Election 97

Bolton West

Current MP Tom Sackville
Conservative 97 17,270
Labour 97 24,342
LibDem 97 5,309
Nationalist 97 0
Other 97 1,374
Elected party
Bolton West

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Bolton West
Conservative 92 24,619
Labour 92 20,338
LibDem 92 6,862
Nationalist 92 0
Other 92 208
Elected party Conservative

The same boundary change that has done the Conservatives so much damage in Bolton North East has improved their chances of defending Bolton West. The inner-city ward of Halliwell, with its high-density terraced housing and Asian minority population has been moved out of West, which includes Bolton's premier residential areas out in Deane-cum-Heaton and Smithills. Tom Sackville only held West by just over 1,000 votes in 1992, but without Halliwell his lead would have been more like 4,000.

This means that Labour need a swing of more like 5 per cent than 1 per cent to seize Bolton West next time; and this they will only do if they win the general election as a whole with an overall majority.


Super Profiles

3,881 11.46 9.03 127
3,236 9.55 11.17 86
4,119 12.16 11.25 108
10,739 31.71 14.70 216
309 0.91 10.45 9
46 0.14 2.81 5
1,906 5.63 8.01 70
3,929 11.60 15.25 76
3,313 9.78 7.13 137
2,172 6.41 10.17 63