Morecambe and Lunesdale

Morecambe and Lunesdale is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Lizzi Collinge for Labour.

Constituency profile

Morecambe and Lunesdale is a constituency in North West England, covering parts of Lancashire and Cumbria. It is named after its largest town, Morecambe, which has a population of around 33,000, and the rural river valley of Lunesdale (or Lonsdale) to the town's northeast. Other settlements in the constituency include the large coastal village of Heysham, which is contiguous with Morecambe, the small towns of Carnforth, Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh and the villages of Slyne-with-Hest and Bolton-le-Sands.

Morecambe is a seaside resort town developed during the Victorian era. Like many coastal towns in England, its economy suffered in the late 20th century with the decline in tourism, and today the town is highly-deprived. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations and a large ferry and freight port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. The rural Lunesdale area is affluent and contains many historic small towns and villages. This area is popular with tourists due to its location adjacent to the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Parks. House prices across the constituency are generally similar to the rest of North West England and lower than the national average.

A large proportion of the constituency's residents are retired. In general, residents have average levels of education, are more likely to be religious, and have high rates of homeownership compared to the rest of the country. Rates of household income and child poverty are in line with national averages. A high proportion of residents work in the tourism, agriculture and construction sectors, and a low percentage claim unemployment benefits.

At the local district council level, Morecambe and Carnforth are mostly represented by the Labour Party, Slyne-with-Hest and Bolton-le-Sands by Conservatives and the rural areas by Liberal Democrat and Green Party councillors. At Lancashire County Council, which held elections in 2025, all seats in the constituency elected Reform UK representatives. An estimated 54% of voters in Morecambe and Lunesdale supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, similar to the nationwide figure of 52%.

In boundary changes which came into effect for the 2010 election, only minor adjustments were made. Parliament approved the recommendations in the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies in respect of this area, enacting only minor boundary alterations. The constituency had City of Lancaster electoral wards:

Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth, Halton-with-Aughton, Harbour, Heysham Central, Heysham North, Heysham South, Kellet, Overton, Poulton, Silverdale, Skerton East, Skerton West, Slyne-with-Hest, Torrisholme, Upper Lune Valley, Warton and Westgate.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the composition of the constituency was defined as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

City of Lancaster wards:

Bare
Bolton & Slyne
Carnforth & Millhead
Halton-with-Aughton
Harbour (Morecambe)
Heysham Central
Heysham North
Heysham South
Kellet
Lower Lune Valley
Overton
Poulton (Morecambe)
Silverdale
Torrisholme
Upper Lune Valley
Warton
Westgate (Morecambe)

Wards of the former South Lakeland district, now in Westmorland and Furness:

Arnside & Milnthorpe
Burton & Crooklands
Sedbergh & Kirkby Lonsdale

The three South Lakeland wards were transferred from Westmorland and Lonsdale, partly offset by the community of Skerton going to the re-established seat of Lancaster and Wyre.

With effect from 1 April 2023, the District of South Lakeland was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness. Also a local government boundary review was carried out in the City of Lancaster which came into effect in May 2023. Accordingly, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

The City of Lancaster wards of: Bare; Bolton & Slyne; Carnforth & Millhead; Halton-with-Aughton & Kellet; Heysham Central; Heysham North; Heysham South; Lower Lune Valley; Overton; Poulton; Silverdale; Torrisholme; Upper Lune Valley; Warton; West End; Westgate; and a small part of Skerton.
The Westmorland and Furness wards of: Burton and Holme; Kendal South (part); Kent Estuary; Levens and Crooklands (part); Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale (majority).

The revised constituency is made up of parts of: the previous Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency (35.1% by area and 76.3% by population of the new seat); Westmorland and Lonsdale, which still exists with revised boundaries (46.5% by area and 18.9% by population); and the former Lancaster and Fleetwood (18.4% by area and 4.8% by population).

History

Since its creation in 1983, the Morecambe and Lunesdale can be regarded as a bellwether seat, changing hands with a change of government. Once a safe Conservative area, Morecambe followed its neighbour and fellow seaside town, Blackpool, by voting Labour in the 1997 general election. The results in the general elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 had remarkably similar majorities with virtually no swing to the Conservatives. The Conservatives gained the seat at the 2010 general election with an above average swing, and held it in 2015, 2017 and 2019. The notional 2019 result for the area, using the 2024 boundaries, was Conservative. In the 2024 general election the seat was won by Labour.

Members of Parliament

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!colspan="2"|Election!!Member

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|colspan="2"| constituency created as "Morecambe and Lonsdale"