Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on Local Government Act 1972, 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider

Parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

had a population of 98,449. It is part of the

Liverpool City Region The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority area in North West England. It has six council areas: the five metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside (Liverpool, Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Knowsley, Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, St H ...

. Historically part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Bootle's proximity to the Irish Sea and the industrial city of Liverpool to the south saw it grow rapidly in the 1800s, first as a dormitory town for wealthy merchants, and then as a centre of commerce and industry in its own right following the arrival of the railway and the expansion of the docks and shipping industries. The subsequent population increase was fuelled heavily by Irish migration. The town was heavily damaged in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with air raids against the port and other industrial targets. Post-war economic success in the 1950s and 1960s gave way to a downturn, precipitated by a reduction in the significance of

Liverpool Docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks betwee ...

internationally, and changing levels of industrialisation, coupled with the development of modern suburbs and the expansion of industries into the Merseyside hinterlands. By the 1980s, there had been a sharp spike in unemployment and population decline. Large-scale renewal projects have begun to help regenerate the local economy.

History

Toponymy

Etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, Bootle derives from the

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

''Bold'' or ''Botle'' meaning a dwelling. It was recorded as ''Boltelai'' in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' in 1086. By 1212 the spelling had been recorded as ''Botle''. The spellings ''Botull'', ''Bothull'' and ''Bothell'' are recorded in the 14th century. In the 18th century, it was known as Bootle cum Linacre.

Resort

Bootle was originally a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

built near the 'sand hills' or

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

of the river

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

. In the early 19th century, it began to develop as a bathing

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

, attracting wealthy people from Liverpool. Some remaining large villas which housed well-to-do

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

s to Liverpool are located in the area known locally as 'Bootle Village', centred around the junction of Merton Road and Litherland Road.

Development

The

Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway The Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was a British railway company, which opened a line in 1848 between Southport and Waterloo, extending into Liverpool in 1850. The company was acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1855. T ...

arrived in the 1840s and Bootle experienced rapid growth. By the end of the 19th century the docks had been constructed along the whole of the river front as far as Seaforth Sands to the north. The town became heavily industrialised. Fearful of annexation by Liverpool, Bootle was incorporated as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1868 under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, and in 1889 was granted the status of a county borough by the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, becoming independent from the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

. During this time period it was sometimes formally known as ''Bootle-cum-Linacre''. Orrell was added to the borough in 1905. There are still large areas of Victorian terraced houses in Bootle, formerly occupied by dock workers. These are built in distinctive pressed red brick. Bootle Town Hall and other municipal buildings were erected in the last quarter of the 19th century. The population of the town swelled during this period, boosted in large part by Irish immigration and the attraction of plentiful work on the docks. The wealth to pay for the splendour of the town hall and the gentrified 'Bootle Village' area was generated by these docks. The skilled workers lived in terraced houses in the east of the town, while the casual dock labourers lived in cramped, dwellings near the dockside. Stories about three streets in particular, Raleigh Street, Dundas Street and Lyons Street, caused great alarm. Lyons Street, the scene of the 'Teapot Murder', was renamed Beresford Street shortly before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Bootle was the first borough to elect its own

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

, following the passage of William Forster's

Elementary Education Act 1870 The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75), commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities wit ...

. In 1872 Dr R.J. Sprakeling was appointed the first Medical Officer of Health, and was instrumental in improving sanitary conditions in the town. The Metropole Theatre on Stanley Road played host to stars such as

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

singer

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy ...

. Tree lined streets surrounded magnificent open spaces, such as Derby Park, North Park and South Park.

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches sprang up all over the town, and Welsh immigration brought with it Nonconformist chapels and the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. Local societies thrived, including sports teams,

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

and musical groups. The Bootle May Day carnival and the crowning of the

May Queen In the British Isles and parts of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, the May Queen or Queen of May is a personification of the May Day holiday of 1 May, and of Spring (season), springtime and the coming growing season. The May Queen is a ...

were highlights of the social year. The town successfully fought against absorption by neighbouring Liverpool in 1903. It subsequently made good use of its

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto ''Respice, Aspice, Prospice'', ("look to the past, the present, the future").

Second World War

The docks made Bootle a target for

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

bombers during the

Liverpool Blitz The Liverpool Blitz was the The Blitz, heavy and sustained bombing of the British city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the Nazi Germany, German ''Luftwaffe''. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area o ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with approximately 90% of the houses in the town damaged. Situated immediately adjoining the city of Liverpool, and the site of numerous docks, Bootle had the distinction of being the most heavily bombed borough in the UK, with 458 civilian deaths from enemy action recorded within the borough. Bootle played an important role in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's Captain Frederic John Walker, the famous

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

hunter, would rest in the Mayor's Parlour of Bootle Town Hall and his ships, HMS ''Stork'' and HMS ''Starling'', sailed out of Gladstone Dock Bootle. Memorabilia associated with Walker including the ships's bell from HMS ''Starling'' which was presented to Bootle County Borough Council on 21 October 1964 by Admiral Sir Nigel Henderson Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. can be viewed in Bootle Town Hall.

Post-war

After the Second World War large

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

estates were built inland from the town centre, including the area of Netherton, which was built on

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

principles. The

Liverpool Overhead Railway The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers' Umbrella or Ovee) was an overhead railway in Liverpool that operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893 with lightweight electric multiple units. The railway had a number o ...

and Liverpool Tramways Company closure in the 1950s reduced Bootle's connection to Liverpool. Bootle did share in the postwar boom. The centre of the town was redeveloped and the 'Bootle New Strand' shopping centre was opened in 1968. At the same time, new offices were built in the town centre. The town lost its access to the beach when neighbouring Seaforth Sands was redeveloped in the early 1970s, but the Seaforth Container Port brought new jobs into the area. The local authority, and other 'social' landlords, saw to it that new housing was built and older stock renovated. Bootle did not go down the route of massive housing clearance, and many local communities remained intact. The borough celebrated its centenary in 1968 and civic pride was much in evidence.

Decline

The docks declined in importance in the 1960s and 1970s, and Bootle suffered high unemployment and a declining population. The establishment of large office blocks housing government departments and the National Girobank provided employment, filled largely by middle-class people from outside the Bootle/Liverpool area. In the early 1970s Bootle was absorbed into the new local authority of Sefton under local government reorganisation. More fundamental than political change was economic change. The very reason for Bootle's existence, the access to the Mersey, became almost irrelevant as the docks closed and the new container port required far fewer workers than the old docks had. This in turn affected practically every other industry in the town. The problems slowly gathered pace until Merseyside hit crisis point in the early 1980s. Even by 2006 the area was one of the poorest in the country and had high levels of unemployment.

Regeneration

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

heavily invested in Bootle by building a new eco-friendly superstore on Strand Road in 2008. Among refurbishment and rebuilding projects in the 2010s, the HSE buildings and the new-look Stanley Road have been created, Oriel Road Station has been refurbished, and a new block of flats on the site of the Stella Maris building and a

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

store on Stanley Road have been built. The Klondyke Estate located off Hawthorne road saw the Welsh terrace houses get demolished and replaced with 2,3 and 4 bed modern houses. This was after the controversial move by Bellway after residents opposed demolition. Sefton Council submitted a bid to the Government's Levelling UP Fund in July for £20 million to underpin a regeneration scheme to transform Bootle town centre. The outcome of the fund is expected to be announced in 2023. In March 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced, as part of the Spring Budget, a £58 million fund for "Capital Levelling Up", of which £20 million has been allocated to the first phase of repurposing the Strand shopping centre and wider transformation of Bootle Town Centre. In November 2016,

Liverpool2 Liverpool2 is a container terminal extension adjoining the River Mersey in Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, Merseyside. The extension, built by Peel Ports, officially opened on 4 November 2016 and is an expansion of the Seaforth Dock container te ...

was opened, expanding Seaforth Docks with river berths that can accommodate large container ships.

Unemployment

The economic recovery on

since the 1980s has meant that Bootle is ranked as only the tenth worst area for unemployment in Britain, and all other parts of the region have lower unemployment—a stark contrast to the 1970s and 1980s when areas of Merseyside dominated the list of Britain's least economically active areas. As of 2009, in the depth of a

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...

, unemployment stood at 12%. In 2022, it was reduced to less than 4%, similar to the national average.

Geography and administration

Bootle Docks was created as a part of the Mersey Docks and now promoted as

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

, with the Liverpool and Wirral Docks, being located on both bank sides of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

. Bootle Docks are situated at the northern end, that is closer to the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

estuary. Bootle, along with

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, is one of the two main administrative headquarters for the

. Among Bootle's neighbouring districts are Kirkdale to the south, Walton to the east, with Seaforth, Litherland and Netherton to the north. To the west it is bounded by the

. In the centre is a sizeable area of large office blocks, and the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

. The old civic centre of Bootle contains large Victorian buildings such as the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

and the municipal baths. To the north lies the New Strand Shopping Centre, which gained notoriety after the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Sport and Leisure

Football

Bootle has one

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

non-league team known as Bootle F.C. who currently play in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Division One West. They are a reformed version of the original Bootle F.C. (1879).

Cricket

Bootle Cricket Club was founded in 1933 and they incorporated Firwood into the club's name in the 1990s. Their main ground is on Wadham Road. Firwood Bootle CC has a significant success record, with 6

Liverpool and District Cricket Competition The Love Lane Liverpool and District Cricket Competition is regarded as the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Liverpool area and since 2000 has been a designated ECB Premier League. The Competition operates a three d ...

championship titles to their name. Bootle field three senior teams that compete in the

and they have an established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Liverpool Competition Junior League. Hugh_Baird_College_Bootle_from_South_Park

Hugh_Baird_College_Bootle_from_South_Park

Education

The town has one

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

college, Hugh Baird College, located on Balliol Road. The college delivers over 300 courses to more than 7,000 students with course levels from Entry Level to Level 3, A Levels, apprenticeships and university level courses and degrees. In January 2014, a multimillion-pound facility called the L20 Building located on Stanley Road was opened. This houses a dedicated University Centre with open-plan study areas for students studying University level courses.

Transport

There are two railway stations served by frequent electric services from Liverpool to Southport. These are Oriel Road near the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

civic centre, and New Strand, serving the shopping centre. A third railway station is situated on the boundary of Bootle (Old Roan), and is part of the Liverpool to Ormskirk Line. A goods line, the Bootle Branch, is still in use, but it used to be a passenger line which had a station at Bootle Balliol Road railway station and served the areas of Clubmoor,

Tuebrook Tuebrook (or Tue Brook; locally ) is an area in the north-east of Liverpool, England. At the 2001 census the population was 14,490. Toponymy The origin of the name may be Tew Brook, a tributary of the Alt. The brook itself is now almost ent ...

and

Childwall Childwall () is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, located to the southeast of the city. It is bordered by Belle Vale, Bowring Park, Broadgreen, Gateacre, Mossley Hill, and Wavertree. In 2019, the population was 13,640. ...

among other places. It closed during the 1960s. Called the

Canada Dock Branch The Canada Dock Branch is a 4-mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long railway line in Liverpool, England. The line's route is from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock to the north. The line was originally ...

, a second route, the North Mersey Branch could still be opened. The bus station is under the New Strand Shopping Centre and provides services to

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the administrative, commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region, England. There are different definitions of the city centre for urban planning and local government; ...

, Penny Lane, Allerton,

and Crosby. Bootle Docks used to host passenger ships to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, but now it is used solely for freight services, and it is somewhat less important than the port of Liverpool.

Amenities

The town has a

leisure centre A leisure centre, sports centre, or recreation centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. Typical facilit ...

, located in the North Park area, which includes a modern gym, swimming pool, and various indoor sports halls. The Bootle New Strand shopping centre contains many of the regular high street stores, combined with a smaller collection of local businesses. For entertainment there is a wide variety of

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

clubs and late-night bars. There are also a number of restaurants.

Politics

Originally a Conservative seat, Bootle elected early MPs such as

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...

, a future Tory Prime Minister. The seat was briefly Liberal in the early 1920s. Labour first captured the seat in 1929, in the personage of local hairdresser John Kinley, but lost it in 1931. Although Kinley recaptured it in 1945 it did not become safely Labour until the long tenure of Simon Mahon. It is now impregnable, politically, and since 1997 the

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

constituency has been one of the safest Labour Party seats in the whole of the United Kingdom. The area was represented in parliament by Joe Benton until he stood down in 2015. The current MP is

Peter Dowd Peter Christopher Dowd (born 20 June 1957) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bootle since 2015. From 2017 to 2020, he served as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Early life and educ ...

. For elections to Sefton Council the town of Bootle is split between the

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

of Netherton and Orrell, whose three representatives, are all members of the Labour Party, and are Susan Ellen Bradshaw, Ian Ralph Maher and Tom Spring.

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, whose three representatives are Brenda O'Brien, David Robinson and Anne Thompson and are all members of the Labour Party, and finally Linacre whose three representatives, are all members of the Labour Party, and are John Fairclough, Christine Maher, and Daniel McKee. Overall there are nine councillors representing the Bootle area, all of them are members of the Labour Party. Overall the electoral wards of Sefton Council in and around Bootle and the parliamentary constituency itself are extremely safe seats for the Labour Party, sometimes standing uncontested by the other parties.

Notable people

Many notable

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

were born in Bootle. Jamie Carragher, Steve McManaman and

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, where he also had a spell as manager. Aside from his time at Liverpool, he had a short spell in the United States; and also ...

came to prominence playing for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(with Evans later going on to become the club's manager) whilst Alvin Martin is regarded as one of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

's greatest-ever players. Former Evertonian

Jose Baxter Jose Baxter (born 7 February 1992) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in Bootle, Baxter began his career with his home town club of Everton, where in 2008 he became the Premier League ...

of Sheffield United was also born in Bootle. England Lioness and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

player Alex Greenwood grew up playing on the streets of Bootle. In the arts, Bootle has produced the comedian Tom O'Connor, the television presenter Keith Chegwin, television producer and presenter Will Hanrahan and early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

singer Billy J. Kramer. The fashion retailer George Davies was educated in Bootle.

John C. Wells John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939) is a British phonetician and Esperantist. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics. He is known for ...

, linguist. He was born in Bootle. Derek Acorah, psychic medium. He was born in Bootle. Paul Nuttall, former Leader of the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

. He was born in Bootle. Sergiusz Pinkwart, writer, journalist, traveler, Magellan Award winner. He lives in Bootle. Pat Kelly,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

trade unionist. He was born and raised in Bootle.

Mayors

*Charles Howson, 1869 *Thomas P. Danson, 1870 *William Geves, 1870–1874 *George Barnes, 1874 *Thomas P. Danson, 1875–76 *Louis W. Heintz, 1877 (Conservative) *J. Newell, 1878 (Conservative) *John P. McArthur, 1879 (Conservative) *James Webster, 1882 (Liberal) *James Webster (Liberal, re-elected in November 1883, supported by both Liberals and Conservatives) *James Leslie, 1884 (Liberal) *Matthew Hill, 1885 (Liberal) *William Jones, 1886 ("Klondike Bill") *John Wells, 1888 *Benjamin Cain, 1889 (Liberal) *John Vicars, 1890–91 *William Thomas, 1892 *Benjamin Sands Johnson, 1893–94 *Isac Alexander Mack, 1895–96 (Liberal) *John McMurray, 1897 *William Robert Brewster, 1898 (Conservative) *George Lamb, 1899 (Liberal) *Peter Ascroft JP, 1900 (Conservative but elected with unanimous cross-party support) *George Samuel Wild, 1901 *William Henry Clemmey, 1902 (Conservative) *James Julius Metcalf, 1903 *Owen Kendrick Jones, 1904 (son of William Jones, Mayor, 1886) *Robert Edward Roberts, 1905 *Alfred Rutherford, 1906 *James Person, 1907 *George Randall, 1908 *Hugh Carruthers, 1909 *James Roger Barbour, 1910 *John William Edwin Smith, 1911 *William Henry Clemmey, 1912 (Conservative) *John Rafter, 1913 *George Alexander Cassady, 1914 *James Pearson, 1915 *Benjamin Edward Bailey, 1916 *James Pearson, 1917 *Harry Pennington, 1918–19 *John Henry Johnston, 1920–21 *Thomas Alfred Patrick, 1922 *Robert Turner, 1923 *Birty Wolfenden, 1924 *Thomas Harris, 1925 *Frederick William King, 1926 *Edmund Gardner, 1927–28 *Simon Mahon, 1929, first Catholic Mayor of Bootle, father of MPs

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and Simon Mahon''Bootle Times'', 12 May 1961, "Bootle loses a great worker by the death of Alderman Simon Mahon". *Donald Samuel Eaton, 1930 *Arthur Hankey, 1931 *James Scott, 1932 *Maurice Stanley Webster, 1933 *Edwin Smith, 1934 *John William Clark, 1935 *James Burnie, 1936 *James O'Neill, 1937 *Nicholas Cullen, 1938 (Labour) *James Spence, 1939 *Joseph Sylvester Kelly, 1940 (Labour) *James Stubbs Riley, 1941 *Richard Owen Jones, 1942 *George Alfred Rogers, 1943 *William Keenan, 1944 (Labour) *John Thomas Hackett, 1945 *Harry Oswald Cullen, 1946 *Thomas Harris, 1947–48 *Charles G Anderson, 1949 (Conservative) *David Berger Black, 1950 (Conservative) *Robert James Rogerson, 1951 (Conservative) *Mark Connolly, 1952 (Labour) *Robert J Rainford, 1953 (Conservative) * Peter Mahon (politician), 1954 (Labour) *Thomas A Cain JP, 1955 (Labour) *Dr Israel Harris JP, 1956 (Labour) *Albert Sidney Moore JP, 1957 (Labour) *John Cyril Hevey, 1958 (Labour) *Hugh Baird, 1959 (Labour) *Joseph Samuel Kelly, 1960 (Labour) *Joseph Sylvester Kelly, 1961 (Labour) * Simon Mahon Jr., 1962 (Labour) *John Morley, 1963 (Labour) *Thomas E Dooley, 1964 (Labour) *Griff Williams, 1965 (Labour) *James Grimley, 1966 (Labour) *Veronica Bray, 1967 (Labour) *Oliver Ellis, 1968 (Conservative) *Harold Gee, 1969 (Conservative) *Fred Morris, 1970 (Conservative) *George Halliwell, 1971 (Conservative) *John Marray, 1972 (Labour) *William A Wiseman, 1973 (Labour)

References

* {{authority control Liverpool Urban Area Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Towns in Merseyside Unparished areas in Merseyside