Runcorn and Helsby is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election.
The incumbent MP is Sarah Pochin of Reform UK. Following the resignation of Labour MP Mike Amesburyin March 2025, she defeated Labour candidate Karen Shore by six votes at a by-election on 1 May 2025, overturning a 34.8% majority.
Amesbury had previously been the MP for the predecessor constituency of Weaver Vale from 2017 to 2024, having elected a Conservative MP from 2010 to 2017.
Constituency profile
Runcorn and Helsby is a constituency in Cheshire in North West England, covering parts of the Halton and Cheshire West and Chester districts. Its main settlement is the town of Runcorn, which has a population of around 63,000. The constituency also covers a rural area to the south-west of Runcorn which includes the town of Frodsham and the villages of Helsby and Elton.
Runcorn is a port town located around south-east of Liverpool. The town was a small, rural settlement until the arrival of canals in the industrial era, which transformed it into a centre for the shipbuilding and chemical industries. Runcorn was designated a new town in 1964 to accommodate overspill from Liverpool; the new suburban development would more than double the town's population. These neighbourhoods, which make up the eastern half of Runcorn, are highly-deprived with a large quantity of dense, terraced council housing. The constituency's rural areas are generally affluent, especially so around the small market town of Frodsham and in the villages close to Chester. House prices across the constituency are similar to the rest of North West England and lower than the UK average.
Runcorn and Helsby has an above-average proportion of retirees and a low young adult population. Residents have average levels of income, homeownership, child poverty and education. A high proportion work in the health and manufacturing sectors and the percentage claiming unemployment benefits is similar to the UK-wide rate. White people made up 97% of the population at the 2021 census.
Most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party at the local council level. Some Conservatives were elected in the rural villages and Reform UK councillors won seats across Runcorn at the most recent election in 2026. An estimated 54% of voters in Runcorn and Helsby supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.
Boundaries Further to the 2023 boundary review, the composition of the constituency is as follows from the 2024 general election (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The Borough of Cheshire West and Chester wards of: Frodsham; Gowy Rural; Helsby; Sandstone.
The Borough of Halton wards of: Beechwood & Heath; Bridgewater; Daresbury, Moore & Sandymoor; Grange; Halton Castle; Halton Lea; Mersey & Weston; Norton North; Norton South & Preston Brook.
The seat comprises the following areas: Helsby, Frodsham and parts of the Borough of Halton previously in the former constituency of Weaver Vale, comprising about half the electorate The town of Runcorn, transferred from the former constituency of Halton The Gowy Rural and Sandstone wards – including the village of Elton, transferred from the former constituency of Ellesmere Port and Neston; Guilden Sutton from the former constituency of City of Chester; and Dunham-on-the-Hill and other small villages from the former constituency of Eddisbury.
Members of Parliament ElectionMemberPartyNotes 2024 Mike Amesbury LabourOct 2024IndependentWhip suspended in October 20242025 by-electionSarah PochinReform UK
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Changes are from the notional results of the 2019 election on the new boundaries.
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Labour 23,617 48.8 Conservative 17,838 36.8 Liberal Democrats 3,247 6.7 Brexit Party 2,302 4.8 Green 1,414 2.9Turnout48,41868.2Electorate70,950
References
External links Runcorn and Helsby UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK