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 current seat of Preston was confirmed in time for the
1997 Election. The seat crossed the
River Ribble to include
Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale from
South Ribble District Council. Preston, which was then not a city, lost the north-eastern Fulwood area to
Ribble Valley and the western areas of Ingol, Tanterton, Lea and Cottam to
Fylde .
Following its review of parlimentary representation in
Lancashire , the
Boundary Commission For England has recommended that, in time for the next election, Preston will lose the towns of Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale and gain the Preston City ward of Ingol. This means the electoral wards which are used to create the new constituency of Preston are all within the city council's boundaries.
- Ashton, Brookfield, Deepdale, Fishwick, Ingol, Larches, Moor Park, Ribbleton, Riversway, St George's, St Matthew's, Town Centre, Tulketh and University.
The ward of Lea is within the constituency of
Fylde .
The wards of Fulwood are within the constituency of
Wyre And Preston North
The borough and now city of Preston has been represented by one MP since 1983. The former Preston North and Preston South seats were amongst the most marginal in the country - in 1979, Robert Atkins won Preston North by 29 votes.
With the suburban and "small c" conservative Fulwood area within Ribble Valley and from 2009 Wyre and Preston North constituencies, the southern portion has awarded MPs with much healthier and secure majorities. All of Preston's representatives have been Labour, with the race for second place often more interesting than the inevitable Labour victory.
In 1997, Audrey Wise secured a majority of over 18,000. The collapse of the Conservative vote - 10 percentage points down from 1992 - was firmly with the pattern of the Tory fortunes in that year.
The death of Audrey Wise in 2000 triggered a
By-election . In the
Preston By-election , former MEP
Mark Hendrick secured a victory with a 4,400 majority. The surprise of the night was the result of the fledgling
Socialist Alliance , for whom Terry Cartright saved his deposit.
Less than a year later, the
2001 General Election returned Mark Hendrick with a much healthier 12,200 majority, up against
South Ribble councillor Graham O'Hare for the Conservatives and local
Liberal Democrat leader Bill Chadwick. In real terms, all three main parties lost support from 1997 - Labour down by over 8,000 votes, Conservatives reduced by over 2,200 and LibDems 2,300 lower. One notable candidate in 2001 was David Braid, also a candidate in a number of other seats that year, who had been the "Battle for Britain" candidate in the previous year's by-election.
The
2005 General Election election was notable for the changes in share of the vote of the minor parties. The first ever
Respect candidate, local councillor Michael Lavalette, firmly saved his deposit with nearly 7% of the vote. The LibDems, who had chosen a former Tory County Councillor, had their best result since 1997. Fiona Bryce, for the Conservatives, remained in second place and saw her share of the vote remain stable despite
UKIP polling over 1,000 votes. Like Respect this was the first time UKIP had stood for election in Preston. These results meant that Mark Hendrick secured another term as MP, but his vote number was 3,000 less than 2001 and 12,000 less than Audrey Wise in 1997.
Boundary changes to be put in place for the 2009 or 2010 election remove
Bamber Bridge and
Walton-le-Dale from the constituency, and bring in the city council ward of Ingol. The South Ribble elements are Labour/Tory dogfight wards, whilst Ingol has a LibDem/Tory preference. These moves should cancel each other out, ultimately helping Labour, but it should be remembered that local factors can be more important than boundary reviews in fighting elections.
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Fiona Bryce
|
| |
7,803
|
| |
229
|
| |
-01
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
William Parkinson
|
| |
5,701
|
| |
167
|
| |
+35
|
|
| |
RESPECT The Unity Coalition
|
| |
Michael Lavalette
|
| |
2,318
|
| |
68
|
| |
+68
|
|
| |
United Kingdom Independence Party
|
| |
Ellen Boardman
|
| |
1,049
|
| |
31
|
| |
+31
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Graham O’Hare
|
| |
8,272
|
| |
230
|
| |
+10
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Bill Chadwick
|
| |
4,746
|
| |
132
|
| |
-15
|
|
| |
Independent (politician)
|
| |
Bilal Patel
|
| |
1,241
|
| |
34
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
Richard Merrick
|
| |
1,019
|
| |
28
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Graham O'Hare
|
| |
5,339
|
| |
250
|
| |
+ 31
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Bill Chadwick
|
| |
3,454
|
| |
162
|
| |
+ 15
|
|
| |
Socialist Alliance (England)
|
| |
Terry Cartwright
|
| |
1,210
|
| |
57
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
United Kingdom Independence Party
|
| |
Gregg Beaman
|
| |
458
|
| |
21
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
John Ashforth
|
| |
441
|
| |
21
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Independent (politician)
|
| |
Peter Garrett
|
| |
416
|
| |
20
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
British National Party
|
| |
Chris Jackson
|
| |
229
|
| |
11
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Paul Gray
|
| |
10,540
|
| |
219
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Bill Chadwick
|
| |
7,045
|
| |
147
|
|
| |
Referendum Party
|
| |
John Porter
|
| |
924
|
| |
19
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Natural Law Party
|
| |
John Ashforth
|
| |
345
|
| |
07
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
S G O'Toole
|
| |
12,808
|
| |
278
|
| |
-07
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
William Chadwick
|
| |
7,897
|
| |
172
|
|
| |
Natural Law Party
|
| |
J Aycliffe
|
| |
341
|
| |
07
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
R T Chandran
|
| |
12,696
|
| |
285
|
| |
-33
|
|
| |
Liberal Party (UK)
|
| |
J P Wright
|
| |
8,452
|
| |
190
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
T N Huntley
|
| |
17,832
|
| |
318
|
|
| |
Social Democratic Party (UK)
|
| |
M J Connolly
|
| |
10,039
|
| |
215
|
|
