Worsley and Eccles South is a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. The seat is currently held by

Barbara Keeley Barbara Mary Keeley (born 26 March 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Worsley and Eccles South, previously Worsley, since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Sha ...

MP of the Labour Party. It elects one

Member of Parliament (MP) A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system of election.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers the western half of the City of Salford, mostly safe Labour territory, but the seat also contains two of the Conservatives' strongest wards in the relatively affluent areas of Worsley and Boothstown & Ellenbrook; these are also the only two Remain-voting wards in the constituency. Worsley itself is a desirable area with attractions including historic manor houses along the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Wo ...

and the recently-opened 150-acre

RHS Garden Bridgewater RHS Garden Bridgewater is the Royal Horticultural Society's fifth public display garden. It is located in the village of Worsley in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Gardens Bridgewater Gardens has been created in of the former Worsley New ...

. The largest town is actually the town of

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 20 ...

, mostly Labour-leaning, and it also includes the

Little Hulton Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, south of Bolton, northwest of Salford, and northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by ...

council estate. The "Eccles South" signifies the Barton and Winton suburbs of the town of Eccles. In the far south-west of the constituency along the ship canal are the villages of

Irlam Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Salfo ...

and

Cadishead Cadishead is a village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 10,739 in 2014. Within the historic county of Lancashire. History The earliest record of Cadishead date to 1212, and show that the whole of Cad ...

, separated from the other settlements by swathes of green belt land and farms in the form of

Chat Moss Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warringto ...

, a protected peatland area. In the 2019 general election, the BBC's

exit poll An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for ...

forecast it as a Conservative gain, but it was not in fact among the many leave-supporting red wall seats to fall, and Labour held on although with a reduced, albeit comfortable, majority.

Boundaries

Following its 2006 review of parliamentary representation in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

recommended the creation of a modified Worsley constituency, incorporating a part of Eccles, to be called Worsley and Eccles South. Following council boundary changes that took effect in 2021, the electoral wards included in the Worsley and Eccles South constituency are currently Barton & Winton, Boothstown and Ellenbrook, Cadishead & Lower Irlam, Higher Irlam & Peel Green Ward,

Walkden North Walkden North is an area and electoral ward of Salford, England. It is represented in Westminster by Barbara Keeley MP for Worsley and Eccles South. A profile of the ward conducted by Salford City Council Salford City Council is the local ...

Walkden South Walkden South is an area and electoral ward of Salford, England. It is represented in Westminster by Barbara Keeley MP for Worsley and Eccles South. A profile of the ward conducted by Salford City Council Salford City Council is the local a ...

, Worsley & Westwood Park. The electoral wards originally making up the seat were named Barton, Boothstown and Ellenbrook,

, Little Hulton, Walkden North, Walkden South, Winton, Worsley.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

References