Makerfield () is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is currently represented by Andy Burnham, the current Prime Minister, who was elected after Josh Simons' resignation to allow Burnham to run in a by-election in June 2026. The seat has had only Labour MPs since its creation in 1983.

History This seat was formed in 1983 from parts of the Ince, Wigan, Leigh, Newton and Westhoughton constituencies.

Constituency profile Makerfield is considered one of the safest Labour seats in the country, in terms of length of tenure by the party. The Labour Party held the predecessor seat of Ince from 1906 until 1983 when the current constituency was created.Manchester Evening News: "McCartney makes it a century" In 2010 the constituency, of the 650 nationally, polled the 105th-highest share of the vote for the Labour Party.

Labour's majority fell significantly in 2019 as with many "Red Wall" seats, however it did not fall to the Conservatives, unlike neighbouring Leigh. In 2024, there was little increase in Labour's share of the vote or majority, instead there was a significant increase in Reform UK's vote share, pushing the Conservatives into third place. In 2015, Reform's predecessor, UKIP, also came second, however Labour's majority was over 13,000, compared to over 5,000 over Reform in 2024. The 2026 by-election, however, saw a 3.5% swing back to Labour, in marked contrast to Reform comfortably leading the national polls at the time of the election.

There is no town called Makerfield itself; instead, the name refers to the suffix of 'in-Makerfield' of the towns Ashton-in-Makerfield and Ince-in-Makerfield, though since 2010 the latter has been part of the Wigan constituency. The seat comprises mostly working-class residential suburbs south of Wigan and to the west of Leigh. Deprivation is lower than that of neighbouring towns, and home ownership is higher, with a mostly skilled working-class population and a lower-than-average proportion of ethnic minorities. There is some semi-rural land towards the west of the constituency where it borders St Helens, and green buffers separating the constituent towns and villages. The area was formerly noted for coal-mining. There remains a small amount of light industry – though not as much as in Wigan – but residential land-use is increasing as the towns continue to grow. The area is also home to Winstanley College, one of the highest-performing sixth-form colleges in the country, which has around 1800 students enrolled.

Boundaries

Historic 1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan wards of Abram, Ashton-Golborne, Bryn, Lightshaw, Orrell, Winstanley, and Worsley Mesnes.

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan wards of Abram, Ashton-Golborne, Bryn, Ince, Orrell, Winstanley, and Worsley Mesnes.

2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan wards of Abram, Ashton, Bryn, Hindley, Hindley Green, Orrell, Winstanley, and Worsley Mesnes.

Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for 2024 general election, the boundaries of the constituency were expanded slightly by adding small areas (as they existed on 1 December 2020) of the Atherleigh ward (part of polling district LCA) and the Leigh West ward (polling district LDA).

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan from the 2024 general election:

Abram; Ashton-in-Makerfield South; Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North; Hindley; Hindley Green (nearly all); Leigh West (small part); Orrell; Winstanley; Worsley Mesnes; and very small parts of Golborne & Lowton West, and Ince. Makerfield consists of the western and central section of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester. It comprises the wards to the south and to the west of Wigan and to the west of Leigh.

Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty 1983 Michael McGuire Labour 1987 Ian McCartney Labour 2010 Yvonne Fovargue Labour2024Josh SimonsLabour2026 by-electionAndy BurnhamLabour Co-op

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result Party Vote % Labour 20,432 45.3 Conservative 15,477 34.3 Brexit Party 5,902 13.1 Liberal Democrats 2,161 4.8 Green 1,166 2.6Turnout45,13859.0Electorate76,517

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

See also Ince parliamentary constituency List of parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester

Notes

References

External links Makerfield UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Makerfield UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Makerfield UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK