Littleborough and Saddleworth was a

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 ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.

History

This

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

marginal was held by the Conservative Party at the three general elections of its existence. The victorious MP on each of these occasions was Geoffrey Dickens, who was elected in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

for Huddersfield West (which was a predecessor seat to this constituency, however no part of it was added to this seat when it was created in 1983). However, at a by-election called after Dickens' death in 1995, it was won by Chris Davies of the Liberal Democrats.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Crompton, Lees, Saddleworth East, Saddleworth West, and Shaw, and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale wards of Littleborough, Milnrow, and Wardle. The constituency was centred on the towns of Littleborough,

Milnrow Milnrow is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale. It is east of Rochdale town centre, ...

and

Saddleworth Saddleworth is a civil parishes in England, civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and Hamlet (place), hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the Saddleworth Moor, west ...

. In 1997, three quarters of the seat became part of the new

Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham East and Saddleworth is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency in outer Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK ...

constituency, with Littleborough and surrounding areas joining the redrawn

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

constituency.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes and references

{{coord, 53.64, -2.10, display=title, region:GB, format=dms Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester (historic) Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Littleborough, Greater Manchester