955	61.5
	Conservative	Kenneth Robinson Wade	13,493	24.5
	Liberal	Kevin Joseph White	7,732	14.0
Majority			20,462	37.1
Turnout			55,179	76.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Wigan^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Roger Stott	29,859	54.55
	Liberal	John Piggott	12,554	22.94
	Conservative	Henry Cadman	12,320	22.51
Majority			17,305	31.62
Turnout			54,734	75.61
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	26,144	59.77
	Conservative	T Peet	13,149	30.06
	Liberal	K Bruce	4,102	9.38
	Workers Revolutionary	A Smith	348	0.8
Majority			12,995	29.71
Turnout			43,742	74.11
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	27,692	65.77
	Conservative	PM Beard	8,865	21.05
	Liberal	J Campbell	5,548	13.18
Majority			18,827	44.71
Turnout			42,105	73.98
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Wigan^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	30,485	71.28
	Conservative	P Beard	12,283	28.72
Majority			18,202	42.56
Turnout			42,766	75.84
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

General Election 1970: Wigan^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	28,102	67.46
	Conservative	Anthony Daniels	12,882	30.92
	Communist	Jack Kay	672	1.61
Majority			15,220	36.54
Turnout			41,655	72.27
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	28,754	72.85	+3.43
	Conservative	Malcolm Kingston	9,876	25.01	-3.21
	Communist	Michael Weaver	858	2.17	-0.22
Majority			18,878	47.81
Turnout			42,766	75.84
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	28,640	69.39	+3.05
	Conservative	Ian K Paley	11,648	28.22	-3.40
	Communist	Michael Weaver	988	2.39	+0.35
Majority			16,992	41.17
Turnout				79.40
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	30,664	66.34	+1.94
	Conservative	John Hodgson	14,615	31.62	-0.59
	Communist	Michael Weaver	945	2.04	-1.35
Majority			16,049	34.72
Turnout				83.81
	Labour hold		Swing

Wigan by-election, 1958

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ernest Alan Fitch	27,415	70.96	+6.56
	Conservative	John Hodgson	10,248	26.53	-5.68
	Communist	Michael Weaver	972	2.52	-0.87
Majority			17,167
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ronald Watkins Williams	29,755	64.40	-2.51
	Conservative	Harold D Lowe	14,883	32.21	-0.88
	Communist	Thomas Rowlandson	1,567	3.39	N/A
Majority			14,872	32.19
Turnout				80.25
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ronald Watkins Williams	34,530	66.91	+4.39
	Conservative	Dennis C Walls	17,078	33.09	+3.05
Majority			17,452	33.82
Turnout				87.00
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ronald Watkins Williams	32,746	62.52	-5.64
	Conservative	H Dowling	15,733	30.04	-1.80
	Liberal	Ian Stevenson Webster	2,651	5.06	N/A
	Communist	Thomas Rowlandson	1,243	2.37	N/A
Majority			17,013	32.48
Turnout				89.27
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

Wigan by-election, 1948

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ronald Watkins Williams	28,941	59.1
	Conservative	Harold Dowling	17,466	35.6
	Communist	Thomas Rowlandson	1,647	3.7
	King's Cavalier	Owen L Roberts	932	1.6
Majority			11,475	23.4
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

}

General Election 1945: Wigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Foster	31,392	68.16
	Conservative	E C L Hubert-Powell	14,666	31.84
Majority			16,726	36.32
Turnout				80.41
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

}

General Election 1935

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Parkinson	27,950	61.30
	Conservative	R Grant-Ferris	17,646	38.70
Majority			10,304	22.60
Turnout				81.74
	Labour hold		Swing

}

General Election 1931

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Parkinson	23,544	51.10
	Conservative	G D Roberts	22,526	48.90
Majority			1,018	2.21
Turnout				84.24
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Wigan ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Allen Parkinson	27,462	58.5
	Unionist	E Barlow	18,144	38.7
	Communist	F Bright	1,307	2.8	n/a
Majority			9,318	19.8
Turnout			46,913
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Wigan ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Allen Parkinson	19,637	57.6
	Unionist	David Alexander Robert Lindsay, Lord Balniel	14,451	42.4
Majority			5,186	15.2
Turnout				85.0
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. 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.
3. Exceptions were the twenty-three borough constituencies, the City of London and the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin
4. See UK Coal

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. 2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21235169
4. http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/boundary-proposals-set-to-be-unveiled-1-8096018
5. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
6. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-24.
7. "Gerard, Sir Gilbert (d.1593), of Ince, Lancs. and Gerrard's Bromley, Staffs.". History of Parliament.
8. "Wigan". History of Parliament.
9. "Gerard, Sir Gilbert, 1st Bt. (1587-1670), of Flambards, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Mdx.". History of Parliament.
10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "Wigan". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Wigan". BBC News.
15. The BNP Announces Candidates for Makerfield, Leigh and Wigan
16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "UK". Politicsresources.net.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "UK". Politicsresources.net.
25. "UK". Politicsresources.net.
26. "UK". Politicsresources.net.
27. "UK". Politicsresources.net.
28. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
29. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)

Coordinates: 53°32′N 2°38′W / 53.54°N 2.64°W