# Huyton (UK Parliament constituency)

Huyton (/ˈhaɪtən/ HY-tən) was a former constituency for the House of Commons. Created in 1950, it was centred on Huyton in Lancashire (later Merseyside), North West England, just beyond the borders of the city of Liverpool. The only MP was frontbench Labour politician, Harold Wilson who while representing the seat became Leader of the Labour Party in 1963 and prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976.
The constituency was dissolved under 1983 boundary changes—largely replaced by Knowsley South. This coincided with Wilson's retirement from Parliament.

## Opposition parties

The Liberals ran a candidate in the constituency on its creation in 1950 but did not run one again until 24 years later in 1974, by which time Wilson had become Leader of the Labour Party and served two terms as prime minister. The party finished in third place in all the elections it contested in this seat. Wilson achieved an absolute majority, save in the 1950 election, the runner up party always a Conservative party candidate, who polled best in 1951 with 48.7% of the vote.

### Political forebears

The Widnes seat was, in the early 20th century, a marginal seat: in the elections immediately preceding 1950, it alternated between the two largest parties.

## Urbanisation

The seat was more suburban at a time of relatively low employment in the sub-region in the 1950s. Council housing and private sector construction of relatively smaller homes by the 1980s complimented the overwhelmingly semi-detached housing stock, downgrading the local housing stock during the seat's existence while solving the problem of chronic housing shortages in the city itself; a time when Merseyside expanded by a programme of home building and motorway building within the confines of Huyton and its suburbs moved further out particularly to the Wirral and other areas on the fringe of the new metropolitan county. The M57 was completed bisecting the area in 1974, so also the M62.

## Election expenses and type of returning officer

The seat was classified as a higher-level expenses and returning officer county constituency rather than a borough constituency.

## Boundaries

1950–1964: The Urban Districts of Huyton-with-Roby and Prescot, and in the Rural District of Whiston the parishes of Eccleston, Kirkby, Knowsley, and Windle.
1964–1974: The Urban Districts of Huyton-with-Roby, Kirkby and Prescot, and in the Rural District of Whiston the parishes of Eccleston, Knowsley, and Windle.
1974–1983: As prior less Kirkby. This was transferred to the redrawn Ormskirk constituency.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1950 | Harold Wilson | Labour |
| | 1983 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 21,536 | 48.4 | |
| | Conservative | Sydney Smart | 20,702 | 46.5 | |
| | Liberal | Herbert Griffith Edwards | 1,905 | 4.3 | |
| | Communist | Leo Joseph McGree | 387 | 0.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 834 | 1.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,530 | 85.0 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1951: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 23,582 | 51.3 | +2.9 |
| | Conservative | Francis Leslie Neep | 22,389 | 48.7 | +2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,193 | 2.6 | +0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,971 | 84.8 | −0.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +0.3 | |
General election 1955: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 24,858 | 52.7 | +1.4 |
| | Conservative | Geraint Morgan | 22,300 | 47.3 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,558 | 5.4 | +2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,158 | 78.5 | −6.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.4 | |
General election 1959: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 33,111 | 54.9 | +2.2 |
| | Conservative | George Bentley Woolfenden | 27,184 | 45.1 | −2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,927 | 9.8 | +4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 60,295 | 77.9 | −0.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.2 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 42,213 | 63.9 | +9.0 |
| | Conservative | Harold Tucker | 22,940 | 34.7 | −10.4 |
| | Committee to Defeat Revisionism for Communist Unity | Michael Claude Watkins Baker | 899 | 1.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 19,273 | 29.2 | +19.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 66,052 | 76.7 | −1.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +9.7 | |
General election 1966: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 41,122 | 66.4 | +2.5 |
| | Conservative | Thomas Lyrian Hobday | 20,182 | 32.6 | −2.1 |
| | National Teenage Party | David Sutch | 585 | 0.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,940 | 33.8 | +4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 61,889 | 70.1 | −6.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 45,583 | 63.1 | −3.3 |
| | Conservative | John Nicholas McAlpine Entwistle | 24,509 | 33.9 | +1.3 |
| | Democratic | John Walter Gerald Sparrow | 1,232 | 1.7 | New |
| | Communist | Joseph Ivor Kenny | 890 | 1.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,074 | 29.2 | −4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 72,214 | 70.1 | ±0.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.4 | |
General election February 1974: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 31,767 | 56.7 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative | Thomas Benyon | 16,462 | 29.4 | −4.5 |
| | Liberal | N Snowden | 7,584 | 13.5 | New |
| | More Prosperous Britain | Harold Smith | 234 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,305 | 27.3 | −1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,047 | 77.2 | +7.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −0.4 | |
General election October 1974: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harold Wilson | 31,750 | 60.8 | +4.1 |
| | Conservative | William Peters | 15,517 | 29.7 | +0.3 |
| | Liberal | Michael Paul Braham | 4,956 | 9.5 | −4.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,233 | 31.0 | +3.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,223 | 71.1 | −6.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.9 | |
General election 1979: Huyton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sir Harold Wilson | 27,449 | 51.9 | −8.9 |
| | Conservative | Garnet Harrison | 19,939 | 37.7 | +8.0 |
| | Liberal | Philip Cottier | 5,476 | 10.4 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,510 | 14.2 | −16.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,864 | 72.4 | +1.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −8.5 | |