Bury South
2010 Results:
Conservative: 16216 (33.6%)
Labour: 19508 (40.42%)
Liberal Democrat: 8796 (18.22%)
BNP: 1743 (3.61%)
UKIP: 1017 (2.11%)
Green: 493 (1.02%)
English Democrat: 494 (1.02%)
Majority: 3292 (6.82%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 21757 (50.5%)
Conservative: 12155 (28.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 7361 (17.1%)
Other: 1847 (4.3%)
Majority: 9602 (22.3%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 10829 (27.7%)
Labour: 19741 (50.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 6968 (17.8%)
UKIP: 1059 (2.7%)
Other: 557 (1.4%)
Majority: 8912 (22.8%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 10634 (26.9%)
Labour: 23406 (59.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 5499 (13.9%)
Majority: 12772 (32.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 16225 (32.2%)
Labour: 28658 (56.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 4227 (8.4%)
Referendum: 1216 (2.4%)
Majority: 12433 (24.7%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Ivan Lewis (Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Michelle Wiseman (Conservative) Chief Executive of Manchester Jewish Community Care. Bury Councillor since 2003.Ivan Lewis (Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Vic D`Albert (Liberal Democrat) 
George Heron (Green) Born 1946, Salford. Educated at Bury Grammar School and Leeds University. Teacher and lecturer.
Paul Chadwick (UKIP)Jean Purdy (BNP) 
Valerie Morris (English Democrat) Born 1966. Educated at Unsworth Comprehensive. Works in the clinical audit department of Manchester Children`s Hospital.2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 96347
Male: 48.3%
Female: 51.7%
Under 18: 24.6%
Over 60: 19.6%
Born outside UK: 5.9%
White: 94.7%
Black: 0.6%
Asian: 2.8%
Mixed: 1.3%
Other: 0.6%
Christian: 69.7%
Jewish: 8.9%
Muslim: 2.4%
Full time students: 2.8%
Graduates 16-74: 17.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 29.2%
Owner-Occupied: 74.4%
Social Housing: 16.6% (Council: 10.6%, Housing Ass.: 6%)
Privately Rented: 6.4%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 7%
The most recent industry in Bury South were the paper mills in Radcliffe. I seem to remember the last of them closing in the mid 1990s.
This is now very much a suburban seat full of Manchester commuters, with some very large Council estates and a complex Jewish community, which allows Labour to win this seat. The reality is that in an even year this should be Tory, if it wasnt for the collapse of their vote in Prestwich as the Lib Dems moved in.
Lab Hold= 5,000 maj
Jean Purdy will reportedly be standing here for the BNP.
Labour 18500
Conservative 15000
LD 6000
Green 1800
BNP 1000
ED 750
Lab Hold
Maj 3200
Lab hold maj 2000
Lab maj 2,500
Paul Chadwick is standing here for UKIP.
Conservative – 36%
Labour – 36%
Lib Dem – 23%
LAB HOLD
‘Barnaby the Brave!’
The conservaties did well here. It will be on the target list next time.
The results this May were awful in Bury South. The poor Tory perfomance in Pilkington Park was bad. The extremely strong Labour performance in Sedgley was worse.
There is nothing but posh Jewish suburbs in that ward. Very good omen for Labour’s chances of holding on here for a long time to come.
Sedgley is indeed a very strongly Jewish ward but I really wouldn’t describe it as posh. It’s standard not-very-middle-class owner-occupied. It’s interesting how Manchester’s Orthodox Jews seem to be Labour-inclined – see Labour’s consistent success in the similarly owner-occupied Kersal in Salford next door – unlike their counterparts in Stamford Hill/Stoke Newington/Clapton in London, at least in local elections. The most upmarket Jewish area in this constituency would probably be Stand, often described by its residents as simply “Whitefield”, certainly not Sedgley (Park).
I was recently sitting on a tram travelling through this constituency and there was a teenage girl sitting in front of me with – I couldn’t help noticing – some kind of tiny tattoo just behind her ear. After a while I realised it was a Star of David and then I remembered that this was an area with a large Jewish population. But I didn’t expect to be reminded of it in that particular fashion I must say.
Sedgley is the most Orthodox bit of Prestwich but it is also the most affluent. St Marys ward has some of the biggest houses but it also has a decent amount of council housing as well.
I have to agree that the level of the Labour vote in Sedgley in 2011 is a bit of a shock. Clearly a sign that the Lib Dems are toxic in north Manchester and that the Tories have little organisation on the ground in Prestwich.
I do think it was even more surprising that Labour won Holyrood, the third Prestwich ward. That ward contains Simister village and some very pleasant areas. Admittedly, there is also a big council estate as well, but Labour must have gotten a respectable vote in Simister to be able to win there.
I think that this seat is now Ivan Lewis’s until he retires or boundary changes alter it significantly. The Tories are just too weak in Prestwich.
“The most upmarket Jewish area in this constituency would probably be Stand, often described by its residents as simply “Whitefield””
Stand is in Pilkington Park ward where the the Tories only held on by 80 votes in May. It is much more secular Jewish than Sedgley Park. You are right that it is more upmarket than Prestwich.
Whitefield, being the other side of the M60 has demographically remained much more of a suburb than Prestwich. However, Whitefield has some areas that are much more deprived than anywhere in Preswich, most of this is in Besses ward.
It would be interesting to see what impact if any that the Coalition Government’s current policy re Israel and the Palestinian issue has on seats such as this one with a large Jewish population. Would Conservative support for a Palestinian state harm their chances amongst Jewish voters?
This should’ve read “Would the Conservative led Government’s support for a independent Palestinian state…”
On the face of it, Bury South would be a Conservative target in 2015. But the comments on here suggest it is trending Labour. Perhaps the party should focus its activities in Greater Manchester on Bolton North, Hazel Grove (and Poynton) and Cheadle instead.
Police have arrested 5 people here today on suspicion of corruption in a public office. 2 Tory Cllrs and 3 Council officials.
Census figures show 10,302 Jewish people in Bury compared to 2,613 in Manchester. Percentages are 5.57% and 0.52% respectively.
Salford: 7,687 (3.29%).
ht tp://bit.ly/TVXx84