Post by Robert Waller on Apr 21, 2020 10:49:05 GMT
Macclesfield has only been represented by three Tory MPs since 1945. Outlasting the 26 years of Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, the longest serving of these (39 years) was the colourful right winger Sir Nicholas Winterton, who initially only just retained the seat for the Conservatives in a by-election held during the mid-term unpopularity of the Heath government in 1971 – his majority was just 1,079 over Labour. However, following that narrow squeak he was re-elected nine times, on each occasion with a very comfortable majority. His successor, since 2010, has been the quieter David Rutley, but he too has enjoyed a stable pattern of success in the Macclesfield constituency – his percentage share has scarcely varied in the most recent three general elections: 52.5% in 2015, 52.7% in 2017, and back to 52.5% in December 2019. Labour remain clearly in second place. Their share did advance by 14% when Jeremy Corbyn led a good campaign in 2017, but fell back by 4% when his appeal tarnished in 2019. Rutley’s current majority is 10,711 and it would take a swing of almost exactly 10% to remove him. This therefore is in effect an almost completely safe Conservative seat with substantial pockets of Labour support.
Before 2009 the seat’s boundaries encompassed most of the borough of Macclesfield, but then that was abolished and subsumed within Cheshire East unitary authority. Indeed the town of Macclesfield is situated right on the eastern edge of the county on the border with Derbyshire. It comprises about half the constituency. This former silk manufacturing centre has expanded greatly since the war, with the growth of new private estates pleasantly set on the edge of the Cheshire plain just beneath the Peak District foothills. There is still terraced and even working-class housing in central and south Macclesfield, and there are council estates at Weston in the west and Hurdsfield in the north-east, but more typical are the thousands of post-war private houses in estates like Tytherington and Bollinsbrook in the north and north-west of the town. Usually local council representation has been fairly even divided, though in May the Conservatives lost in all the Cheshire East wards within Macclesfield itself, including in Tytherington and East to Independents.
However, the Tory majority really piles up in the other part of the seat. This is the affluent Cheshire commuter belt for Manchester, including attractive villages like Gawsworth on the flatter ground and rising up to Macclesfield Forest, Pott Shrigley and Rainow in the hills, together with the larger communities of Disley, Poynton, Bollington and Prestbury. In the last named, which locally has the reputation of being the ‘richest village in England’, Rolls-Royces abound and the detached homes with external (mock) gas lamps and trim lawns are reminiscent of a wealthy American neighbourhood. Although Independents also won the council seats in Bollington and Disley in May 2019, these communities would not favour Labour in the two-way general election contest. Macclesfield’s electorate of 76,000 in 2019 is close to the national quota if 650 seats are retained for the House of Commons, which together with its geographical position on the edge of the county means that major boundary changes are unlikely even if a review is completed before the next general election. While Macclesfield is far from a monolithic Conservative seat, as the council reverses demonstrate, it is hard to see their hold on it at Westminster being seriously threatened, and David Rutley should continue the tradition of long serving MPs for Macclesfield.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 19.8% 142/650
Owner-occupied 74.5% 80/650
Private rented 12.2% 445/650
Social rented 11.6% 514/650
White 96.8% 243/650
Black 0.3% 461/650
Asian 1.8% 378/650
Managerial & professional 40.6%
Routine & Semi-routine 20.0%
Degree level 35.0% 91/650
No qualifications 18.2% 528/650
Students 6.0% 473/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 73.3% 82/573
Private rented 15.0% 436/573
Social rented 11.7% 444/573
White 95.2%
Black 0.6%
Asian 2.0%
Managerial & professional 42.4% 65/573
Routine & Semi-routine 18.9% 449/573
Degree level 40.7% 95/573
No qualifications 13.7% 486/573
General election 2019: Macclesfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Rutley 28,292 52.5 -0.2
Labour Neil Puttick 17,581 32.6 -4.2
Liberal Democrats Neil Christian 5,684 10.6 +4.4
Green James Booth 2,310 4.3 +2.1
C Majority 10,711 19.9 +4.0
Turnout 53,867 71.7 -1.5
Conservative hold
Swing +2.1 Lab to C, +2.3 C to LD
Boundary changes
In the Boundary Commission for England's initial, and revised, proposals for the North West, Macclesfield constituency is wholly unchanged from its present lines.
Before 2009 the seat’s boundaries encompassed most of the borough of Macclesfield, but then that was abolished and subsumed within Cheshire East unitary authority. Indeed the town of Macclesfield is situated right on the eastern edge of the county on the border with Derbyshire. It comprises about half the constituency. This former silk manufacturing centre has expanded greatly since the war, with the growth of new private estates pleasantly set on the edge of the Cheshire plain just beneath the Peak District foothills. There is still terraced and even working-class housing in central and south Macclesfield, and there are council estates at Weston in the west and Hurdsfield in the north-east, but more typical are the thousands of post-war private houses in estates like Tytherington and Bollinsbrook in the north and north-west of the town. Usually local council representation has been fairly even divided, though in May the Conservatives lost in all the Cheshire East wards within Macclesfield itself, including in Tytherington and East to Independents.
However, the Tory majority really piles up in the other part of the seat. This is the affluent Cheshire commuter belt for Manchester, including attractive villages like Gawsworth on the flatter ground and rising up to Macclesfield Forest, Pott Shrigley and Rainow in the hills, together with the larger communities of Disley, Poynton, Bollington and Prestbury. In the last named, which locally has the reputation of being the ‘richest village in England’, Rolls-Royces abound and the detached homes with external (mock) gas lamps and trim lawns are reminiscent of a wealthy American neighbourhood. Although Independents also won the council seats in Bollington and Disley in May 2019, these communities would not favour Labour in the two-way general election contest. Macclesfield’s electorate of 76,000 in 2019 is close to the national quota if 650 seats are retained for the House of Commons, which together with its geographical position on the edge of the county means that major boundary changes are unlikely even if a review is completed before the next general election. While Macclesfield is far from a monolithic Conservative seat, as the council reverses demonstrate, it is hard to see their hold on it at Westminster being seriously threatened, and David Rutley should continue the tradition of long serving MPs for Macclesfield.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 19.8% 142/650
Owner-occupied 74.5% 80/650
Private rented 12.2% 445/650
Social rented 11.6% 514/650
White 96.8% 243/650
Black 0.3% 461/650
Asian 1.8% 378/650
Managerial & professional 40.6%
Routine & Semi-routine 20.0%
Degree level 35.0% 91/650
No qualifications 18.2% 528/650
Students 6.0% 473/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 73.3% 82/573
Private rented 15.0% 436/573
Social rented 11.7% 444/573
White 95.2%
Black 0.6%
Asian 2.0%
Managerial & professional 42.4% 65/573
Routine & Semi-routine 18.9% 449/573
Degree level 40.7% 95/573
No qualifications 13.7% 486/573
General election 2019: Macclesfield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Rutley 28,292 52.5 -0.2
Labour Neil Puttick 17,581 32.6 -4.2
Liberal Democrats Neil Christian 5,684 10.6 +4.4
Green James Booth 2,310 4.3 +2.1
C Majority 10,711 19.9 +4.0
Turnout 53,867 71.7 -1.5
Conservative hold
Swing +2.1 Lab to C, +2.3 C to LD
Boundary changes
In the Boundary Commission for England's initial, and revised, proposals for the North West, Macclesfield constituency is wholly unchanged from its present lines.
