Stockport is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Navendu Mishra of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
Stockport is a constituency in Greater Manchester in North West England. It covers most of Stockport, including the town centre and the areas of Adswood, Edgeley, the Four Heatons, Portwood, Brinnington and Reddish.
Stockport is a large town located around south-east of the centre of Manchester. It grew rapidly during the industrial era and was absorbed into Manchester's wider urban area by suburban sprawl. Like much of the region, Stockport was a centre for textile manufacturing, especially the production of silk, cotton and hats. This constituency contains a variety of neighbourhood types. The town centre is highly-deprived with most residents living in dense flats or terraces. Brinnington is a low-income council estate built in the 1960s where most residents live in socially-rented accommodation. The Four Heatons, meanwhile, are affluent and suburban in character. House prices across the constituency are generally higher than the rest of North West England but lower than the UK average.
Stockport has low proportions of students and retirees and a large population of middle-aged adults with families. Residents have average levels of income, homeownership and education but above-average rates of child poverty. A high proportion of residents work in the retail and business administration sectors, and the percentage claiming unemployment benefits is in line with the UK-wide rate. White people made up 85% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, mostly of Pakistani origin, were the largest ethnic minority group at 8% of residents.
At the local borough council, most of this constituency is represented by the Labour Party, with some Green Party councillors elected in Reddish and Reform UK representatives elected in Brinnington. An estimated 51% of voters in Stockport supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 48%.
History Stockport was created as a two-member parliamentary borough by the Reform Act 1832. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the constituency was retained as one of only 12 two-member non-university seats, with the boundaries being brought into line with those of the county borough, which had expanded through absorbing the urban districts of Reddish and Heaton Norris (formerly part of the Stretford constituency), and into neighbouring parishes in the abolished constituency of Hyde.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, all 2-member seats were abolished and Stockport was split into the single member seats of Stockport North and Stockport South.
Following the formation of the metropolitan borough of Stockport under the Local Government Act 1972, the single Stockport seat, electing one MP, was recreated for the 1983 general election, encompassing central and southern parts of the ex-county borough, with northern parts, including Reddish, forming part of the new Denton and Reddish seat.
Boundaries
Historic 1918-1950: The County Borough of Stockport.1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport wards of Cale Green, Davenport, Edgeley, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Moor, and Manor.
1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport wards of Brinnington, Cale Green, Davenport, Edgeley, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Moor, and Manor.
Brinnington ward transferred from Denton and Reddish.
2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport wards of Brinnington and Central, Davenport and Cale Green, Edgeley and Cheadle Heath, Heatons North, Heatons South, and Manor.
Boundaries adjusted to take account of revision of local authority wards.
Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as comprising the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport as they existed on 1 December 2020:
Brinnington and Central; Davenport and Cale Green; Edgeley and Cheadle Heath; Heatons North; Heatons South; Reddish North; Reddish South.
To bring the electorate within the permitted range, the two Reddish wards were transferred from the abolished constituency of Denton and Reddish, partly offset by the transfer of Manor ward to Hazel Grove.
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 Stockport from the 2024 general election:
Brinnington & Stockport Central; Cheadle East & Cheadle Hulme North (part); Davenport & Cale Green (most); Edgeley; Heatons North; Heatons South; Reddish North; Reddish South.
Members of Parliament Prominent members Edward William Watkin was a railway entrepreneur, who helped to fund and plan lines across Britain, in Canada and, to a lesser extent, in the United States.
George Whiteley became later in his tenure for Stockport Chief Whip between 1905 and 1908 in the Liberal administrations of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith.
In the 21st century, Ann Coffey served as a Parliamentary private secretary under the Blair government. During Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party she defected from Labour to the short-lived Change UK.
MPs 1832–1950 Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party 1832 Thomas Marsland Tory John Horatio Lloyd Radical 1834 Conservative 1835 Henry Marsland Radical 1841 Richard Cobden Radical July 1847 James Heald Conservative December 1847 James Kershaw Radical 1852 John Benjamin Smith Radical 1859 Liberal Liberal May 1864 Edward Watkin Liberal 1868 William Tipping Conservative 1874 Charles Henry Hopwood Liberal Frederick Pennington Liberal 1885 Louis John Jennings Conservative William Tipping Conservative 1886 Sydney Gedge Conservative 1892 Sir Joseph Leigh Liberal February 1893 George Whiteley Conservative 1895 Beresford Melville Conservative 1900 Liberal 1900 Sir Joseph Leigh Liberal 1906 James Duckworth LiberalGeorge WardleLabour January 1910Spencer Leigh Hughes Liberal 1918 Coalition Liberal Coalition Labour 1920 William Greenwood Coalition Conservative Henry Fildes Coalition Liberal 1922 Conservative National Liberal 1923 Charles Royle Liberal 1924 Samuel Hammersley Conservative 1925 Arnold Townend Labour 1931 Alan Dower Conservative 1935 Sir Arnold Gridley Conservative Norman Hulbert Conservative1950Constituency abolished
MPs 1983–present Constituency recreated (1983) ElectionMemberParty 1983Anthony FavellConservative 1992Ann CoffeyLabourFebruary 2019 The Independent Group for Change 2019 Navendu Mishra Labour
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Changes are from the notional 2019 results on the 2024 boundaries.
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Labour 24,980 54.3 Conservative 12,968 28.2 Liberal Democrats 3,986 8.7 Brexit Party 2,448 5.3 Green 1,635 3.6Turnout46,01761.5Electorate74,769
Ann Coffey left Labour in February 2019 and joined Change UK.
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
In 1918 Hughes was endorsed by the Coalition Government. The Coalition had a policy of not publicly endorsing Labour Party candidates but Wardle was a known supporter of the Coalition.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Caused by Jennings' death.
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1860s
Caused by Kershaw's death.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1840s
Caused by Cobden declining the seat after also being elected for West Riding of Yorkshire and opting to sit there.
Elections in the 1830s
See also 1920 Stockport by-election 1925 Stockport by-election List of parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cheshire
Notes
References
Sources
Election results, 1992–2005 (Guardian) Election results 1983–1992 John McHugh, The Stockport by-election of 1920
External links Stockport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Stockport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Stockport UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK