# Middleton and Prestwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Middleton and Prestwich was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Middleton and Prestwich districts of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new constituencies of Heywood and Middleton and Bury South. Its member from 1974 to the seat's abolition was Jim Callaghan, who happened to share his name with the Labour Prime Minister.
It was an unusual constituency, because Middleton and Prestwich were physically separated by Heaton Park, a large green area bequeathed to Manchester City Council, and had nothing whatsoever in common. Prestwich was a well established middle class suburb with a large Jewish minority, and during the inter-war years boasted several millionaires. Middleton, on the other hand, was greatly expanded by a large Manchester overspill council estate, and at one point during the 1950s, Prestwich had no Labour councillors, while Middleton had no Conservatives. The new constituency of Heywood and Middleton in 1983 resolved this mismatch by linking together the two adjacent towns in the Rochdale borough, and was held by Labour right up to 2019. Prestwich joined neighbouring towns Radcliffe and Whitefield in the Bury Council area to become Bury South which was gained by the Conservatives until 1997 when it was lost to Labour, who held it up to 2019 when it was regained by the Conservatives. The 2018 Boundary Commission Review, which aimed to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, and was subsequently shelved, had proposed to restore the Prestwich and Middleton seat.

## Boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Middleton, and the Urban Districts of Chadderton and Prestwich.
1950–1983: The Boroughs of Middleton and Prestwich, and the Urban District of Whitefield.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1918 | Sir Ryland Adkins | Coalition Liberal |
| | 1920 by-election | Sir Ryland Adkins | Coalition Liberal |
| | 1922 | Sir Ryland Adkins | National Liberal |
| | 1923 | Sir Nairne Stewart-Sandeman, Bt | Conservative |
| | 1940 by-election | Ernest Gates | Conservative |
| | 1951 | Sir John Barlow, Bt | Conservative |
| | 1966 | Denis Coe | Labour |
| | 1970 | Alan Haselhurst | Conservative |
| | Feb 1974 | Jim Callaghan | Labour |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished: see Heywood and Middleton and Bury South | constituency abolished: see Heywood and Middleton and Bury South |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Liberal | Ryland Adkins | 14,831 | 69.5 | |
| | Labour | John B Battle | 6,501 | 30.5 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,330 | 39.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,332 | | |
| | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) | Liberal win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

1920 Middleton and Prestwich by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Liberal | Ryland Adkins | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Liberal hold |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||
General election 1922: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National Liberal | Ryland Adkins | 14,832 | 58.5 | −11.0 |
| | Labour | Matthew Burrow Farr | 10,505 | 41.5 | +11.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,327 | 17.0 | −22.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,337 | | |
| | National Liberal hold | National Liberal hold | Swing | | |
General election 1923: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Nairne Sandeman | 10,029 | 36.6 | New |
| | Liberal | Ryland Adkins | 9,500 | 34.7 | −23.8 |
| | Labour | Matthew Burrow Farr | 7,849 | 28.7 | −12.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 529 | 1.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,378 | | |
| | Unionist gain from Liberal | Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | n/a | |
General election 1924: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Nairne Sandeman | 16,005 | 51.3 | +14.7 |
| | Labour | Matthew Burrow Farr | 8,442 | 27.0 | −1.7 |
| | Liberal | Ryland Adkins | 6,763 | 21.7 | −13.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,563 | 24.3 | +22.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,210 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +8.2 | |
General election 1929: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Nairne Sandeman | 16,629 | 40.1 | −11.2 |
| | Labour | Matthew Burrow Farr | 14,368 | 34.6 | +7.6 |
| | Liberal | David Halliwell | 10,526 | 25.3 | +3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,261 | 5.5 | −18.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,523 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -9.4 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nairne Sandeman | 31,702 | 74.6 | +34.5 |
| | Labour | T McCall | 10,796 | 25.4 | −9.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,906 | 49.2 | +43.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,498 | 77.9 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nairne Sandeman | 27,369 | 61.1 | −15.5 |
| | Labour | Joseph Nuttall | 17,398 | 38.9 | +13.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,971 | 22.2 | −27.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,767 | 74.5 | −3.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40: Another General Election was 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: Ernest Gates
* Labour: Mabel Tylecote
However, the sitting MP, Nairne Sandeman, died on 23 April 1940, resulting in a by-election. Due to an electoral pact during World War II not to contest by-elections, the Labour candidate did not stand.
1940 Middleton and Prestwich by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Gates | 32,036 | 98.7 | +37.6 |
| | British Union of Fascists | Frederick Haslam | 418 | 1.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 31,618 | 97.4 | +75.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,454 | 49.0 | –25.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1945: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Gates | 26,669 | 50.7 | −10.4 |
| | Labour | Mabel Tylecote | 25,908 | 49.3 | +10.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 761 | 1.4 | −20.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,577 | 75.3 | +0.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ernest Gates | 24,521 | 50.25 | |
| | Labour | Charles Stanley Hilditch | 16,716 | 34.25 | |
| | Liberal | Ernest Harrison | 7,564 | 15.50 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,805 | 16.00 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,801 | 86.87 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1951: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Barlow | 26,073 | 54.15 |
| | Labour | Albert Knight | 16,323 | 33.90 |
| | Liberal | Ernest Harrison | 5,757 | 11.96 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,750 | 20.25 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,153 | 84.99 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Barlow | 27,096 | 61.46 |
| | Labour | Edmund Dell | 16,989 | 38.54 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,107 | 22.92 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,085 | 75.47 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
General election 1959: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Barlow | 31,416 | 59.65 |
| | Labour | Fred Barton | 21,248 | 40.35 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,168 | 19.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,664 | 79.97 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Barlow | 22,192 | 40.11 | |
| | Labour | Ron Leighton | 20,066 | 36.27 | |
| | Liberal | Samuel Crilly | 13,064 | 23.61 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,126 | 3.84 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,322 | 79.42 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1966: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Denis Coe | 23,938 | 44.73 |
| | Conservative | John Barlow | 20,121 | 37.60 |
| | Liberal | Samuel Crilly | 9,457 | 17.67 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,817 | 7.13 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,516 | 78.01 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Alan Haselhurst | 25,030 | 43.76 |
| | Labour | Denis Coe | 23,988 | 41.94 |
| | Liberal | Samuel Crilly | 8,175 | 14.29 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,042 | 1.82 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 57,193 | 74.72 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | |
General election February 1974: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jim Callaghan | 24,357 | 39.84 | |
| | Conservative | Alan Haselhurst | 23,840 | 38.99 | |
| | Liberal | Philip Harrison | 12,946 | 21.17 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 517 | 0.85 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 61,143 | 80.49 | |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jim Callaghan | 26,639 | 45.82 | |
| | Conservative | Alan Fearn | 22,925 | 39.43 | |
| | Liberal | J Clarney | 8,340 | 14.35 | |
| | More Prosperous Britain | Harold Smith | 234 | 0.40 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,714 | 6.39 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,138 | 75.76 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1979: Middleton and Prestwich :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jim Callaghan | 27,918 | 45.79 | |
| | Conservative | J Park | 26,820 | 43.98 | |
| | Liberal | D Whatmough | 5,888 | 9.66 | |
| | National Front | S Andrews | 350 | 0.57 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,098 | 1.81 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 60,976 | 78.89 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |