# Wirral West (UK Parliament constituency)

Wirral West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Matthew Patrick of the Labour Party since 2024.

## Constituency profile

The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It includes Greasby, Hoylake, West Kirby, Woodchurch, parts of Upton (with other parts of Upton in the Wallasey constituency), Irby, Pensby and Heswall. This is one of the more affluent areas within Merseyside, reflected in higher house prices and wages than the wider North West region.

## History

Wirral West was created in 1983 from the northern part of the former Wirral constituency, which had traditionally elected Conservative MPs. Selwyn Lloyd was the predecessor constituency's MP from 1945 to 1976, serving as Foreign Secretary during the Eden ministry, Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Macmillan ministry and becoming Speaker of the Commons in 1971. Raised to the peerage in 1976, Lloyd resigned his seat and the ensuing by-election was won by David Hunt, who became the first MP for Wirral West in 1983. Hunt was a Cabinet member under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, serving as Secretary of State for Employment and twice as Secretary of State for Wales.
Hunt held the seat until 1997, when he lost to barrister Stephen Hesford of the Labour Party, but remained in Parliament as a member of the House of Lords. Hesford increased his majority in 2001 and narrowly retained the seat in 2005, despite a challenge at the latter election from former TV presenter and Conservative Esther McVey. On 22 January 2010, he announced his intention to step down at the next general election for family reasons.
New boundary changes implemented, McVey stood again and won the seat for the Conservatives at the 2010 general election, serving in the coalition government as a Work and Pensions minister during her tenure. If implemented in 2005, the 2010 boundary changes would have seen the Conservatives win the seat by 569 votes.
Wirral West had been described as a bellwether since its establishment, but bucked the trend at the 2015 general election when Labour's Margaret Greenwood narrowly defeated McVey, despite the Conservatives winning a parliamentary majority. McVey would successfully contest the Tatton constituency in 2017. Like the nearby City of Chester, the seat was one of the few Conservative-held marginals outside of London to be gained by Labour, who benefited from the constituency's collapse in Liberal Democrat support.
Sixth on the Conservative target list in 2017, Greenwood was comfortably re-elected to Wirral West with the highest winning vote share since the seat was first up for election in 1983. She was promoted to Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet as the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary in 2018, shadowing McVey who had returned to Parliament as the MP for Tatton. Greenwood was re-elected with a reduced vote share in 2019, and departed from the shadow cabinet upon Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader. She did not stand at the 2024 election and was succeeded by Matthew Patrick who increased Labour's majority to 20%.

## Boundaries
### Historic

1983–2010: Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Hoylake, Prenton, Royden, Thurstaston, and Upton.
2010–2024: Metropolitan Borough of Wirral wards of Greasby, Frankby and Irby, Hoylake and Meols, Pensby and Thingwall, Upton, and West Kirby and Thurstaston.
In the 2005 Boundary Commission report, which came into effect for the 2010 election, Wirral West lost Prenton to the Birkenhead constituency, and gained a small area from Wirral South, including the village of Barnston.

### Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
* Clatterbridge; Greasby, Frankby and Irby; Heswall; Hoylake and Meols; Pensby and Thingwall; Upton (polling districts MC, MD and ME); West Kirby and Thurstaston.
To bring the electorate within the permitted range, the Clatterbridge and Heswall wards were added from the abolished constituency of Wirral South. The northern part of the Upton ward was transferred to Wallasey.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1983 | David Hunt | Conservative |
| 1997 | Stephen Hesford | Labour |
| 2010 | Esther McVey | Conservative |
| 2015 | Margaret Greenwood | Labour |
| 2024 | Matthew Patrick | Labour |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Matthew Patrick | 23,156 | 46.4 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative | Jenny Johnson | 13,158 | 26.3 | –18.1 |
| | Reform UK | Ken Ferguson | 6,422 | 12.9 | +10.7 |
| | Green | Gail Jenkinson | 4,160 | 8.3 | +5.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 3,055 | 6.1 | +0.4 |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 187 | | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,998 | 20.0 | +19.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,951 | 68.6 | –9.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 72,838 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 9.6 | |
Changes are from the notional 2019 results on the 2024 boundaries.

### Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result :
| Party | Party | Vote | % |
| | Labour | 25,318 | 45.2 |
| | Conservative | 24,863 | 44.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 3,204 | 5.7 |
| | Green | 1,416 | 2.5 |
| | Brexit Party | 1,245 | 2.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 56,046 | 77.7 |
| Electorate | Electorate | 72,126 |
General election 2019: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Margaret Greenwood | 20,695 | 48.2 | –6.1 |
| | Conservative | Laura Evans | 17,692 | 41.2 | –0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Andy Corkhill | 2,706 | 6.3 | +3.7 |
| | Green | John Coyne | 965 | 2.2 | +1.2 |
| | Brexit Party | John Kelly | 860 | 2.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,003 | 7.0 | –5.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,918 | 77.5 | –1.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 55,550 | | –0.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –2.6 | |
General election 2017: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Margaret Greenwood | 23,866 | 54.3 | +9.2 |
| | Conservative | Tony Caldeira | 18,501 | 42.1 | –2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 1,155 | 2.6 | –0.8 |
| | Green | John Coyne | 429 | 1.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,365 | 12.2 | +11.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,951 | 78.6 | +3.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 55,995 | | +1.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +5.7 | |
General election 2015: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Margaret Greenwood | 18,898 | 45.1 | +8.8 |
| | Conservative | Esther McVey | 18,481 | 44.2 | +1.7 |
| | UKIP | Hilary Jones | 2,772 | 6.6 | +4.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 1,433 | 3.4 | –13.4 |
| | Independent | David James | 274 | 0.7 | –0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 417 | 0.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,858 | 75.6 | +4.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 55,377 | | +0.6 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +3.6 | |
General election 2010: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Esther McVey | 16,726 | 42.5 |
| | Labour | Phil Davies | 14,290 | 36.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Reisdorf | 6,630 | 16.8 |
| | UKIP | Philip Griffiths | 899 | 2.3 |
| | Independent | David Kirwan | 506 | 1.3 |
| | Common Sense | David James | 321 | 0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,436 | 6.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,372 | 71.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 55,050 | |
| | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) | Conservative win (new boundaries) |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Stephen Hesford | 17,543 | 42.5 | –4.7 |
| | Conservative | Esther McVey | 16,446 | 39.9 | +2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jeffrey Clarke | 6,652 | 16.1 | +0.5 |
| | UKIP | John Moore | 429 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | Alternative | Roger Taylor | 163 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,097 | 2.6 | –7.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,233 | 67.5 | +2.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 61,050 | | –2.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –3.7 | |
General election 2001: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Stephen Hesford | 19,105 | 47.2 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative | Chris Lynch | 15,070 | 37.2 | –1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Holbrook | 6,300 | 15.6 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,035 | 10.0 | +4.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,475 | 65.0 | –12.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 62,294 | | +2.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.1 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Stephen Hesford | 21,035 | 44.9 | +13.9 |
| | Conservative | David Hunt | 18,297 | 39.0 | –13.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Thornton | 5,945 | 12.7 | –1.9 |
| | Referendum | Derek Wharton | 1,613 | 3.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,738 | 5.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,890 | 77.0 | –4.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 60,908 | | –2.5 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +13.8 | |
General election 1992: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Hunt | 26,852 | 52.7 | +0.8 |
| | Labour | Helen Stephenson | 15,788 | 31.0 | +4.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Thornton | 7,420 | 14.6 | –5.6 |
| | Green | Garnette Bowler | 700 | 1.4 | –0.2 |
| | Natural Law | Nigel Broome | 188 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,064 | 21.7 | –3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,948 | 81.6 | +3.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 62,453 | | –1.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | –2.0 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Hunt | 25,736 | 51.9 | –4.0 |
| | Labour | Alexander Dunn | 13,013 | 26.3 | +4.5 |
| | Liberal | Allan Brame | 10,015 | 20.2 | –2.2 |
| | Green | David Burton | 806 | 1.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,723 | 25.6 | –7.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,570 | 77.9 | +4.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 63,597 | | +3.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | –4.3 | |
General election 1983: Wirral West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | David Hunt | 25,276 | 55.9 |
| | Liberal | Stephen Mulholland | 10,125 | 22.4 |
| | Labour | John McCabe | 9,855 | 21.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,151 | 33.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,256 | 73.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 61,646 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |