Election 97

Bury South


Result 97 gain
from Conservative
Current MP 97 David Sumberg
Majority 0 ( 0.0%)
Conservative 97 16,225 (32.2%)
Labour 97 28,658 (56.9%)
LibDem 97 4,227 ( 8.4%)
Nationalist 97 0 ( 0.0%)
Other 97 1,216 ( 2.4%)
Elected party 97
Electorate 97 66,568
Turnout 97 50,326 (75.6%)



1992 MP David Sumberg
Old constituency name Bury South
Majority 92 728 ( 1.3%)
Conservative 92 24,925 (46.0%)
Labour 92 24,197 (44.6%)
LibDem 92 4,853 ( 9.0%)
Nationalist 92 0 ( 0.0%)
Other 92 229 ( 0.4%)
Elected party 92 Conservative
Electorate 92 66,391
Turnout 92 54,204 (81.6%)
Bury South



Tory change -13.7%
Labour change +12.3%
Lib Dem change -0.6%
Nationalist change +0.0%
Other change +2.0%
Electorate change +0.3%
Turnout Change -6.0%
Robert Waller wrote

The less safe of the two marginal Tory seats in Bury, north of Manchester, is its southern division. In 1992 David Sumberg held off a strong Labour challenge by just 788 votes (while his colleague Alastair Burt won North by nearly 5,000). there are no boundary changes in the borough of Bury, and Sumberg will count himself very lucky if he can hold on next time against the predicted swing to New Labour.

Bury South contains little of the town of Bury itself, but rather centres on a number of communities between Bury and Manchester's northern edge. Chief among these are Radcliffe, predominantly working-class, and Prestwich, which is generally believed to be more middle-class and suitable for commuters. There is also a substantial Jewish population in this area, although it is unclear which, if any, party that this helps. The Jewish community in Britain tends to be a little more inclined to Labour than average when socio-economic class is taken into account - but also more middle-class than average, which might cancel this out.

All in all, there should be another interesting contest in Bury South, with the odds on a Labour gain in one of their three leading target seats in the north western region. Or to put it another way: if Labour do not win Bury South they have little chance of winning the general election as a whole.


Super Profiles

4,640 12.27 9.03 136
3,229 8.54 11.17 76
6,475 17.13 11.25 152
8,662 22.91 14.70 156
565 1.49 10.45 14
0 0.00 2.81 0
4,442 11.75 8.01 147
4,209 11.13 15.25 73
2,277 6.02 7.13 84
2,966 7.85 10.17 77