Comments on: Bolton West

By: Tory

Tory — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:50:11 +0000

I’ll get the ball rolling. Looking at the local election data, Labour might fancy their chances here, even if the Conservatives do well nationally. Tonge, Halliwell, and Crompton look strongly Labour. The Conservatives will be relying on Bromley Cross and Heaton I imagine.

By: Tory

Tory — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:43:21 +0000

The proposed boundary changes here are interesting. Anthony has ‘Bolton North’ as a Labour marginal (majority c.1800) but Channel 4 has it down as ‘probably Tory’. Any views?

By: Neil Turner

Neil Turner — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:12:06 +0000

The boundary change to include parts of Atherton did for the conservatives in this constituency. Had the old boundaries been maintained then Labour would have lost.

By: Joe James B

Joe James B — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 01:00:36 +0000

He was a Health Minister, and seemed fairly competent.

By: Andy JS

Andy JS — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:37:34 +0000

Only one mention of Tom Sackville on this thread (which wrongly states that he was first elected in 1979 rather than 1983). He must have been quite a low profile MP although he was a Home Office minister for a while. His main claim to fame today seems to be as chairman of an anti-cult organisation called the Family Survival Trust.

By: Joe James B

Joe James B — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:11:35 +0000

It’s good to see candidates making a difference here and there, in a bad election for their party,

although this was also exactly one of the seats which meant the Tories didn’t get an overall majority, which is disappointing from our point of view.

I’m not sure whether the boundary changes of 2010, removed all the advantage the Tories gained (fruitlessly) in the 1995-97 review, but it appears to have undone about two thirds of it.

By: Tim Jones

Tim Jones — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:55:40 +0000

‘I suspect the change of candidate did Labour no harm at all.’

This has always been a swing seat which has actually voted Labour mnore than Tory since the war, although the Tories doid well holding onto this up until 1997

It is more middle class than most Greater Manchester seats but I suspect this is one of the few cases in 2010 where he change of candidate resulted in a hold rather a loss

By: Joe James B

Joe James B — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:49:10 +0000

It’s not actually that bad a Con result either,
but Labour put up a good defence.
Having a local candidate seems to have paid off for them.

By: Barnaby Marder

Barnaby Marder — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:07:57 +0000

I suspect the change of candidate did Labour no harm at all.

By: Joe James B

Joe James B — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:42:48 +0000

Nik clearly has local knowledge.
It’s very difficult to tell,
but Julie Hilling seems like a good candidate who must have been worth a few extra votes.