| Bolton West | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1950 |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Previous: | Bolton |
| Population: | 94,523 (2011 census)[1] |
| Electorate: | 72,125 (2023) [2] |
| Mp: | Phil Brickell |
| Party: | Labour |
| Region: | England |
| Towns: | Atherton, Blackrod, Heaton, Horwich, Westhoughton |
| County: | Greater Manchester |
| European: | North West England |
Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Phil Brickell, a Labour Party politician.
The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separate villages and towns, these buffer zones most often designated as Green belt, which includes areas for sport such as the ground of Bolton Wanderers at the University of Bolton Stadium. It includes the generally affluent towns of Blackrod, Horwich and Westhoughton in the western half of Bolton borough though in 2010 Atherton from the Wigan borough was added, a more Labour-leaning former coal mining town. To date the seat has been a marginal seat between the Labour and the Conservative parties, however as of the 2019 election, it was also the safest Conservative seat in Greater Manchester, with a larger majority than Altrincham and Sale West. This was overturned when the seat was won by Labour in the 2024 election.
There were major boundary changes to Bolton West in 1983 when part of its area went to create Bolton North East, but compensated by taking most of the former Westhoughton constituency. 2010 saw the town of Atherton added from the Wigan borough, previously in the Leigh constituency. In 2024, Atherton was transferred back out to the new constituency of Leigh and Atherton, and offset by the addition of Hulton ward from the abolished Bolton South East.
1950–1983: The County Borough of Bolton wards of Deane-cum-Lostock, Derby, Halliwell, Heaton, Rumworth, Smithills, and West.
1983–1997: The Borough of Bolton wards of Blackrod, Deane-cum-Heaton, Halliwell, Horwich, Hulton Park, Smithills, and Westhoughton.
1997–2010: The Borough of Bolton wards of Blackrod, Deane-cum-Heaton, Horwich, Hulton Park, Smithills, and Westhoughton.
2010–2024: The Borough of Bolton wards of Heaton and Lostock, Horwich and Blackrod, Horwich North East, Smithills, Westhoughton North and Chew Moor, and Westhoughton South, and the Borough of Wigan ward of Atherton.
2024–present: The Borough of Bolton wards of Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor; Horwich North; Horwich South & Blackrod; Hulton (part); Smithills; Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill; Westhoughton South; and Rumworth (part).[3] [4]
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | John Lewis | ||
| 1951 | Arthur Holt | ||
| 1964 | Gordon Oakes | ||
| 1970 | Robert Redmond | ||
| October 1974 | Ann Taylor | ||
| 1983 | Tom Sackville | ||
| 1997 | Ruth Kelly | ||
| 2010 | Julie Hilling | ||
| 2015 | Chris Green | ||
| 2024 | Phil Brickell | ||
| 2019 notional result[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 28,197 | 56.5 | ||
| 17,578 | 35.2 | ||
| 2,815 | 5.6 | ||
| 893 | 1.8 | ||
| 385 | 0.8 | ||
| Turnout | 49,868 | 69.1 | |
| Electorate | 72,125 | ||