Safe labour suburbia? The changing politics of the merseyside suburbs

Wilks-Heeg, S ORCID: 0000-0003-2919-0875 (2019) Safe labour suburbia? The changing politics of the merseyside suburbs Political Quarterly, 90 (1). pp. 53-63. ISSN 0032-3179, 1467-923X

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Abstract

Over the past twenty-five years, safe Conservative seats in the affluent Merseyside suburbs have instead become safe Labour seats. This remarkable political transition poses an important puzzle for students of voting behaviour. Analysis of voting patterns since 1979 underlines the exceptional scale of the shift to Labour on Merseyside compared with other metropolitan areas. Yet, substantial swings to Labour in suburban constituencies like Sefton Central and Wirral South in 2015 and 2017 cannot be explained with reference to wider evidence of the party’s increased support among younger, more diverse, cosmopolitan populations. It is shown that Labour dominance on Merseyside has occurred via three distinct phases, with the political map of the city-region turning red, over time, from the core outwards. Explanations rooted in the changing relationship between the city and its suburbs are argued to best explain the emergence of Merseyside as a ‘red conurbation’.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	suburbs, city-regions, voting behaviour, Labour party, Merseyside, Liverpool
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2018 06:38
Last Modified:	24 Jan 2026 01:44
DOI:	10.1111/1467-923X.12528
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3023099
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