Salford is a borough constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency was re-established for the 2024 general election and is represented by Rebecca Long-Bailey of the Labour Party. Long-Bailey was MP for the predecessor seat of Salford and Eccles from 2015 to 2024.
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Constituency profile
Salford is a constituency in Greater Manchester in North West England. It covers the central and northern areas of the city of Salford, including the neighbourhoods of Ordsall, Weaste, Seedley, Little Bolton, Irlams o' th' Height, Pendlebury, Clifton, parts of Swinton, Pendleton, Broughton and Blackfriars.
An economically diverse area that has seen much regeneration over the past 25 years through slum clearance and flagship developments such as MediaCityUK, home of BBC and ITV in the north, and The Lowry at Salford Quays, though some areas are relatively deprived. The constituency stretches from the Blackfriars and Trinity areas, on the border of Manchester City Centre, featuring new high-rise apartments with high levels of graduates and professional workers, similarly Salford Quays, along with relatively working class areas of inner-city Salford such as Weaste and Seedley with higher proportions of social housing, through to the residential suburbs of Swinton, Clifton and Pendlebury in the Irwell Valley. The presence of the University of Salford also means there is a sizeable proportion of students in the constituency. In addition to the MediaCityUK and The Lowry development which attracts millions of visitors annually, other points of interest in the area include Clifton Country Park, Peel Park, and Ordsall Hall.
Salford forms part of Manchester's urban area and lies immediately to the west of Manchester city centre across the River Irwell, although it legally retains its own separate city status. Like much of Greater Manchester and Lancashire, Salford was an important centre for textile manufacturing during the industrial era, especially silk and cotton spinning. Coal mining was also present in the Pendlebury area. These industries have mostly disappeared and Salford experienced economic decline in the late 20th century due to deindustrialisation. The city was also a major inland port; the dockyards have now been redeveloped and contain MediaCityUK, a significant centre for media and television production.
There are high levels of deprivation in Salford city centre where many residents live in dense, socially rented terraces and flats. The redeveloped dockyards and the Blackfriars area close to Manchester city centre are wealthier, with many expensive high-rise apartments. The west of the constituency around Little Bolton is more affluent and suburban in character with larger, semi-detached homes. House prices across the constituency are similar to the rest of North West England and lower than the UK average.
History
The constituency was first established as a single-member parliamentary borough by the Reform Act 1832. It returned two MPs from 1868. It was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when it was replaced by three single member (North, South and West).
The borough constituency was created for the 1997 general election, primarily from the abolished Salford East seat. This was abolished and absorbed into the new Salford and Eccles constituency for the 2010 election.
From 1997-2010 this was a very safe Labour seat which had some of the UK's most deprived areas, typified by council estates like Ordsall, Pendleton and Langworthy, which were due for apparent redevelopment. Higher Broughton has a considerable Jewish population and has some very decent residential housing, but during this period Labour were usually in the lead at local level; the Conservatives, like all the other neighbouring Manchester seats, tended to be in third place in General Elections before the decline of the Liberal Democrats in 2015.
Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established (though is not identical to its 1997 incarnation) for the 2024 general election, replacing the now abolished Salford and Eccles seat once again.
Boundaries
1832–1885
In 1832 the constituency was formed from the townships of Broughton, Pendleton and Salford, with part of the township of Pendlebury. The exact boundaries were defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832:
From the Northernmost Point at which the Boundary of the Township of Salford meets the Boundary of the Township of Broughton, Northward, along the Boundary of the Township of Broughton, to the Point at which the same meets the Boundary of the Township of Pendleton; thence, Westward, along the Boundary of the Township of Pendleton to the Point at which the same meets the Boundary of the detached Portion of the Township of Pendlebury; thence, Southward, along the Boundary of the detached Portion of the Township of Pendlebury to the Point at which the same meets the Boundary of the Township of Salford; thence, Westward, along the Boundary of the Township of Salford to the Point first described.
In 1883 the detached portion of Pendlebury was absorbed by Pendleton.
1997–2010
The constituency was re-created for the 1997 election. It boundaries were defined by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995, and consisted of eight wards of the City of Salford: Blackfriars, Broughton, Claremont, Kersal, Langworthy, Ordsall, Pendleton, and Weaste & Seedley.
2010 boundary review
Following its review of parliamentary representation in Greater Manchester, which was enacted in 2010, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that the City of Salford be split into three new constituencies:
Blackley and Broughton, a cross-border constituency formed with wards in the to-be-abolished Manchester Blackley seat.
Salford and Eccles took the most of the existing Salford seat and married it with central electoral wards of Eccles.
Worsley and Eccles South brought Walkden, Worsley and parts of Eccles together in a new seat following the removal of the Wigan-Salford link.
Current
Further to the 2023 boundary review, from the 2024 general election, the re-established constituency is composed of the following wards of the City of Salford (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Blackfriars & Trinity; Broughton; Claremont; Ordsall; Pendlebury & Clifton; Pendleton & Charlestown; Quays; Swinton Park; Weaste & Seedley.
The constituency now comprises the majority of, and replaces, the constituency of Salford and Eccles - excluding the town of Eccles and Swinton town centre, which formed part of the new constituency of Worsley and Eccles. The town of Swinton was split, with residential areas in the Swinton Park ward instead joining this constituency.
It also includes Broughton, previously part of the abolished constituency of Blackley and Broughton. The ward of Kersal and Broughton Park, the other Salford City ward of that constituency, joined Bury South.
The new constituency varies from its 1997 version by inclusion of the Salford suburbs of Swinton and Pendlebury (which were in the now-defunct Eccles constituency), and exclusion of Kersal and Broughton Park which was annexed to Bury South for the first time.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 1870s
Caused by Cawley's death.
Elections in the 1860s
Seat increased to two members
Caused by Massey's resignation after his appointment as a member of the Council of India.
Elections in the 1850s
Caused by Brotherton's death