Wigan was incorporated as a borough on 26 August 1246, after the issue of a charter by Henry III.[5] In 1295 and January 1307 Wigan was one of the significant places called upon to send a representative, then known as a 'burgess', to the Model Parliament. However, for the remainder of the medieval period the seat was not summoned to send an official despite being one of only four boroughs in Lancashire possessing Royal Charters; the others were Lancaster, Liverpool and Preston. This changed in the Tudor period with Henry VIII's grant of two Members of Parliament to the town.
Following the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, single-member constituencies were imposed nationwide,[n 2] meaning the seat saw a reduction of the number of its members.
The death of Roger Stott in office in 1999 made him the fourth Wigan MP in the twentieth century to die in office (uniquely for a constituency in the United Kingdom); the others were John Parkinson, Ronald Williams and William Foster.
Political historyedit
Wigan is considered a safe seat given that it has been held by the Labour Party since 1918, with solid majorities ranging from 1,018 votes (2.2%) in 1931 to 22,643 votes (51.7%) in 1997.
In 1974 the Country Borough of Wigan was abolished and superseded by the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, covering a far greater area.[19] However, the boundary of the Parliamentary Constituency of Wigan remained unchanged until 1983, when it was expanded to cover the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough.[20]
1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan wards of Aspull-Standish, Beech Hill, Ince, Langtree, Newtown, Norley, Swinley, Whelley.[20]
1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan wards of Aspull-Standish, Beech Hill, Langtree, Newtown, Norley, Swinley, Whelley.[21]
In 2004, new ward boundaries in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan came in to effect. However, the Parliamentary boundaries remained unchanged until they were reviewed and adjusted to line up with the new ward boundaries in 2010.[22]
The seat is productive and has excellent links to Manchester, as well as close links to the M6, which lies just within its western border. However, over the past century, Wigan has witnessed a fall in manufacturing, particularly in the production of textiles, which have been unable to compete with the Indian subcontinent and the Far East. Another industry which has suffered is coal mining, which had been a large employer in this part of Lancashire up until the mid-20th century. There are some industrial areas remaining in and around the town centre. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal flows through the town, including the famous Wigan Pier area.
As of May 2018, the rate of JSA and Universal Credit claimants was 3.9%, higher than the national average of 2.8% and regional average of 3.7%, based on a statistical compilation by the House of Commons Library.[24] The constituency also includes more desirable semi-rural residential villages to the north of Wigan town centre, such as Standish, which are relatively more affluent.
Another 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;
^Nominee of the Lancashire and Cheshire Women's Textile and Other Workers Representation Committee
Referencesedit
^"Electoral statistics for the UK - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^"Angela Rayner handed new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles top team". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
^Jones, Tom Belger, Morgan (4 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle news: Full shadow cabinet and frontbench as shakeup unfolds". LabourList | Latest UK Labour Party news, analysis and comment. Retrieved 9 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Walker, Peter; editor, Peter Walker Deputy political (4 September 2023). "The winners and losers in Keir Starmer's Labour reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 October 2023. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
^"View: Lancashire XCIII.SE (includes: Ashton in Makerfield; Ince in Makerfield; Wigan.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk.
^Local Administrative Units: Northern England, Frederic A. Youngs, Jr, Royal Historical Society, 1991
^"Gerard, Sir Gilbert, 1st Bt. (1587–1670), of Flambards, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Mdx". History of Parliament.
^ abcLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxStooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 188–190. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
^ abcChurton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. pp. 186, 212.
^Donnelly, Sue (22 January 2015). "Beatrice Webb – the early years". LSE History. The London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
^Farrell, S. M. (9 January 2014) [2004]. "Ewart, William (1798–1869)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9011.
^"Dumfries Burghs". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 10 July 1841. p. 7. Retrieved 1 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"The General Election". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 31 July 1847. pp. 2, 3, 6, 7. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"The Late Elections". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 14 August 1847. pp. 3, 7, 8. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Wigan Election". Coventry Standard. 6 October 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^"Wigan Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^"The BNP Announces Candidates for Makerfield, Leigh and Wigan".
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"UK". Politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"UK". Politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^"UK". Politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^"UK". Politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^"UK". Politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrsCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 331–332. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^"Wigan Election". Todmorden & District News. 8 December 1882. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 27 March 1866: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.
^ abcdBairstow, Stephen; Fisher, David R. "Wigan". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
Sourcesedit
Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807
D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) titles A-Z
F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)