# Wallasey (UK Parliament constituency)

Wallasey is a constituency in Merseyside created in 1918 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1992 by Angela Eagle, a member of the Labour Party.

## Boundaries
### Historic

1918–1950: The County Borough of Wallasey.
1950–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.
1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Leasowe, Liscard, Moreton, New Brighton, Seacombe, and Wallasey. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.
2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Leasowe and Moreton East, Liscard, Moreton West and Saughall Massie, New Brighton, Seacombe, and Wallasey. The constituency's borders remain unchanged.

#### Minor 2010 boundary reform and abortive proposals

The Boundary Commission initially proposed the abolition in its 2005 draft review: Wallasey was to have been linked with sections of the city of Liverpool in a cross-river constituency. The areas are linked only by a road tunnel under the river Mersey. Following opposition from political parties, local MPs and local residents, the sub-plan was dropped. The change made was the omission of a 40 electors' sub-neighbourhood from formerly shared ward: Hoylake and Meols in favour of Wirral West.

### Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundaries were expanded to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring from Wirral West the northern half (polling districts MA and MB) of the Wirral Borough ward of Upton.
The constituency covers the town of Wallasey, at the north of the Wirral Peninsula, which comprises the six areas: Wallasey Village, Seacombe, Egremont, Liscard, New Brighton and Poulton, as well as Moreton and Leasowe. It is one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

## History

The seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

### Summary of results

Angela Eagle of the Labour Party gained the Wallasey seat in 1992. Eagle has achieved an absolute majority of votes since the 1997 general election inclusive. The 2015 result made the seat the 39-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.
The seat was Conservative until 1992, with a three-year exception during World War II when represented by an ex-mayor who had been in both the Labour and Conservative parties. Increasing unemployment in the area saw the Conservative vote decline throughout the 1980s in local and general elections, only retaining Moreton West & Saughall Massie and Wallasey wards on the local level into the 2010s, with the remaining wards such as Leasowe and Seacombe safely Labour.

### Opposition parties

A Conservative candidate was runner-up in the elections from 1992 to 2019 inclusive. In the 2024 election the runner-up was the Reform Party candidate. Weaker in Wallasey than national average, in 2015 the candidate from UKIP, Caton, amassed +8.8% swing. Liberal Democrat, Brown, lost 11.3% of the vote in that year, whereas nationally the party suffered a record −15.2% swing. Neither Brown nor his Green Party counterpart achieved more than 5% of the vote thereby forfeiting their deposits.

### Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 82.6% in 1992 to 57.5% in 2001 — elections at which Angela Eagle was elected, and the latter election saw record-low turnout nationwide.

### Prominent frontbenchers

Rt Hon Ernest Marples was Postmaster General while running the telephone network run by the General Post Office, Marples introduced subscriber trunk dialling, which eliminated the compulsory use of operators on national phone calls. On 2 June 1957, Marples brought in British postcodes and made the first draw for the new Premium Bonds. Marples was Minister of Transport (1959–1964).
His successor to the seat was the Rt Hon Lynda Chalker Minister for Europe (1986–1989) and Minister for Overseas Development (1989–1997).
Angela Eagle was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury for two years then Minister for Pensions and Ageing Society for a year at the close of the Brown Ministry, before becoming in opposition Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury until October 2011, when in the general Shadow Cabinet reshuffle of Ed Miliband, she succeeded the Rt Hon Hilary Benn as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. She unsuccessfully stood for Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party in 2015 and subsequently was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by Jeremy Corbyn.

## Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8% and regional average of 4.4%, at 5.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | Bouverie McDonald | Coalition Conservative |
| 1922 | Robert Chadwick | Conservative |
| 1931 | John Moore-Brabazon | Conservative |
| 1942 by-election | George Reakes | Independent |
| 1945 | Ernest Marples | Conservative |
| Feb 1974 | Lynda Chalker | Conservative |
| 1992 | Angela Eagle | Labour |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 24,674 | 57.7 | −6.0 |
| | Reform UK | David Burgess-Joyce | 6,678 | 15.6 | +11.5 |
| | Conservative | Robbie Lammas | 4,987 | 11.7 | −14.2 |
| | Green | Jane Turner | 3,905 | 9.1 | +6.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Vicky Downie | 1,843 | 4.3 | +0.4 |
| | Workers Party | Philip Bimpson | 462 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | Freedom Alliance | Ian Pugh | 197 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 168 | | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 17,996 | 42.1 | +4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,746 | 57.7 | −12.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 74,082 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 8.7 | |
Changes are from the notional 2019 results on the 2024 boundaries.

### Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result :
| Party | Party | Vote | % |
| | Labour | 32,769 | 63.7 |
| | Conservative | 13,347 | 25.9 |
| | Brexit Party | 2,128 | 4.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 2,007 | 3.9 |
| | Green | 1,219 | 2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 51,470 | 70.5 |
| Electorate | Electorate | 73,054 |
General election 2019: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 29,901 | 64.3 | –7.2 |
| | Conservative | James Baker | 11,579 | 24.9 | +1.7 |
| | Brexit Party | Martin York | 2,037 | 4.4 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Vicky Downie | 1,843 | 4.0 | +2.4 |
| | Green | Lily Clough | 1,132 | 2.4 | +1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,322 | 39.4 | –8.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,492 | 70.1 | –1.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –4.4 | |
General election 2017: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 34,552 | 71.5 | +11.1 |
| | Conservative | Andy Livsey | 11,232 | 23.2 | +0.5 |
| | UKIP | Debbie Caplin | 1,160 | 2.4 | –9.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Childs | 772 | 1.6 | –0.7 |
| | Green | Lily Clough | 637 | 1.3 | –1.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,320 | 48.3 | +10.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,353 | 71.7 | +5.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +5.3 | |
General election 2015: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 26,176 | 60.4 | +8.6 |
| | Conservative | Chris Clarkson | 9,828 | 22.7 | –8.7 |
| | UKIP | Geoffrey Caton | 5,063 | 11.7 | +8.8 |
| | Green | Julian Pratt | 1,288 | 3.0 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kris Brown | 1,011 | 2.3 | –11.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,348 | 37.7 | +17.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,366 | 66.2 | +3.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +8.6 | |
General election 2010: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 21,578 | 51.8 | –2.7 |
| | Conservative | Leah Fraser | 13,071 | 31.4 | +0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Steve Pitt | 5,693 | 13.7 | +0.9 |
| | UKIP | Derek Snowden | 1,205 | 2.9 | +0.6 |
| | Independent | Emmanuel Mwaba | 107 | 0.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,507 | 20.4 | ―3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,654 | 63.2 | +5.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –1.8 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 20,085 | 54.8 | –6.0 |
| | Conservative | Leah Fraser | 10,976 | 29.9 | +1.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joanna Pemberton | 4,770 | 13.0 | +1.8 |
| | UKIP | Philip Griffiths | 840 | 2.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,109 | 24.9 | –7.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,671 | 57.5 | –0.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –4.0 | |
General election 2001: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 22,718 | 60.8 | –3.8 |
| | Conservative | Lesley Rennie | 10,442 | 28.0 | +4.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 4,186 | 11.2 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,276 | 32.8 | –7.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,346 | 57.6 | –16.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –4.0 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 30,264 | 64.6 | +15.7 |
| | Conservative | Madelaine Wilcock | 11,190 | 23.9 | –18.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 3,899 | 8.3 | +0.6 |
| | Referendum | Roger Hayes | 1,490 | 3.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 19,074 | 40.7 | +33.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,843 | 73.8 | –8.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +16.9 | |
General election 1992: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Angela Eagle | 26,531 | 48.9 | +6.9 |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 22,722 | 41.9 | –0.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Thomas | 4,177 | 7.7 | –7.9 |
| | Green | Sally Davis | 680 | 1.3 | N/A |
| | Natural Law | Geoffrey Gay | 105 | 0.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,809 | 7.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,215 | 82.6 | +2.8 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +3.8 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 22,791 | 42.5 | –3.5 |
| | Labour | Lawrence Duffy | 22,512 | 42.0 | +9.5 |
| | SDP | Jonathan Richardson | 8,363 | 15.6 | –6.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 279 | 0.5 | –13.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,945 | 79.8 | +7.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1983: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 22,854 | 46.0 | –3.6 |
| | Labour Co-op | James Robertson | 16,146 | 32.5 | –7.1 |
| | SDP | Jonathan Richardson | 10,717 | 21.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,708 | 13.5 | +3.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,717 | 72.6 | –4.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 26,548 | 49.65 |
| | Labour | Hilary Hodge | 21,167 | 39.58 |
| | Liberal | Neil Thomas | 5,269 | 9.85 |
| | National Front | John Fishwick | 491 | 0.92 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,381 | 10.07 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,475 | 77.30 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election October 1974: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 23,499 | 43.96 | |
| | Labour | Gerald McNamara | 21,529 | 40.27 | |
| | Liberal | Peter Tyrer | 7,643 | 14.30 | |
| | National Front | John Fishwick | 787 | 1.47 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,970 | 3.69 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,458 | 76.27 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election February 1974: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Lynda Chalker | 22,428 | 40.71 |
| | Labour | Robert Paterson | 19,936 | 36.18 |
| | Liberal | Peter Tyrer | 12,734 | 23.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,492 | 4.53 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,098 | 79.45 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1970: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 24,283 | 44.99 | |
| | Labour | Clarence J Wells | 21,172 | 39.22 | |
| | Liberal | David J Evans | 5,577 | 10.33 | |
| | Anti-Common Market | John D Hill | 2,946 | 5.46 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,111 | 5.77 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,978 | 74.87 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 22,901 | 43.69 |
| | Labour | Ronald G Truman | 22,312 | 42.56 |
| | Liberal | Gruffydd Evans | 7,207 | 13.75 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 589 | 1.13 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,420 | 76.06 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1964: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 24,784 | 46.00 | |
| | Labour | Ian Levin | 18,663 | 34.64 | |
| | Liberal | Gruffydd Evans | 10,432 | 19.36 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,121 | 11.36 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,879 | 76.63 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 35,567 | 63.44 |
| | Labour | Gordon Woodburn | 20,501 | 36.56 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,066 | 26.88 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,068 | 77.16 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 33,537 | 63.45 |
| | Labour | William T Clements | 19,319 | 36.55 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,218 | 26.90 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,856 | 72.26 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 37,423 | 63.28 |
| | Labour | Fred Jarvis | 21,718 | 36.72 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,705 | 26.56 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 59,141 | 79.72 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1950: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 33,904 | 57.08 | |
| | Labour | John London Hindle | 18,989 | 31.97 | |
| | Liberal | Arthur Ward Jones | 6,507 | 10.95 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,915 | 25.11 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 59,400 | 82.47 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Marples | 18,448 | 42.94 | |
| | Independent | George Reakes | 14,638 | 34.07 | N/A |
| | Labour Co-op | Thomas Findley | 9,879 | 22.99 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,810 | 8.87 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,965 | 75.23 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
1942 Wallasey by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | George Reakes | 11,596 | 58.6 | N/A |
| | Conservative | John Pennington | 6,584 | 33.2 | −34.2 |
| | Independent | Leonard Harrison Cripps | 1,597 | 8.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,012 | 25.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,777 | 34.2 | −31.9 |
| | Independent gain from Conservative | Independent gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

#### Notes

Moore-Brabazon was forced to retire early in 1942 for stating publicly (in fact in the House) the Soviet Union and Germany would hopefully destroy each other at the Battle of Stalingrad.

#### 1939–40

Another general election was in normal circumstances required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
* Conservative: John Moore-Brabazon
* Liberal: Robert Forster

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Moore-Brabazon | 27,949 | 67.44 |
| | Labour | John Airey | 13,491 | 32.56 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,458 | 34.88 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,440 | 66.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1931: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Moore-Brabazon | 40,161 | 83.89 |
| | Labour | John Mack | 7,712 | 16.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 32,449 | 67.78 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,873 | 77.10 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Robert Burton-Chadwick | 21,457 | 46.0 | −26.4 |
| | Liberal | Hubert Phillips | 13,628 | 29.2 | N/A |
| | Labour | John Mack | 11,545 | 24.8 | −2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,829 | 16.8 | −28.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,630 | 77.6 | +2.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 60,075 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1924: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Robert Burton-Chadwick | 22,599 | 72.4 | +20.8 |
| | Labour | John H. Warren | 8,634 | 27.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,965 | 44.8 | +41.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,233 | 74.7 | +7.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 41,816 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +20.8 | |
General election 1923: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Robert Burton-Chadwick | 13,995 | 51.6 | −12.1 |
| | Liberal | Tudor Morris | 13,146 | 48.4 | +12.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 849 | 3.2 | −24.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,141 | 67.2 | −2.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 40,367 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −12.1 | |
General election 1922: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Robert Burton-Chadwick | 17,508 | 63.7 | +8.5 |
| | Liberal | Tudor Morris | 9,984 | 36.3 | +21.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,524 | 27.4 | −11.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,492 | 69.2 | +6.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 39,737 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −6.3 | |

### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Wallasey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Bouverie McDonald | 14,633 | 55.2 | |
| | Labour | Walter Citrine | 4,384 | 16.6 | |
| | Liberal | John Matthews Hay | 4,055 | 15.3 | |
| | NFDDSS | Thomas David Owen | 3,407 | 12.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,249 | 38.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,479 | 62.8 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 42,174 | | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||