Over the past 35 years Manchester Withington has elected all three major parties. Mostly Conservative before 1987, it even resisted being gained by Labour in its massive landslide victories in 1945 and 1966. However, in 1987 the seat turned red for the first time and remained so until 2005 when it was gained by Liberal Democrat John Leech. Leech took the seat with an 18% swing – the largest of the 2005 General Election. He held it against future Manchester CentralMPLucy Powell in 2010. Amidst a UK-wide collapse in support for the Lib Dems, the seat swung back to Labour in 2015 and since 2017 has now become one of the safest Labour seats in the country, with an almost 30,000 majority for Jeff Smith. Demographically contrasting with neighbouring inner-city seats with similarly high Labour majorities, it is the most affluent of all the Manchester seats, as it includes high-income, highly-educated areas such as Didsbury and Chorlton.
Historic boundaries
1918–1950
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, and Withington.
1950–1955
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Rusholme and Withington.
1955–1974
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Levenshulme, Old Moat, and Withington.
1974–1983
Manchester Withington consisted of the County Borough of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington.
1983–2010
Manchester Withington consisted of the City of Manchester wards of Barlow Moor, Burnage, Chorlton, Didsbury, Old Moat, and Withington.
Boundaries
From 2010 to the present day Manchester Withington consists of the City of Manchester wards of:
is the current Labour MP for the constituency. He was elected at the 2015 general election, defeating the Liberal Democrat incumbent John Leech who had held the seat since 2005. Both of the major parties' losing candidates in the 2010 election became MPs elsewhere at the next election, Lucy Powell of Labour in Manchester Central in a 2012 by-election and Conservative Chris Green in Bolton West in 2015.
Constituency profile
This constituency contains the medium-to-high income average areas of Chorlton and Didsbury, as well as mixed Old Moat and Withington neighbourhoods. Manchester Withington is a seat south of Manchester's city centre with a sizeable student population and particularly high in young professionals and graduates.
