Weaver Vale is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Mike Amesbury, a member of the Labour Party.. It takes its name from the River Weaver, which flows through the area, and much of the area was part of the former District of Vale Royal. Weaver Vale is one of seven seats won by a Labour candidate in 2017 from a total of 11 covering its county. Amesbury's 2017 win was one of 30 net gains of the Labour Party, three of which came from the county Cheshire. The seat has been considered relative to others a marginal seat, as well as a swing seat, since 2005 as its winner's majority has not exceeded 7.8% of the vote since the 17.4% majority won in 2005 and the seat has changed hands twice since that year.
Boundaries
1997–2010: The District of Vale Royal wards of Castle, Church, Forest, Frodsham East, Frodsham North West, Frodsham South, Gorst Wood, Hartford, Helsby Central, Helsby North, Helsby South and Alvanley Ward, Kingsley, Milton, Northwich, Weaver, Winnington, Witton North, and Witton South, and the Borough of Halton wards of Brookfields, Castlefields, Clough, Daresbury, Murdishaw, and Norton. 2010–present: The Cheshire West and Chester wards of Forest, Frodsham North, Frodsham South, Hartford and Whitegate, Helsby, Kingsley, Davenham, Leftwich and Kingsmead, Milton Weaver, Northwich Castle, Northwich Winnington, Northwich Witton, and Weaverham, and the Borough of Halton wards of Beechwood, Daresbury, Halton Lea, Norton North, Norton South, and Windmill Hill. The constituency covers the northern part of the Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority in Cheshire, including the towns of Northwich and Frodsham and the villages of Helsby and Weaverham. It also includes part of the borough of Halton, covering the easternmost suburbs of Runcorn.
History
Weaver Vale was created in 1997 from parts of Eddisbury, Tatton, Halton, and Warrington South, when the number of constituencies in Cheshire was increased from 10 to 11. From the 1997 general election, the seat was held by the Labour Party's Mike Hall, who first entered Parliament in 1992 for Warrington South. Labour held the seat relatively easily in the succeeding two general elections however lost the 2010 election here on a swing of 8.15% with minor boundary changes mentioned likely affecting this swing. In February 2010 Mike Hall, who had held the seat since it was created in 1997, announced that he was standing down at the 2010 election due to health reasons. Graham Evans held the seat from 2010-2017. The present MP is Mike Amesbury, elected during the 2017 general election and was returned with a reduced majority in 2019.
Constituency profile
The area has economic sectors as diverse as plastics and chemicals to construction. Other areas include telecommunications/bank communication centres, with in addition, a large national bakery and a supermarket distribution centre. Salt used to comprise a major mining industry of the area, much more of which is extracted today from large reserves in Northern Ireland. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 slightly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian. This was, however, lower than the regional average of 4.4%. Northwich and the wards from Halton are inclined to vote Labour, whereas Frodsham, Helsby and the smaller rural villages are more Conservative.
