# Knowsley (UK Parliament constituency)

Knowsley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Anneliese Midgley of the Labour Party.

## Constituency profile

The constituency mainly consists of low-income social housing and former social housing built to decant the residents displaced by post-war slum clearance in Liverpool. It includes Huyton to the south (once represented by Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and Kirkby to the north. Between them is the green space of Knowsley Hall and Park, the ancestral home of the Earls of Derby and the site of Knowsley Safari Park. In 2010, The Guardian summarised the area as "One of the most deprived areas in the country. The new parliamentary constituency folds in Knowsley North and Knowsley South."
The constituency voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

## History

Created for the 2010 general election (during the Boundary Commission for England's Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies), it was believed to present the safest seat in the country, with an estimated Labour majority of 24,333 votes. The area returned the second highest share of the vote seen by a candidate for the Labour Party, of 70.9%, behind the 72.0% achieved in Liverpool Walton. The same ranking of results nationally by percentage majority occurred in 2015, when it became the safest seat in the country in absolute terms, beating East Ham by 403 votes.
It ranked foremost by party majority in 2017, where it was followed directly by East Ham and 28 other seats won by Labour candidates, after which followed North East Hampshire. It achieved the highest majority for any British Member of Parliament since the advent of universal suffrage, with Labour winning with a majority of 42,214 votes, surpassing the 36,230-vote majority held by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in his Huntingdon constituency in 1992.
On its creation, the seat was won by George Howarth, who had served as MP for the predecessor seats of Knowsley North (1986–1997) and Knowsley North and Sefton East (1997–2010). On his retirement for the 2024 general election, he was succeeded by Anneliese Midgley on a reduced majority over Reform UK of 50.9%.

## Boundaries

The constituency covers a large part of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, the main settlements being Huyton and Kirkby. It replaced most of the previous Knowsley South constituency, as well as the parts of Knowsley North and Sefton East in the Knowsley borough. Distant parts from the centre of the metropolitan borough were covered by the new St Helens South and Whiston and Garston and Halewood constituencies.
The seat is composed of the following electoral wards:
2010-2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Kirkby Central, Longview, Northwood, Page Moss, Park, Prescot West, Roby, St Bartholomews, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, Swanside, and Whitefield.
2024-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley wards of Cherryfield, Northwood, Prescot North, Roby, St Gabriels, St Michaels, Shevington, Stockbridge, and Whitefield.
    Allowing for changes to ward names and boundaries, the constituency was reduced in size to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Page Moss and Swanside wards to Liverpool West Derby.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 2010 | George Howarth | Labour |
| | 2024 | Anneliese Midgley | Labour |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Knowsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Anneliese Midgley | 24,243 | 67.3 | −12.3 |
| | Reform UK | Alexander Hitchmough | 5,924 | 16.4 | +10.1 |
| | Green | Graham Wickens | 2,772 | 7.7 | +5.7 |
| | Conservative | Sherrie McDaid | 1,496 | 4.2 | −4.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kate Tipton | 1,232 | 3.4 | +0.9 |
| | Workers Party | Graham Padden | 245 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | SDP | Patricia Jameson | 135 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,319 | 50.9 | −21.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 71,964 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,135 | 50.2 | −15.2 |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 88 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −13.5 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Knowsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Howarth | 44,374 | 80.8 | –4.5 |
| | Conservative | Rushi Millns | 4,432 | 8.1 | –1.2 |
| | Brexit Party | Tim McCullough | 3,348 | 6.1 | New |
| | Green | Paul Woodruff | 1,262 | 2.3 | +1.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joe Slupsky | 1,117 | 2.0 | –0.1 |
| | Liberal | Ray Catesby | 405 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 39,942 | 72.7 | –3.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,938 | 65.4 | –2.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –4.6 | |
This was the largest numerical Labour majority at the 2019 general election.
General election 2017: Knowsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Howarth | 47,351 | 85.3 | +7.2 |
| | Conservative | James Spencer | 5,137 | 9.3 | +2.7 |
| | UKIP | Neil Miney | 1,285 | 2.3 | –7.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,189 | 2.1 | –0.8 |
| | Green | Steve Baines | 521 | 0.9 | –1.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 42,214 | 76.0 | +7.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,483 | 67.8 | +3.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 | |
General election 2015: Knowsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Howarth | 39,628 | 78.1 | +7.2 |
| | UKIP | Louise Bours | 4,973 | 9.8 | +7.2 |
| | Conservative | Alice Bramall | 3,367 | 6.6 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carl Cashman | 1,490 | 2.9 | −10.5 |
| | Green | Vikki Gregorich | 1,270 | 2.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 34,655 | 68.3 | +10.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,728 | 64.1 | +8.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 0.0 | |
General election 2010: Knowsley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Howarth* | 31,650 | 70.9 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Flo Clucas | 5,964 | 13.4 | −0.4 |
| | Conservative | David Dunne | 4,004 | 9.0 | −2.3 |
| | BNP | Steven Greenhalgh | 1,895 | 4.2 | +2.2 |
| | UKIP | Anthony Rundle | 1,145 | 2.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 25,686 | 57.5 | −0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,654 | 56.1 | +2.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -0.2 | |
    * Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament