Sefton Central is a

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 ...

represented since its creation in 2010 by

Bill Esterson William Roffen Esterson (born 27 October 1966) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefton Central since 2010. He was Shadow Minister for Roads from 2023 to 2024, and was Shadow Minister for Sm ...

of the Labour Party.

Boundaries

2010-2024

The constituency was created for the 2010 general election, replacing much of Crosby along with part of Knowsley North and Sefton East.The constituency comprised the following

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 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, ...

: *

Blundellsands Blundellsands is an area of Crosby in the ceremonial county of Merseyside, England and in the historic county of Lancashire. The area was created as a suburb for wealthy businessmen from Liverpool by the Blundell family of Crosby Hall in the m ...

* Harington * Manor * Molyneux *

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

* Ravenmeols * Sudell

Current

Further to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton (as they existed on 1 December 2020): * Ainsdale; Blundellsands; Harington; Manor; Molyneux (polling districts C1, C2 and C3); Park; Ravenmeols; Sudell. ''The

Ainsdale Ainsdale is a village near Southport, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Sefton district, in Merseyside, England, situated three miles south of the centre of Southport. Originally in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lanca ...

ward was transferred from

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 ...

, offset by the loss of the

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

district in the Molyneux ward to Liverpool Walton.'' The constituency covers Merseyside northern residential suburban areas of Crosby,

, Brighton-Le-Sands,

Little Crosby Little Crosby is a small village in the Sefton district of Merseyside, England. Despite being within 8 miles of Liverpool it has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights. Until 1974 it was in Lancashire. T ...

, Thornton, and Hightown,

Formby Formby is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under ...

, Maghull and the villages and localities of Carr Houses, Freshfield,

Ince Blundell Ince Blundell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the ceremonial county of Merseyside and historic county of Lancashire, England. It is situated to the north of Liverpool on the A565 road and to the east of ...

, Kennessee Green, Lady Green, Little Altcar, Lunt, Lydiate, Melling, Sefton, and Waddicar, in the

History

This seat was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election. At the time, eleven of the constituency's twenty-one councillors were

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

followed by the Liberal Democrats who had ten, whereas analysis by Rallings and Thrasher indicated that had the Sefton Central constituency existed in 2005, the result would have been: Labour 45.6%, Conservative 33.6%, LibDem 19.2%, giving a Labour majority of 4,950. The Labour Party candidate's majority was 3,862 suggesting a moderate two-party swing. The area covered by this seat and its immediate predecessor Crosby was historically a strong area for the Conservatives. However, since Labour gained that seat in the 1997 election, they have held it with fairly comfortable margins for 20 years. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, an 8.1% swing to Labour saw them take the area with their biggest ever majority of 11,846 votes (24.2%), in accordance with the significant swing to Labour in Merseyside compared to 2010; this margin was surpassed in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, as Labour won more than 60% of the vote in the seat and a majority of over 30% for the first time. This suggests that since 2010, Sefton Central has changed from a key marginal between the major parties to a Labour

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

Constituency profile

The constituency has a working population whose income is close to the national average, and close to average reliance on

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

. At the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 2.4% of the population claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.2%. The borough contributing to the seat has a medium 28.5% of its population without a car, 25.1% of the population without any qualifications and a 24.1% with Level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure, 70.5% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 UK Census across the district.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Changes are from the notional 2019 results on the 2024 boundaries.

Elections in the 2010s

Notes

References

External links

Sefton Central UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 53.523, -2.985, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2010 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton