Stretford and Urmston 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 ...

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. ...

represented in 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

UK Parliament 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 of ...

since a 2022 by-election by

Andrew Western Andrew Howard Western (born 18 March 1985) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston since 2022. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transformatio ...

, a Labour MP.

History

Stretford and Urmston was created in 1997 from significant parts of the former constituencies of

Davyhulme Davyhulme () is an area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable fo ...

– a Conservative-held marginal whose last member was the

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 ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

(grandson of the former Prime Minister) – and safely Labour

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

, whose last member was

Tony Lloyd Sir Anthony Joseph Lloyd (25 February 1950 – 17 January 2024) was a British Labour politician. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) for 36 years, making him one of the longest-serving MPs in recent history. He served as MP for Stretfo ...

( Labour). The constituency was first represented by

Beverley Hughes Beverley June Hughes, Baroness Hughes of Stretford (born 30 March 1950) is a British politician who most recently served as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime between 2017 and 2023. A member of the Labour Party, Hughes ...

, who stood down at the 2010 general election.

Kate Green Katherine Anne Green (born 2 May 1960) is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime since 2023. She previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 202 ...

, a Labour front-bencher, held the seat from 2010 until she resigned in November 2022 after being nominated as Greater Manchester's

deputy mayor for policing and crime The Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime (DMPC) is head of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, part of the Greater London Authority. The current office holder is Kaya Comer-Schwartz. Outside of powers to issue a Police and Crime P ...

, taking over from Beverley Hughes once again.

Boundaries

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford wards of Bucklow, Clifford, Davyhulme East, Davyhulme West, Flixton, Longford,

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 ...

, Stretford,

Talbot Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...

, and Urmston. 2010–2023: The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford wards of Bucklow-St. Martins, Clifford,

Davyhulme East Davyhulme East is an electoral ward of Trafford, Greater Manchester, covering Dumplington, the eastern half of Davyhulme and a small part of Urmston. Councillors Since 2022, the councillors are Shirley Procter ( Labour), Barry Winstanley ...

Davyhulme West Davyhulme West is an electoral ward of Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns ...

, Flixton, Gorse Hill,

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

, and

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,731 at the 2021 Census. Historically in Lancashire, it is 5 miles (8.04672 km) southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the River M ...

. 2023–present: Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following wards of Metropolitan Borough of Trafford: * Bucklow-St. Martins; Davyhulme; Flixton; Gorse Hill & Cornbrook; Longford; Lostock & Barton; Old Trafford; Stretford & Humphrey Park; Urmston. 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 was based on the ward structure in place at 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.

Constituency profile

This is one of three seats in the

Metropolitan Borough of Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sale. The borough wa ...

and covers its north and west. As of 2000, the total electorate for the constituency was 72,414. The Conservatives are traditionally strongest in the affluent suburbs of Davyhulme and Flixton, whereas Urmston is often a marginal battle between them and Labour. But in the 2018 and 2019 Local Elections, Labour won every ward in the constituency for the first time ever, gaining Flixton and both Davyhulme wards. These were crucial seats in terms of giving them control of

Trafford Council Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government service ...

in May 2019. The rest of the wards, which include Stretford and its suburbs, and the areas of Carrington and Partington (Bucklow-St Martins) are strongly Labour. There is significant commercial activity in the north-east of the seat along the ship canal at Trafford Park, which also includes the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Grou ...

, opened in 1998 and is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK. The seat is also home to Manchester United's

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

football ground as well as the cricket ground of the same name. The constituency is of approximately average scale in area for

, featuring several green spaces, and is convenient for workers in both the cities of

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. It is the only borough in Greater Manchester to retain state-funded

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

s, two of which, Stretford Grammar and Urmston Grammar, are in this seat, with the others being in Altrincham in the neighbouring seat. As to other parties, the Liberal Democrats and

UKIP 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 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

were the only parties to have achieved the retention of deposit threshold of 5% of the vote until 2024, when candidates for

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

, the Workers Party, and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

all passed it. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher the regional average of 4.4%, at 4.6% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. This in turn was higher than the national average at the time of 3.8%Unemployment claimants by constituency
''

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Changes in vote share from the 2019 general election*

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes

References

External links

Stretford and Urmston UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 53.45, -2.33, display=title, region:GB, format=dms Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997 Politics of Trafford