Liverpool Riverside (UK Parliament constituency)

Liverpool Riverside is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Kim Johnson, who is a member of the Labour Party.

Liverpool Riverside
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Liverpool Riverside in North West England
County	Merseyside
Electorate	70,157 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Aigburth, Kirkdale, Liverpool (part), Mossley Hill, St Michaels
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Kim Johnson (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Liverpool Toxteth, Liverpool Scotland Exchange

Constituency profile

Liverpool Riverside covers an urban area, many neighbourhoods and households of which are economically deprived on relative and absolute measures. As of the 2024 election, it is the most deprived constituency in England.^[2] The latter 20th century economic history of Liverpool cost many jobs, businesses and sources of investment to the city leading to urban blight and the return of widespread generational poverty, not seen since the 19th century. The city's 21st century economic history has been increasing prosperous, seeing growth amongst its financial sector, innovative technology businesses, tourism and entertainment gigs and events. The re-investment has been heightened by heavily used high rise buildings by leading architects, principally the Tate Liverpool and an adjoining block, and publicly funded transport and services improvements.

History

Creation

Liverpool Riverside was created in 1983, merging most of the old Liverpool Scotland Exchange and Liverpool Toxteth constituencies. A provisional recommendation by the Boundary Commission was for the name Liverpool Abercromby, dropped during the local consultations, during which an alternative name of Liverpool Cathedrals was also proposed.^[3]

Results of the winning party

The area has been held by the Labour Party since the 1964 election (including predecessor seats); 1983—1997 by Robert Parry (ex-MP for Scotland Exchange, from 1974), 1997—2019 by Louise Ellman, and 2019—date by Kim Johnson. The 2017 result made the seat the 3rd safest seat by percentage of majority.^[4]

Results of other parties

The 2005 general election saw much more than the national average swing (+8.1%) to the Liberal Democrat candidate (compared with 3.4% nationwide), however Labour's candidate won more than double that share of the vote, scoring 57%. In the same election the area was one of several urban seats in which the Green Party retained its deposit by its candidate scoring just over 5% of the vote. The last time until 2017 that the Conservatives fielded a candidate who achieved second place was in 1992. That party took third place in 2015 behind the highest polling to date for any candidate from the Green Party across Merseyside. Despite the Conservatives managing to come second in the seat in 2017, this was significantly overshadowed by the fact Labour won over 84% of the vote and a majority of 35,947 (74.8%), the biggest margin by both popular vote and percentage majority the party has ever won in the seat.

Turnout

In the 2001 and 2005 general elections it had the lowest turnout of all constituencies of the UK. In a contest where positions of runner-up candidates greatly changed, turnout exceeded 62% in the 2015 election.^[5] This slightly increased to 62.9% in 2017, which remains below the average (the 2017 election had a total turnout of 68.8%), but significantly less so than has previously been the case in the constituency.

Boundaries

Map of present boundaries

Historic

1983–1997: The City of Liverpool wards of Abercromby, Arundel, Dingle, Everton, Granby, and Vauxhall.

1997–2010: The City of Liverpool wards of Abercromby, Aigburth, Arundel, Dingle, Everton, Granby, Smithdown, and Vauxhall.

2010–2024: The City of Liverpool wards of Central, Greenbank, Kirkdale, Mossley Hill, Princes Park, Sefton Park, Riverside, and St Michael's.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following wards of the City of Liverpool as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• Anfield; Central; Everton; Kirkdale; Princes Park; Riverside.^[6]

The seat was subject to significant change, with the transfer of the (former) wards of Greenbank, Mossley Hill and St Michael's to Liverpool Wavertree, offset by the addition of the Anfield and Everton wards from Liverpool Walton.

Liverpool was subject to a comprehensive local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023.^[7][8] As a result, the new constituency boundaries do not align with the revised ward boundaries. The constituency now comprises the following wards or part wards of the City of Liverpool from the 2024 general election:

• Anfield (most); Brownlow Hill; Canning (most); City Centre North; City Centre South; Dingle; Edge Hill (very small part); Everton East (most); Everton North; Everton West; Festival Gardens (most); Kensington & Fairfield (small part); Kirkdale East; Kirkdale West; Princes Park (most); Toxteth; Tuebrook Breckside Park (part); Vauxhall; Waterfront North; Waterfront South.^[9]

The constituency is one of five covering the city of Liverpool. It covers the central area of the city, including famous sights of the city such as the Royal Liver Building and Albert Dock. Neighbourhoods include Aigburth, Canning, Chinatown, Dingle, Kirkdale, Part of Mossley Hill, St Michael's Hamlet, Toxteth and Vauxhall. It contains the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. ^{[needs update?]}

Members of Parliament

Election	Member[10]	Party
1983	Robert Parry		Labour
1997	Louise Ellman		Labour Co-op
October 2019[11]			Independent[12]
2019	Kim Johnson		Labour

Elections

Liverpool Scotland / Riverside election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Liverpool Riverside ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kim Johnson	20,039	61.9	−23.2
	Green	Chris Coughlan	5,246	16.2	+13.8
	Reform UK	Gary Hincks	3,272	10.1	+7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Turner	1,544	4.8	+2.6
	Conservative	Jane Austin	1,155	3.6	−4.2
	TUSC	Roger Bannister	622	1.9	N/A
	Liberal	Sean Weaver	256	0.8	N/A
	NHA	Stephen McNally	247	0.8	N/A
Majority			14,793	45.7	−24.5
Turnout			32,381	44.7	−15.1
Registered electors			71,380
	Labour hold		Swing	-18.5

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Liverpool Riverside^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kim Johnson	41,170	78.0	6.5
	Conservative	Sean Malkeson	4,127	7.8	1.9
	Green	Tom Crone	3,017	5.7	2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Robert McAllister-Bell	2,696	5.1	2.6
	Brexit Party	David Leach	1,779	3.4	New
Majority			37,043	70.2	4.6
Turnout			52,789	65.7	2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	2.4

General election 2017: Liverpool Riverside^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	40,599	84.5	17.1
	Conservative	Pamela Hall	4,652	9.7	0.1
	Green	Stephanie Pitchers	1,582	3.3	8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Sebire	1,187	2.5	1.4
Majority			35,947	74.8	19.5
Turnout			48,020	62.9	0.5
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	8.5

General election 2015: Liverpool Riverside^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	29,835	67.4	8.1
	Green	Martin Dobson	5,372	12.1	8.6
	Conservative	Jackson Ng	4,245	9.6	1.3
	UKIP	Joe Chiffers	2,510	5.7	4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Childs	1,719	3.9	18.8
	TUSC	Tony Mulhearn	582	1.3	New
Majority			24,463	55.3	18.7
Turnout			44,263	62.4	10.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	0.3

General election 2010: Liverpool Riverside^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	22,998	59.3	0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Marbrow	8,825	22.7	0.6
	Conservative	Kegang Wu	4,243	10.9	1.9
	Green	Tom Crone	1,355	3.5	1.7
	BNP	Peter Stafford	706	1.8	New
	UKIP	Patricia Gaskell	674	1.7	0.1
Majority			14,173	36.6	0.5
Turnout			38,801	52.1	9.4
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	0.3

Elections in the 2000s

The turnout compared to the 2001 election had risen by 7.4% to 41.5% (an above average increase). However, this was still the lowest throughout the United Kingdom which averaged 61.3% with a 2.1% increase.

General election 2005: Liverpool Riverside^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	17,951	57.6	−13.8
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Marbrow	7,737	24.8	+8.1
	Conservative	Gabrielle J.F. Howatson	2,843	9.1	+0.7
	Green	Peter A.E. Cranie	1,707	5.5	New
	Socialist Labour	Beth R. Marshall	498	1.6	New
	UKIP	Ann R.F. Irving	455	1.5	New
Majority			10,214	32.8	−21.9
Turnout			31,191	41.5	+7.4
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

In the 2001 election it had a turnout of 34.1% which was the lowest of the United Kingdom. The average turnout in that year was 59.2%.

General election 2001: Liverpool Riverside^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	18,201	71.4	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Marbrow	4,251	16.7	+3.4
	Conservative	Judith Edwards	2,142	8.4	−1.1
	Socialist Alliance	Cathy Wilson	909	3.6	+1.6
Majority			13,950	54.7	−2.4
Turnout			25,503	34.1	−17.5
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Liverpool Riverside^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Louise Ellman	26,858	70.4
	Liberal Democrats	Beatrice L. Fraenkel	5,059	13.3
	Conservative	David G. Sparrow	3,635	9.5
	Socialist Alternative	Cathy Wilson	776	2.0	New
	Liberal	David W. Green	594	1.6	New
	Referendum	George Skelly	586	1.5	New
	ProLife Alliance	Heather M. Neilson	277	0.7	New
	Multi-Racial Anti-Corruption Alliance	David Braid	179	0.5	New
	Natural Law	Geoffrey Gay	171	0.5
Majority			21,799	57.1
Turnout			38,135	51.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1992: Liverpool Riverside^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Parry	20,550	75.9	+2.7
	Conservative	Andrew Zsigmond	3,113	11.5	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Akbar Ali	2,498	9.3	−2.0
	Green	Lawrence Brown	738	2.7	New
	Natural Law	John D. Collins	169	0.6	New
Majority			17,437	64.4	+5.0
Turnout			27,068	54.6	−4.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Liverpool Riverside^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Parry	25,505	73.2	+8.3
	Conservative	Stephen Fitzsimmons	4,816	13.8	−6.0
	SDP	Baldey Singh Chahal	3,912	11.3	−2.7
	Communist	Katherine Gardner	601	1.7	+1.0
Majority			20,689	59.4	+14.3
Turnout			34,834	65.3	+2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.5

General election 1983: Liverpool Riverside^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Parry	24,978	64.9	−2.0
	Conservative	Thomas Morrison	7,600	19.8	−0.7
	SDP	Peter Zentner	5,381	14.0	+3.2
	Communist	John Blevin	261	0.7	New
	Workers Revolutionary	David Latchford	234	0.6	New
Majority			17,378	45.1	−1.3
Turnout			38, 454	62.4
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
2. "Constituency data: Indices of deprivation". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
3. Boundary Commission for England, Third Periodic Review, 1983
4. McInnes, Roderick (23 June 2017). "GE2017: Marginal seats and turnout". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
5. Dawson, Katie (5 May 2010). "Can Liverpool Riverside improve its voting turnout?". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
7. LGBCE. "Liverpool | LGBCE". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
8. "The Liverpool (Electoral Changes) Order 2022".
9. "New Seat Details - Liverpool Riverside". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
11. Ellman, Louise [@LouiseEllman] (17 October 2019). "I have made the truly agonising decision to leave the Labour Party after 55 years. I can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM. I will continue to serve the people of Liverpool Riverside as I have had the honour to do since 1997" (Tweet). Retrieved 17 October 2019 – via Twitter.
12. "MPs - Dame Louise Ellman MP". parliament.uk. Houses of Parliament. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
13. "Liverpool Riverside results". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
14. "Statement of persons nominated 2019".
15. "Statement of persons nominated and notice of poll / Election of a Member of Parliament / Liverpool Riverside Constituency". 11 May 2017.
16. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Liverpool Riverside". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
18. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "'Liverpool Riverside', May 1997 -". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
23. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
25. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Liverpool, Riverside UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Liverpool, Riverside UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Liverpool Riverside UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

53.355°N 2.947°W / 53.355; -2.947