Post by Merseymike on Apr 23, 2020 21:50:06 GMT
This is, as it's name suggests, an area which runs from Kirkdale in the north down to Mossley Hill in the south of the city taking in all the words which face on to the Mersey. It is a safe Labour seat, but perhaps best known for turnout dropping to a miserable 34% in 2001 rising to 41% in 2005. In both years the constituency produced the smallest turnout of any in the UK. Since then it has risen to 65.7% , only marginally less than the national average. The most obvious change is the city centre development with a large number of newly built apartments and student accommodation. It seems unlikely that this could account for such a dramatic rise in its own.
The seat contains the city centre and all of its famous landmarks. The larger population in the city centre has not led to notably greater turnouts at local elections and the higher turnout nationally appears to come from it's more longstanding settlements. Four of its seven wards - Central, Riverside, Kirkdale as and Princes Park, containing most of the Toxteth area, are securely Labour, though their social characteristics are by no means identical. Princes Park contains much of Liverpool's longstanding BME population, whereas Kirkdale is a largely white working class area with much of the housing built in the Militant era. Both Central and Riverside contain areas of newly built apartments alongside areas of more notable urban blight - the Dingle, within Riverside ward being particularly bleak in parts. Those four wards contribute to the sizeable majority won by Liverpool's first BME MP, the locally-born Kim Johnson.
The three other wards are more varied. Mossley Hill, sometimes referred to as Muesli Hill for obvious reasons, followed the not untypical pattern of Liberal Democrat representation until 2011 when they lost each seat in turn, However they maintain a respectable second place except for 2015 when the Greens came in a surprising second. The other two wards - Greenbank and St. Michael's - are Liverpool's Green redoubts, holding all 3 councillors in St Michael's, which includes the boho Lark Lane area. One of the Green councillors is called Anna Key! The Greenbank ward was again LibDem territory but has seen some close local contests between Labour and Green. The Greens hold one of the three seats with Labour holding the other two, largely reflecting a controversial planning decision.
Nationally the Greens have never been able to transfer their local strength to the parliamentary seat and 2019 saw another Labour walkover with 78% of the vote. The previous MP resigned from the party after significant local party disagreement with her uncritical support for Israel and it is likely that she would have faced deselection. The choice of a popular local left-wing black candidate appeared to heal many of the local antagonisms and she is likely to remain the Labour MP for as long as she wishes to be.
The seat contains the city centre and all of its famous landmarks. The larger population in the city centre has not led to notably greater turnouts at local elections and the higher turnout nationally appears to come from it's more longstanding settlements. Four of its seven wards - Central, Riverside, Kirkdale as and Princes Park, containing most of the Toxteth area, are securely Labour, though their social characteristics are by no means identical. Princes Park contains much of Liverpool's longstanding BME population, whereas Kirkdale is a largely white working class area with much of the housing built in the Militant era. Both Central and Riverside contain areas of newly built apartments alongside areas of more notable urban blight - the Dingle, within Riverside ward being particularly bleak in parts. Those four wards contribute to the sizeable majority won by Liverpool's first BME MP, the locally-born Kim Johnson.
The three other wards are more varied. Mossley Hill, sometimes referred to as Muesli Hill for obvious reasons, followed the not untypical pattern of Liberal Democrat representation until 2011 when they lost each seat in turn, However they maintain a respectable second place except for 2015 when the Greens came in a surprising second. The other two wards - Greenbank and St. Michael's - are Liverpool's Green redoubts, holding all 3 councillors in St Michael's, which includes the boho Lark Lane area. One of the Green councillors is called Anna Key! The Greenbank ward was again LibDem territory but has seen some close local contests between Labour and Green. The Greens hold one of the three seats with Labour holding the other two, largely reflecting a controversial planning decision.
Nationally the Greens have never been able to transfer their local strength to the parliamentary seat and 2019 saw another Labour walkover with 78% of the vote. The previous MP resigned from the party after significant local party disagreement with her uncritical support for Israel and it is likely that she would have faced deselection. The choice of a popular local left-wing black candidate appeared to heal many of the local antagonisms and she is likely to remain the Labour MP for as long as she wishes to be.
