Post by Robert Waller on Nov 30, 2022 19:06:41 GMT
Set directly between Liverpool and Manchester, though closer to the former and having been placed within the metropolitan county of Merseyside, the substantial town of St Helens presents a contrast with its larger and much better known neighbours. It is perceived by some to lack both the distinguished history and the cultural clout of either. Liverpool and Manchester between them have four Premier League football clubs, three of which at least are among the most famous and wealthy in the world. By contrast St Helens has no soccer team in the top nine tiers of the English pyramid. But they do have the rugby league side that have won the last four Super League titles between 2019 and 2022, so by any reckoning are the most successful in Britain at the time of writing. The town has also produced notable boxers and darts players aplenty. Nevertheless the northern big cities do tend to look down on folk from St Helens, dubbing them ‘Woollybacks’. St Helens may be one of the least known large towns of over 100,000 population in the United Kingdom.
Despite some analysts identifying a distinct difference between the recent electoral trends between cities and towns in England, in political terms, the St Helens seats behave more like the cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester. In December 2019, for example, the swing from Labour to Conservative in St Helens South & Whiston was only 4%, well below the national average. There is an interesting contrast with another large ‘town seat’ not far away, Wigan, where a prominent MP, Lisa Nandy, suffered a 15.5% drop in her share of vote and a negative swing of 9.4%. This different behaviour can only partly be ascribed to attitudes to the dominant Brexit issue. St Helens borough voted to Leave by 58% to 42%, whereas Liverpool entered a small majority for Remain. Wigan’s Leave vote was a little higher at 63%, but St Helens remained more loyal to Labour than most other ‘white working class’ towns in 2019. It is hard not to explain this by its proximity to the Merseyside sub-region, whatever the differences in accent and self-identification.
It should also be pointed out that both the St Helens seats include territory outside the main urban unit. In the case of South & Whiston this both increases the ‘town’ element but also the proximity to the core of Merseyside. Whiston (population 14,000), which is recognized in the constituency name, is actually within the borough of Knowsley and situated just east of Huyton. The seat also currently includes at least half of Prescot in the form of its East ward (largely renamed South recently), which contains the railway station, the Shakespeare North theatre and the south side of the High Street. Many in Prescot do consider themselves ‘Scouse’ – indeed a friend of mine originally from the Scottish Highlands who was secretary of Prescot Cables FC took the internet league forum moniker of ‘McScouse’. Even within St Helens borough, there are communities that look towards the Mersey, such as Rainhill (population, 11,000), a famous name in early railway history (the Rainhill Trials of 1827) and still on the line into Lime Street. Rainhill’s cricket team play in the Liverpool Competition. Bold & Lea Green ward is also outside the main contiguous built up area of St Helens.
Half of the ten wards within this constituency are clearly set in St Helens itself. This amounts to slightly more than half of the population of the town (total population 103,000 in 2021) and takes in the town centre, West Park and the outer west suburb of Eccleston, and Sutton to the south. St Helens was yet another northern creation of the Industrial Revolution, as a centre for coal mining , with pits at Bold, Sutton Manor, Lea Green, Alexandra, Ravenhead and Cronton, which was the last to close in 1982
www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/lancashire-coalfield/st-helens-coalfield/
However it is best known for glass manufacture. Pilkington’s has a reputation for traditionally being the largest employer in St Helens, still with a massive factory south of the centre. There were also other traditional industries such as Greenall’s brewery (older than that at Warrington but closed in 1975) and Beecham’s pharmaceuticals, but now, while still harsh and functional of aspect, the scenery is dominated by retail parks, packing centres, warehouses for such as car parks, and sundry other unglamorous activities. The most striking sector of employment above average levels is in human health and social work occupations.
Its other demographics show that overall St Helens South & Whiston is a predominantly working class seat with a lower educational achievement profile than average, and slightly more social housing. It is still very largely composed of white residents according to the 2021 census figures, and still amongst the top twenty seats for ‘born in England’ and also of those identifying as Christian, even with the well publicized reception of the national decline of that religion on the release in late November 2022 of the updated 2021 figures. 62.3% of respondents in St Helens borough stated that they were Christian compared with 46.3% on average in England. This figure is slightly exceeded in Knowsley and Sefton, very similar to Wigan, but is higher than Liverpool and much higher than Manchester. There does not therefore seem to be any clear relationship between the persistence of Christian identification and voting trends.
The local election results within St Helens South & Whiston do not really reflect its solid loyalty to Labour in parliamentary terms. Labour have not won Eccleston ward in the past fifty years. Until 1987 it was Conservative, and since then pretty much universally Liberal Democrat. The LDs also topped the poll in a newly drawn ward, Sutton SE, in May 2022. Independents gained Rainhill from Labour in 2018 and have won it three more times since. Another new development to Labour’s disfavour has been the rise of the Greens in the south of the constituency, winning all three seats under new boundaries in Bold & Lea Green in 2022. They also won Prescot South in the Knowsley section. This leaves the only wards that Labour actually took in St Helens itself in the most recent local contests as Town Centre, West Park, Thatto Heath and Sutton NW. Nevertheless, as the Liberal Democrats and Greens make very little impact in parliamentary elections, managing only just over 10% between them in 2019, Labour has little to worry about in Westminster terms. The Conservatives, a distant second then, have no local success within the South seat at all.
In fact, the nearest the Tories did come in 2022 was in the Whiston and Cronton parts of Knowsley; and these are to be reduced in the forthcoming boundary changes. St Helens South & Whiston is a little oversized, with an electorate of 79,058 in 2019. Initially more sweeping changes were proposed, including the swap of Town Centre ward for Parr ward from St Helens North, but after review, a recommendation favoured by Marie Rimmer MP was adopted by the Commission, which splits the Whiston & Cronton ward. Polling district WC5 from the Whiston & Cronton ward would also be included in the constituency. The split of this ward would follow the Liverpool to Manchester railway line, a recognisable physical feature that the counter-proposal stated is used 13 times as a ward or polling district boundary in the Knowsley Council This counter-proposal also resulted in Whiston Hospital being included in the St Helens South constituency, and it was restored to its present name.
boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/b65f7782-658b-4c4a-9cba-59c16c807f77/a3-maps/NW_58_St%20Helens%20South%20and%20Whiston%20BC.pdf
If Marie Rimmer stands again (she was a late arrival to the Commons at the age of 68 in 2015) she should have no problems in this slightly redrawn seat. Elements in Liverpool and Manchester may continue to look down somewhat on their smaller, and underestimated, neighbour, but it is every bit as much a loyal part of the true ‘Red Wall’ of North west England – and both St Helens North and St Helens South & Whiston are disproofs of the theory that Labour can only win in cities, and not in towns.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 17.9% 239/650
Owner-occupied 66.8% 333/650
Private rented 11.1% 519/650
Social rented 20.3% 211/650
White 97.4% 191/650
Black 0.2% 543/650
Asian 1.4% 417/650
Christian 79.1% 5/650
Born in England 95.6% 17/650
Managerial & professional 25.4%
Routine & Semi-routine 32.4%
Employed in human health and social work 17.8% 17/650
Degree level 20.3% 499 /650
No qualifications 28.8% 127/650
Students 6.8% 331/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 63.7% 338/573
Private rented 17.2% 338/573
Social rented 19.2% 179/573
White 95.6%
Black 0.6%
Asian 2.1%
Managerial & professional 27.8% 409/573
Routine & Semi-routine 29.4% 105/573
Degree level 27.1% 418/573
No qualifications 21.9% 125/573
General Election 2019: St Helens South and Whiston
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marie Rimmer 29,457 58.5 −9.3
Conservative Richard Short 10,335 20.5 −1.3
Brexit Party Daniel Oxley 5,353 10.6 New
Liberal Democrats Brian Spencer 2,886 5.7 +1.7
Green Kai Taylor 2,282 4.5 +1.8
Lab Majority 19,122 38.0 −8.0
2019 electorate 79,058
Turnout 50,313 63.6 −3.3
Labour hold
Swing 4.0 Lab to C
Despite some analysts identifying a distinct difference between the recent electoral trends between cities and towns in England, in political terms, the St Helens seats behave more like the cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester. In December 2019, for example, the swing from Labour to Conservative in St Helens South & Whiston was only 4%, well below the national average. There is an interesting contrast with another large ‘town seat’ not far away, Wigan, where a prominent MP, Lisa Nandy, suffered a 15.5% drop in her share of vote and a negative swing of 9.4%. This different behaviour can only partly be ascribed to attitudes to the dominant Brexit issue. St Helens borough voted to Leave by 58% to 42%, whereas Liverpool entered a small majority for Remain. Wigan’s Leave vote was a little higher at 63%, but St Helens remained more loyal to Labour than most other ‘white working class’ towns in 2019. It is hard not to explain this by its proximity to the Merseyside sub-region, whatever the differences in accent and self-identification.
It should also be pointed out that both the St Helens seats include territory outside the main urban unit. In the case of South & Whiston this both increases the ‘town’ element but also the proximity to the core of Merseyside. Whiston (population 14,000), which is recognized in the constituency name, is actually within the borough of Knowsley and situated just east of Huyton. The seat also currently includes at least half of Prescot in the form of its East ward (largely renamed South recently), which contains the railway station, the Shakespeare North theatre and the south side of the High Street. Many in Prescot do consider themselves ‘Scouse’ – indeed a friend of mine originally from the Scottish Highlands who was secretary of Prescot Cables FC took the internet league forum moniker of ‘McScouse’. Even within St Helens borough, there are communities that look towards the Mersey, such as Rainhill (population, 11,000), a famous name in early railway history (the Rainhill Trials of 1827) and still on the line into Lime Street. Rainhill’s cricket team play in the Liverpool Competition. Bold & Lea Green ward is also outside the main contiguous built up area of St Helens.
Half of the ten wards within this constituency are clearly set in St Helens itself. This amounts to slightly more than half of the population of the town (total population 103,000 in 2021) and takes in the town centre, West Park and the outer west suburb of Eccleston, and Sutton to the south. St Helens was yet another northern creation of the Industrial Revolution, as a centre for coal mining , with pits at Bold, Sutton Manor, Lea Green, Alexandra, Ravenhead and Cronton, which was the last to close in 1982
www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/lancashire-coalfield/st-helens-coalfield/
However it is best known for glass manufacture. Pilkington’s has a reputation for traditionally being the largest employer in St Helens, still with a massive factory south of the centre. There were also other traditional industries such as Greenall’s brewery (older than that at Warrington but closed in 1975) and Beecham’s pharmaceuticals, but now, while still harsh and functional of aspect, the scenery is dominated by retail parks, packing centres, warehouses for such as car parks, and sundry other unglamorous activities. The most striking sector of employment above average levels is in human health and social work occupations.
Its other demographics show that overall St Helens South & Whiston is a predominantly working class seat with a lower educational achievement profile than average, and slightly more social housing. It is still very largely composed of white residents according to the 2021 census figures, and still amongst the top twenty seats for ‘born in England’ and also of those identifying as Christian, even with the well publicized reception of the national decline of that religion on the release in late November 2022 of the updated 2021 figures. 62.3% of respondents in St Helens borough stated that they were Christian compared with 46.3% on average in England. This figure is slightly exceeded in Knowsley and Sefton, very similar to Wigan, but is higher than Liverpool and much higher than Manchester. There does not therefore seem to be any clear relationship between the persistence of Christian identification and voting trends.
The local election results within St Helens South & Whiston do not really reflect its solid loyalty to Labour in parliamentary terms. Labour have not won Eccleston ward in the past fifty years. Until 1987 it was Conservative, and since then pretty much universally Liberal Democrat. The LDs also topped the poll in a newly drawn ward, Sutton SE, in May 2022. Independents gained Rainhill from Labour in 2018 and have won it three more times since. Another new development to Labour’s disfavour has been the rise of the Greens in the south of the constituency, winning all three seats under new boundaries in Bold & Lea Green in 2022. They also won Prescot South in the Knowsley section. This leaves the only wards that Labour actually took in St Helens itself in the most recent local contests as Town Centre, West Park, Thatto Heath and Sutton NW. Nevertheless, as the Liberal Democrats and Greens make very little impact in parliamentary elections, managing only just over 10% between them in 2019, Labour has little to worry about in Westminster terms. The Conservatives, a distant second then, have no local success within the South seat at all.
In fact, the nearest the Tories did come in 2022 was in the Whiston and Cronton parts of Knowsley; and these are to be reduced in the forthcoming boundary changes. St Helens South & Whiston is a little oversized, with an electorate of 79,058 in 2019. Initially more sweeping changes were proposed, including the swap of Town Centre ward for Parr ward from St Helens North, but after review, a recommendation favoured by Marie Rimmer MP was adopted by the Commission, which splits the Whiston & Cronton ward. Polling district WC5 from the Whiston & Cronton ward would also be included in the constituency. The split of this ward would follow the Liverpool to Manchester railway line, a recognisable physical feature that the counter-proposal stated is used 13 times as a ward or polling district boundary in the Knowsley Council This counter-proposal also resulted in Whiston Hospital being included in the St Helens South constituency, and it was restored to its present name.
boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/b65f7782-658b-4c4a-9cba-59c16c807f77/a3-maps/NW_58_St%20Helens%20South%20and%20Whiston%20BC.pdf
If Marie Rimmer stands again (she was a late arrival to the Commons at the age of 68 in 2015) she should have no problems in this slightly redrawn seat. Elements in Liverpool and Manchester may continue to look down somewhat on their smaller, and underestimated, neighbour, but it is every bit as much a loyal part of the true ‘Red Wall’ of North west England – and both St Helens North and St Helens South & Whiston are disproofs of the theory that Labour can only win in cities, and not in towns.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 17.9% 239/650
Owner-occupied 66.8% 333/650
Private rented 11.1% 519/650
Social rented 20.3% 211/650
White 97.4% 191/650
Black 0.2% 543/650
Asian 1.4% 417/650
Christian 79.1% 5/650
Born in England 95.6% 17/650
Managerial & professional 25.4%
Routine & Semi-routine 32.4%
Employed in human health and social work 17.8% 17/650
Degree level 20.3% 499 /650
No qualifications 28.8% 127/650
Students 6.8% 331/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 63.7% 338/573
Private rented 17.2% 338/573
Social rented 19.2% 179/573
White 95.6%
Black 0.6%
Asian 2.1%
Managerial & professional 27.8% 409/573
Routine & Semi-routine 29.4% 105/573
Degree level 27.1% 418/573
No qualifications 21.9% 125/573
General Election 2019: St Helens South and Whiston
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marie Rimmer 29,457 58.5 −9.3
Conservative Richard Short 10,335 20.5 −1.3
Brexit Party Daniel Oxley 5,353 10.6 New
Liberal Democrats Brian Spencer 2,886 5.7 +1.7
Green Kai Taylor 2,282 4.5 +1.8
Lab Majority 19,122 38.0 −8.0
2019 electorate 79,058
Turnout 50,313 63.6 −3.3
Labour hold
Swing 4.0 Lab to C
