Rochdale

Constituency profile

Rochdale is a constituency in Greater Manchester in North West England within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It covers the centre and east of the town of Rochdale, including the neighbourhoods of Shawclough, Wardleworth, Buckley, Belfield, Smallbridge and Balderstone. The constituency also covers the outlying towns and villages to the east of Rochdale, including Milnrow, Littleborough and Wardle.

Rochdale is a large town in the foothills of the Pennines that, like much of Greater Manchester and Lancashire, has an industrial heritage. It was one of the first industrialised towns and was a centre for textile manufacturing, especially wool and cotton. The decline of industry in the late 20th century left Rochdale highly-deprived which it remains today; most of the town falls within the top 10% most-deprived areas in England. Most residents live in dense terraced or semi-detached housing, largely built to accommodate industrial workers, and the average house price is around half the UK average.

Rochdale has a young average age with a low proportion of retirees. Residents have low levels of income and homeownership and the child poverty rate is double the UK-wide figure. They have low levels of education and a high proportion work in the health, retail and manufacturing sectors. The percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is almost twice the overall UK rate. White people made up 63% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, mostly of Pakistani origin, were the largest ethnic minority group at 29%. The Asian population was concentrated in the centre of Rochdale where they made up a majority of residents, whilst the outlying towns of Milnrow and Littleborough were over 90% White.

At the local borough council, most of the constituency is represented by Labour Party councillors with some Liberal Democrats in Milnrow, Workers Party representatives in the town centre and Reform UK councillors elected at the most recent election in 2026. An estimated 56% of voters in Rochdale supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the UK-wide rate of 52%.

Boundaries

Historic

As there were no township boundaries in 1832, the original constituency was defined as a circular area in a radius of three-quarters of a mile from the old market place in Rochdale. In 1868 the boundary was extended to include Wardleworth, Spotland, Wuerdle, Belfield, Newbold, Buersill, and Marland.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Rochdale

1950–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Balderstone, Brimrod and Deeplish, Castleton, Central and Falinge, Healey, Newbold, Norden and Bamford, Smallbridge and Wardleworth, and Spotland

1997–2010: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Balderstone, Brimrod and Deeplish, Central and Falinge, Healey, Littleborough, Newbold, Smallbridge and Wardleworth, Spotland, and Wardle

2010–2024: The Borough of Rochdale wards of Balderstone and Kirkholt, Central Rochdale, Healey, Kingsway, Littleborough Lakeside, Milkstone and Deeplish, Milnrow and Newhey, Smallbridge and Firgrove, Spotland and Falinge, and Wardle and West Littleborough

Current

Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was reduced in size to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the Spotland and Falinge ward (as it existed on 1 December 2020) to the renamed constituency of Heywood and Middleton North.

History

Rochdale was one of the constituencies created by the Reform Act 1832, and was a Labour Party/Liberal Democrat marginal for many years, although it was held by the Conservatives for part of the 1950s, until a 1958 by-election.

It was held for two decades by Cyril Smith, first of the Liberal Party and then of the Liberal Democrats. He won a by-election in 1972, taking the seat from Labour, and held it until his retirement in 1992. After Smith's death it emerged that he had been a serial child abuser.

Since Smith's retirement, contests have been tighter. The Liberal Democrats held the seat with Liz Lynne at the 1992 general election, but lost to Labour's Lorna Fitzsimons at the 1997 election. However, the Liberal Democrats regained the seat at the 2005 election, with Paul Rowen.

In 2010, the town was brought to national attention when the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown was caught on a tape recording describing a local woman, Gillian Duffy, as a "bigot" after having a conversation with her while campaigning (later described as Bigotgate by the UK media). Despite this unfavourable publicity, Labour still managed to narrowly win the seat from the Liberal Democrats; and in 2015 achieved their highest majority in the seat's history, with the Liberal Democrats falling to fourth place.

Demographics

The population was recorded as 114,386 in 2021. The ethnic composition was 62.7% White, 29.6% Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh, and 3.1% Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African. The religious composition was 38.1% Christian, 30.5% Muslim, and 0.9% other. 26.0% claimed no religious affiliation.

Results

Elections in the 2020s

Vote share changes for the 2024 election are compared to the notional results from the 2019 election, not the 2024 by-election.

Elections in the 2010s

The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010 reported that based on the notional 2005 result on the new boundaries the Labour vote had fallen by 4.5% and the Liberal Democrat vote had fallen by 6.1%, while the Conservative voteshare increased by 7.6%.

Elections in the 1910s

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

British Socialist Party: Tom Kennedy

Elections in the 1860s

Caused by Cobden's death.

Elections in the 1830s

Caused by Entwistle's death