This is one of only five seats in the UK that each cover two cities, in this case Manchester and Salford. The others in England are Cities of London and Westminster in Central London, and Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire, which includes parts of Leeds and Wakefield. In Northern Ireland, the two cities of Newry and Armagh are included in the constituency of that name, and Belfast West includes part of the city of Lisburn.
Constituency profile
The seat covers a mostly residential area, major roads with many small parks and two large green spaces, Heaton Park which is one of the largest municipal parks in Europe and hosts the annual Parklife concert, and Boggart Hole Clough, a large ancient woodland in Blackley towards the east. A diverse constituency which stretches from the city centre's outskirts (including Manchester Arena and the Strangeways Prison), featuring a large Asian population in Cheetham and Orthodox Jewish populations in parts of Crumpsall and the Salford suburbs of Broughton and Kersal. There is also an above-average number of Irish (the Irish World Heritage Centre is based here) and other European residents.
Blackley itself is a mostly owner occupied, suburban residential area at the northern half of the seat, while the inner-city Harpurhey district has a high proportion of social housing and has faced problems with deprivation, and is mostly white working-class. More affluent areas include Higher Kersal and the Broughton Park area, with leafy roads and large detached houses.
Most of the area has been held by Labour since 1964.[5]
Results of other parties
In 2019, the Conservatives came second with 24.6% vote share a 3% increase again from 2017.
The Conservatives came second in 2017, with 21.6% of the vote, a 7% increase on the 2015 election.
A March 2017 by-election saw the Conservatives win the ward of Kersal within the constituency from Labour and in the 2018 Local Elections another Conservative candidate was elected meaning the Conservatives now hold 2/3 Salford City Council seats in the area.
The 2015 general election saw much more than the national average swing (+16.5%) to the UKIP candidate (compared with 9.5% nationwide). UKIP came second overall.
Turnout
At the 2019 General Election, turnout fell by 3.3% to 52.8%, for the first time since the constituency was created in 2010, having risen from 49.7% in 2010 and to 56.1% of electors in 2017. In 2019 the constituency had the 5th lowest turnout in the country, and the lowest of all the Manchester seats.
^A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^As with all constituencies after 1950, the constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
