WARRINGTON SOUTH (UK PARLIAMENT CONSTITUENCY)

'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.
The constituency has the Press Association (PA) number 612.

Contents

Boundaries

History

Members of Parliament

Election results

See also

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

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1983	Mark Carlisle	Conservative
	1987	Chris Butler	Conservative
	1992	Mike Hall	Labour
	1997	Helen Southworth	Labour

Election results

Based on the 1992 notional results the Conservative party gained Warrington South.

See also

★ List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire