County Greater Manchester Created 1918 Number of members 1 | Electorate 74,681 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency North West England Replaced by South East Lancashire | |
 | ||
Member of parliament Vacant, pending by-election | ||
Manchester, Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1983 to 2017 by Sir Gerald Kaufman, a Labour MP and Father of the House. His death in February 2017 will trigger a by-election.
Contents
History
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the existing seat of South East Lancashire into eight single-member constituencies, an Act which significantly increased representation across Britain.
1885–1918
South-East Lancashire, Gorton Division consisted of the area of the Gorton Local Board and the townships or parishes of Denton, Haughton, and Openshaw. The constituency comprised an area bounded on the west by the city of Manchester and to the east and south by the county boundary with Cheshire. In 1890 Manchester's municipal boundaries were extended to include Gorton and Openshaw, although constituency boundaries remained unchanged until 1918.
1918–1950
The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised parliamentary seats throughout Great Britain. The redistribution reflected the boundary changes of 1890, with Gorton becoming a division of the parliamentary borough of Manchester. The Manchester, Gorton Division comprised three wards of the county borough of Manchester: Gorton North, Gorton South and Openshaw. Denton and Haughton, which together had formed Denton Urban District in 1894, were transferred to the Mossley Division of Lancashire.
1950–1955
The next redrawing of English constituencies was effected by the Representation of the People Act 1948. The Act introduced the term "borough constituency", with Manchester Gorton Borough Constituency now consisting of four wards of the city: Gorton North, Gorton South, Levenshulme and Openshaw. Levenshulme was transferred from the abolished Manchester Rusholme seat. The revised boundaries were first used at the 1950 general election.
1955–1983
In 1955 boundary changes were made based on the recommendations of the Boundary Commission appointed under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. The constituency was redefined as consisting of the Gorton North and Gorton South wards of the county borough and the two neighbouring urban districts of Audenshaw and Denton in the administrative county of Lancashire. Levenshulme passed to Manchester Withington while Openshaw formed the core of a new Manchester Openshaw seat.
1983–2010
The 1983 redistribution of seats reflected local government reforms made in 1974. Manchester Gorton became a borough constituency in the parliamentary county of Greater Manchester. The constituency was redefined as comprising six wards of the Metropolitan district and City of Manchester, namely: Fallowfield, Gorton North, Gorton South, Levenshulme, Longsight and Rusholme. The constituency was unaltered at the next redistribution prior to the 1997 general election.
Boundaries
From the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the seat has had wards (since the 2010 general election) of:
Elections in the 1990s
Changes in vote compared with notional figures for 1997 election following boundary changes.
Election in 1918
Elections in the 1910s
Expected General Election 1914/15: Under the terms of the Parliament Act 1911 a General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
In the event, the election was postponed on the outbreak of the Great War.
Elections in the 1900s
Mr Hatch crossed the floor of the House of Commons to sit with the Liberals, around February 1905.