Crosby (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Crosby was a constituency in Merseyside, represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 from 1950 until 2010. It elected one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

Prior to 1997, the constituency was seen as a safe seat
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

 for the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. They held the seat from its creation in 1950 until the death in 1981 of Sir Graham Page. The resulting by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 was notable as it was won by Shirley Williams, one of the "gang of four" senior members of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 who had founded the new Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...

 (SDP), becoming the first SDP member to be elected. However, Williams lost the seat to the Conservative candidate Malcolm Thornton
Malcolm Thornton
Sir George Malcolm Thornton , known as Malcolm Thornton, is a British Conservative politician.Thornton was first elected to Parliament in the 1979 general election, winning the marginal seat of Liverpool Garston from Labour's Eddie Loyden. In the early 1980s, however, all seats were re-organised...

 at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

.

Thornton held the seat until the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

, when he lost to Labour's Claire Curtis-Thomas
Claire Curtis-Thomas
Claire Curtis-Thomas is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Crosby from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...

 who held the seat until its abolition. On 7 October 2009, it was announced that Curtis-Thomas would stand down at the 2010 general election.

Boundaries

The predecessor seat to Crosby was the Waterloo
Waterloo (UK Parliament constituency)
Waterloo was a parliamentary constituency centred on the district of Waterloo north of Liverpool in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :The constituency was created...

 constituency, which existed between 1918 and 1950. The constituency covered the whole town of Crosby
Crosby, Merseyside
Crosby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Lancashire it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport, Formby and west of Netherton-History:...

 which includes the localities of Great Crosby
Great Crosby
Great Crosby is an area of the town of Crosby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England.-Location:In 1907, the Victoria County History described Great Crosby's location thus: 'The ancient township of Great Crosby, which includes Waterloo, lies on the northern shore of the estuary...

, Blundellsands
Blundellsands
Blundellsands or Blundell Sands is an area of Merseyside, England in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, and a Sefton council electoral ward...

, Brighton-le-Sands
Brighton-le-Sands, Sefton
Brighton-le-Sands is an area of Merseyside, England in the borough of Sefton. It is located close to Crosby, situated between Blundellsands to the north, Waterloo to the south and Great Crosby to the east.-Governance:...

, Seaforth
Seaforth, Merseyside
Seaforth is a district within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It is located to the north of Liverpool, between Bootle and Waterloo.-History:...

, Waterloo, Little Crosby
Little Crosby
Little Crosby is a small village in Merseyside, North West England. Despite being a suburb within 8 miles of Liverpool it has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights....

, Hightown and Thornton, as well as the town of Formby
Formby
Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It has a population of approximately 25,000....

 and the village of Little Altcar
Little Altcar
Little Altcar is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain of England. The village has been absorbed into Formby...

, all in Sefton in Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

. It was bordered in the north by Southport
Southport (UK Parliament constituency)
Southport is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

, in the east by West Lancashire
West Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Lancashire is a County constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 and Knowsley North and Sefton East, and in the south by Bootle
Bootle (UK Parliament constituency)
Bootle is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1990 the MP has been Joe Benton of the Labour Party...

.

Following a review by the Boundary Commission for England, the Crosby constituency was abolished at the 2010 general election. It was replaced by the new Sefton Central
Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Sefton Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 seat, which includes parts of the former Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency. As a result Formby
Formby
Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It has a population of approximately 25,000....

 and Little Altcar
Little Altcar
Little Altcar is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain of England. The village has been absorbed into Formby...

 are part of the new Sefton Central constituency
Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Sefton Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 and the town of Crosby has been divided between two constituencies, with the two electoral wards of southern Crosby, Church and Victoria, containing the urbanised bulk of the town which includes the areas of Great Crosby
Great Crosby
Great Crosby is an area of the town of Crosby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England.-Location:In 1907, the Victoria County History described Great Crosby's location thus: 'The ancient township of Great Crosby, which includes Waterloo, lies on the northern shore of the estuary...

, Waterloo and Seaforth
Seaforth, Merseyside
Seaforth is a district within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It is located to the north of Liverpool, between Bootle and Waterloo.-History:...

, being absorbed into the expanded Bootle constituency
Bootle (UK Parliament constituency)
Bootle is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1990 the MP has been Joe Benton of the Labour Party...

, represented by the Labour MP Joe Benton
Joe Benton
Joseph Edward Benton is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bootle since 1990.-Early life:...

, and the two electoral wards of northern Crosby, Blundellsands
Blundellsands
Blundellsands or Blundell Sands is an area of Merseyside, England in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, and a Sefton council electoral ward...

 and Manor, which contains residential suburban areas such as, Blundellsands
Blundellsands
Blundellsands or Blundell Sands is an area of Merseyside, England in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, and a Sefton council electoral ward...

, Brighton-Lee-Sands
Brighton-le-Sands, Sefton
Brighton-le-Sands is an area of Merseyside, England in the borough of Sefton. It is located close to Crosby, situated between Blundellsands to the north, Waterloo to the south and Great Crosby to the east.-Governance:...

, Little Crosby
Little Crosby
Little Crosby is a small village in Merseyside, North West England. Despite being a suburb within 8 miles of Liverpool it has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights....

, Thornton, and Hightown, forming part of the new Sefton Central constituency
Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Sefton Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 represented by Bill Esterson
Bill Esterson
William Roffen "Bill" Esterson is a Labour MP for Sefton Central, first elected in 2010. Bill sits on the following Select Committees; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Education....

, also a Labour MP.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1950
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...

 
Malcolm Bullock
Sir Harold Malcolm Bullock, 1st Baronet
Captain Sir Harold Malcolm Bullock, 1st Baronet MBE was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.A Captain in the Scots Guards, Bullock normally went by his middle name of Malcolm rather than his first name...

 
Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1953 by-election  Graham Page  Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1981 by-election
Crosby by-election, 1981
The Crosby by-election, 1981 was a by-election held in England on 26 November 1981 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Crosby on Merseyside...

 
Shirley Williams  Social Democratic
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...

1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

 
Malcolm Thornton
Malcolm Thornton
Sir George Malcolm Thornton , known as Malcolm Thornton, is a British Conservative politician.Thornton was first elected to Parliament in the 1979 general election, winning the marginal seat of Liverpool Garston from Labour's Eddie Loyden. In the early 1980s, however, all seats were re-organised...

 
Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

 
Claire Curtis-Thomas
Claire Curtis-Thomas
Claire Curtis-Thomas is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Crosby from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...

 
Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

2010 constituency abolished: see Sefton Central
Sefton Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Sefton Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 and Bootle
Bootle (UK Parliament constituency)
Bootle is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1990 the MP has been Joe Benton of the Labour Party...


Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

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