Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)

Rochdale is a constituency, which has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Paul Waugh of Labour Co-op since 2024. Rochdale has elected one Member of Parliament (MP) in every general election since its creation in 1832.^[a]

Rochdale
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rochdale in North West England
County	Greater Manchester
Electorate	71,697 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Rochdale, Littleborough, Wardle
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Paul Waugh (Labour Co-op)
Seats	One
1832–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Lancashire

Boundaries

Historic

Map of 2010-2024 boundaries

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.^[2]

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 Periodic 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 new constituency of Heywood and Middleton North.^[3]

History

Rochdale in Lancashire, boundaries used 1974–83

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.^[4]

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.

Constituency profile

The constituency is one of two covering the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It contains most of the town of Rochdale itself as well as Littleborough, Wardle and some of the surrounding rural area.

For the 2010 UK general election, the seat gained the villages of Milnrow and Newhey from Oldham East and Saddleworth and lost the areas of Sudden, Marland, and part of Norden to Heywood and Middleton, a 19.16% boundary change. Those changes made the seat a notional Labour victory in the Rallings and Thrasher figures^[5] which were used by the Press Association for determining gains, losses and swings. However, other predictions by political commentator Martin Baxter^{[6][failed verification]} showed the seat maintaining a narrow Lib Dem majority. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010 estimated that had the seat been fought on these boundaries in 2005, Labour would have won the seat with approximately 40.9% of the vote to the Liberal Democrats' 40.7%.^[7]

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.^[8] The religious composition was 38.1% Christian, 30.5% Muslim, and 0.9% other. 26.0% claimed no religious affiliation.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member (†=died in office)[9]	Party
	1832	John Fenton	Whig[10][11][12]
	1835	John Entwistle	Conservative[10]
	1837	John Fenton	Whig[10][11][12]
	1841	William Sharman Crawford	Radical[13][14][15][16][17]
	1852	Edward Miall
	1857	Alexander Ramsay	Conservative[18][19][20]
	1859	Richard Cobden	Liberal
	1865	Thomas Potter
	1895	Clement Royds	Conservative
	1906	Gordon Harvey	Liberal
	1918	Alfred Law	Unionist
	1922	Stanley Burgess	Labour
	1923	Ramsay Muir	Liberal
	1924	William Kelly	Labour
	1931	Thomas Jesson	Conservative
	1935	William Kelly	Labour
	1940 by-election	Hyacinth Morgan
	1950	Joseph Hale
	1951	Wentworth Schofield †	Conservative
	1958 by-election	Jack McCann †	Labour
	1972 by-election	Cyril Smith	Liberal
	1987		Liberal Democrats
	1992	Liz Lynne
	1997	Lorna Fitzsimons	Labour
	2005	Paul Rowen	Liberal Democrats
	2010	Simon Danczuk	Labour
	2015		Independent[21]
	2017	Tony Lloyd †	Labour
	2024 by-election	George Galloway	Workers Party
	2024	Paul Waugh	Labour Co-op

Results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Rochdale^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Paul Waugh	13,027	32.8	−18.0
	Workers Party	George Galloway	11,587	29.2	+29.2
	Reform UK	Michael Howard	6,773	17.1	+8.9
	Conservative	Paul Ellison	4,273	10.8	−20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly	2,816	7.1	−0.4
	Green	Martyn Savin	1,212	3.1	+1.2
Majority			1,440	3.6	–15.7
Turnout			39,688	55.7	–3.0
Registered electors			71,264
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

2024 Rochdale by-election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Workers Party	George Galloway	12,335	39.7	N/A
	Independent	David Tully	6,638	21.3	N/A
	Conservative	Paul Ellison	3,731	12.0	−19.2
	Labour[b]	Azhar Ali	2,402	7.7	−43.9
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Donaldson	2,164	7.0	±0.0
	Reform UK	Simon Danczuk	1,968	6.3	−1.9
	Independent	William Howarth	523	1.7	N/A
	Independent	Mark Coleman	455	1.5	N/A
	Green[c]	Guy Otten	436	1.4	−0.7
	Independent	Michael Howarth	246	0.8	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Ravin Rodent Subortna	209	0.7	N/A
Majority			5,697	18.4	N/A
Turnout			31,107	39.7	−20.4
Registered electors
	Workers Party gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[26]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	21,379	50.8
	Conservative	13,270	31.6
	Brexit Party	3,451	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	3,168	7.5
	Green	790	1.9
Turnout		42,058	58.7
Electorate		71,697

General election 2019: Rochdale^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Lloyd	24,475	51.6	–6.4
	Conservative	Atifa Shah	14,807	31.2	+2.8
	Brexit Party	Chris Green	3,867	8.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly	3,312	7.0	–1.0
	Green	Sarah Croke	986	2.1	N/A
Majority			9,668	20.4	–9.2
Turnout			47,447	60.1	–4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	–4.6

General election 2017: Rochdale^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Lloyd	29,035	58.0	+11.9
	Conservative	Jane Howard	14,216	28.4	+11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly	4,027	8.0	–2.3
	UKIP	Christopher Baksa	1,641	3.3	–15.5
	Independent	Simon Danczuk	883	1.8	N/A
	Greater Manchester Homeless Voice	Andy Littlewood	242	0.5	N/A
Majority			14,819	29.6	+2.3
Turnout			50,044	64.1	+6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2015: Rochdale^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simon Danczuk	20,961	46.1	+9.7
	UKIP	Mohammed Masud	8,519	18.8	+14.4
	Conservative	Azi Ahmed	7,742	17.0	–1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Kelly	4,667	10.3	–24.1
	Rochdale First	Farooq Ahmed	1,535	3.4	N/A
	Green	Mark Hollinrake	1,382	3.0	N/A
	National Front	Kevin Bryan	433	1.0	–3.9
	Islam Zinda Baad Platform	Mohammed Salim	191	0.4	–0.8
Majority			12,442	27.3	+25.3
Turnout			45,430	57.4	–0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.3

General election 2010: Rochdale^[31][32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Simon Danczuk	16,699	36.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Rowen	15,810	34.4
	Conservative	Mudasir Dean	8,305	18.1
	National Front	Chris Jackson	2,236	4.9
	UKIP	Colin Denby	1,999	4.4
	Islam Zinda Baad Platform	Mohammed Salim	545	1.2
	Independent	John Whitehead	313	0.7
Majority			889	2.0
Turnout			45,907	58.1
	Labour win (new boundaries)

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%.^[7]

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Rochdale^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Rowen	16,787	41.1	+6.2
	Labour	Lorna Fitzsimons	16,345	40.0	–9.2
	Conservative	Khalid Hussain	4,270	10.5	–2.9
	BNP	Derek Adams	1,773	4.3	N/A
	UKIP	John Whittaker	499	1.2	N/A
	Green	Samir Chatterjee	448	1.1	–0.7
	Islam Zinda Baad Platform	Mohammed Salim	361	0.9	N/A
	Veritas	Carl Faulkner	353	0.9	N/A
Majority			444	1.1	N/A
Turnout			40,834	58.4	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+7.7

General election 2001: Rochdale^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorna Fitzsimons	19,406	49.2	–0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Rowen	13,751	34.9	–5.1
	Conservative	Elaina Cohen	5,274	13.4	+4.6
	Green	Nick Harvey	728	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Mohammed Salim	253	0.6	+0.2
Majority			5,655	14.3	+4.9
Turnout			39,412	56.7	–13.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Rochdale^[35][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorna Fitzsimons	23,758	49.4
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Lynne	19,213	40.0
	Conservative	Mervyn Turnberg	4,237	8.8
	BNP	Gary Bergin	653	1.4
	Islam Zinda Baad Platform	Mohammed Salim	221	0.5
Majority			4,545	9.4
Turnout			48,082	70.0
	Labour win (new boundaries)

General election 1992: Rochdale^[37][38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Lynne	22,776	42.8	–0.6
	Labour	David Williams	20,937	39.4	+1.4
	Conservative	Duncan Goldie-Scott	8,626	16.2	–2.4
	BNP	Ken Henderson	620	1.2	N/A
	Natural Law	Vincent J. Lucker	221	0.4	N/A
Majority			1,839	3.4	–2.0
Turnout			53,180	76.5	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	–1.0

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Rochdale^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	22,245	43.4	–2.7
	Labour	David Williams	19,466	38.0	+7.9
	Conservative	Clive Condie	9,561	18.6	–3.8
Majority			2,779	5.4	–10.6
Turnout			51,272	74.6	+3.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	–5.3

General election 1983: Rochdale^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	21,858	46.1
	Labour	Valerie Broom	14,271	30.1
	Conservative	Alan Fearn	10,616	22.4
	National Front	Peter Barker	463	1.0
	Unemployed Party	Peter Courtney	204	0.4
Majority			7,587	16.0
Turnout			47,412	70.8
	Liberal win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	22,172	45.03	+2.37
	Labour	J Connell	16,878	34.28	−2.53
	Conservative	I S Picton	9,494	19.28	+2.85
	National Front	S Merrick	690	1.40	2.69
Majority			5,295	10.75	+4.90
Turnout			49,234	73.66	+3.38
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	20,092	42.66	−6.45
	Labour	J Connell	17,339	36.81	+5
	Conservative	R J de B Young	7,740	16.43	+2.85
	National Front	M W Sellors	1,927	4.09	+0.43
Majority			2,753	5.85	−11.45
Turnout			47,098	70.28	−7.07
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	25,266	49.11	+6.82
	Labour	L F Cunliffe	16,367	31.81	+0.69
	Conservative	L Green	7,933	15.42	−2.24
	National Front	M W Sellors	1,885	3.66	"N/A"
Majority			8,899	17.3	+6.13
Turnout			49,234	73.66	+3.38
	Liberal hold		Swing

1972 Rochdale by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	19,296	42.29	+11.89
	Labour	L F Cunliffe	14,203	31.12	−10.45
	Conservative	D A Tripper	8,060	17.66	−10.37
	Independent	J Merrick	4,074	8.93	"N/A"
Majority			5,093	11.17	0
Turnout			45,633	69.06	−3.71
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+11.17

General election 1970: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McCann	19,247	41.57	−10.82
	Liberal	Cyril Smith	14,076	30.40	+11.13
	Conservative	M Andrew	12,978	28.03	−0.30
Majority			5,171	11.17	−12.89
Turnout			46,301	72.77	−6.19
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McCann	24,481	52.39	+5.7
	Conservative	Edward G.L. Collins	13,239	28.33	+3.96
	Liberal	Nancy Seear	9,004	19.27	–9.67
Majority			11,242	24.06
Turnout			46,724	78.96
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McCann	22,927	46.69	+5.22
	Liberal	Thomas Lyrian Hobday	14,212	28.94	–7.29
	Conservative	Tom Normanton	11,968	24.37	+2.07
Majority			8,715	17.75
Turnout			49,107	82.26
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McCann	21,689	41.47	–6.98
	Liberal	Ludovic Kennedy	18,949	36.23	N/A
	Conservative	Tom Normanton	11,665	22.30	–29.25
Majority			2,740	5.24
Turnout			52,303	85.47
	Labour hold		Swing

1958 Rochdale by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McCann	22,133	44.66	−3.79
	Liberal	Ludovic Kennedy	17,603	35.52	N/A
	Conservative	John E. Parkinson	9,827	19.83	−31.72
Majority			4,530	9.14	N/A
Turnout			49,563
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.0

General election 1955: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wentworth Schofield	26,518	51.55	+1.14
	Labour	Jack McCann	24,928	48.45	−1.14
Majority			1,590	3.10	+2.28
Turnout			51,446	82.8	−2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General election 1951: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wentworth Schofield	27,797	50.41
	Labour	Joseph Hale	27,343	49.59
Majority			454	0.82	N/A
Turnout			55,140	85.66
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1950: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joseph Hale	25,484	44.9
	Conservative	Wentworth Schofield	21,208	37.4
	Liberal	Roger Fulford	10,042	17.7
Majority			4,276	7.5
Turnout			56,734	87.90
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hyacinth Morgan	22,047	44.89
	Conservative	Edward May Nicol	16,852	34.31
	Liberal	Charles Gordon Cummins Harvey	10,211	20.79
Majority			5,195	10.58
Turnout			49,110	80.68
	Labour hold		Swing

1940 Rochdale by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hyacinth Morgan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Kelly	22,281	41.20	+8.61
	Conservative	W. Gordon Murray	20,486	37.88	–7.18
	Liberal	Elliott Dodds	11,311	20.92	–1.43
Majority			1,795	3.32	N/A
Turnout			54,078	84.69
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1931: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Jesson	25,346	45.06
	Labour	William Kelly	18,329	32.59
	Liberal	Elliott Dodds	12,572	22.35
Majority			7,017	12.48	N/A
Turnout			56,247	88.79
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Kelly	22,060	40.2	+6.4
	Liberal	Ramsay Muir	16,957	30.8	–2.7
	Unionist	John Haslam	15,962	29.0	–3.7
Majority			5,103	9.4	+9.1
Turnout			54,979	87.6	–2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 1924: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Kelly	14,609	33.8	+1.2
	Liberal	Ramsay Muir	14,492	33.5	–2.9
	Unionist	Thomas Jesson	14,112	32.7	+1.7
Majority			117	0.3	N/A
Turnout			43,213	90.3	+2.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1923: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ramsay Muir	15,087	36.4	+7.2
	Labour	Stanley Burgess	13,525	32.6	–6.2
	Unionist	Nicholas Cockshutt	12,845	31.0	–1.0
Majority			1,562	3.8	N/A
Turnout			41,457	87.8	+0.7
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1922: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Burgess	15,774	38.8	+22.3
	Unionist	Alfred Law	13,006	32.0	–15.6
	Liberal	Ramsay Muir	11,894	29.2	+7.7
Majority			2,768	6.8	N/A
Turnout			40,674	87.1	+22.6
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Phillipps

General election 1918: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Alfred Law	14,299	47.6	+6.7
	Liberal	Vivian Phillipps	6,452	21.5	–23.1
	Labour	R. H. Tawney	4,956	16.5	N/A
	National Democratic	John Joseph Terrett	2,358	7.8	N/A
	National	John Fitzgerald Jones	1,992	6.6	N/A
Majority			7,847	26.1	N/A
Turnout			30,057	64.5	–23.5
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

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^[41]

General election December 1910: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gordon Harvey	5,850	44.6	–4.2
	Conservative	Nicholas Cockshutt	5,373	40.9	+2.3
	Social Democratic Federation	Dan Irving	1,901	14.5	+1.9
Majority			477	3.7	–6.5
Turnout			11,124	88.0	–5.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election January 1910: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gordon Harvey	6,809	48.8	+2.9
	Conservative	William Boyd Boyd-Carpenter	5,381	38.6	+2.0
	Social Democratic Federation	Dan Irving	1,755	12.6	N/A
Majority			1,428	10.2	–1.1
Turnout			13,945	93.5	+0.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Rochdale^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gordon Harvey	5,912	45.9	0.0
	Conservative	Clement Royds	4,449	34.6	−11.5
	Independent Labour	S. G. Hobson	2,506	19.5	N/A
Majority			1,463	11.3	N/A
Turnout			12,867	93.0	+5.9
Registered electors			13,831
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.8

General election 1900: Rochdale^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clement Royds	5,204	46.1	0.0
	Liberal	Gordon Harvey	5,185	45.9	+4.0
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	C. Allen Clarke	901	8.0	–4.0
Majority			19	0.2	–4.0
Turnout			11,290	87.1	–1.1
Registered electors			12,968
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Rochdale^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clement Royds	4,781	46.1	+1.0
	Liberal	William Leatham Bright	4,359	41.9	–13.0
	Ind. Labour Party	George Barnes	1,251	12.0	N/A
Majority			422	4.2	N/A
Turnout			10,391	88.2	+2.4
Registered electors			11,782
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.0

General election 1892: Rochdale^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	5,460	54.9	–2.7
	Conservative	Clement Royds	4,480	45.1	+2.7
Majority			980	9.8	–5.4
Turnout			9,940	85.8	+9.8
Registered electors			11,584
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	4,738	57.6	+1.9
	Conservative	John Marriott	3,481	42.4	–1.9
Majority			1,257	15.2	+3.8
Turnout			9,969	76.0	–16.2
Registered electors			10,808
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.9

General election 1885: Rochdale^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	5,552	55.7	−4.5
	Conservative	Elliot Lees	4,417	44.3	+4.5
Majority			1,135	11.4	−9.0
Turnout			9,969	92.2	+8.7
Registered electors			10,808
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.5

General election 1880: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	5,614	60.2	+7.3
	Conservative	Richard Wilson Gamble[44]	3,716	39.8	−7.3
Majority			1,898	20.4	+14.6
Turnout			9,330	83.5	+1.4
Registered electors			11,172
	Liberal hold		Swing	+7.3

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	4,498	52.9	−4.8
	Conservative	Richard Wilson Gamble[44]	3,998	47.1	+4.8
Majority			500	5.8	−9.6
Turnout			8,496	82.1	−1.2
Registered electors			10,352
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.8

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	4,455	57.7	N/A
	Conservative	William Whitworth Schofield[45]	3,270	42.3	N/A
Majority			1,185	15.4	N/A
Turnout			7,725	83.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,280
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1865: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,358
	Liberal hold

By-election, 15 April 1865: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Potter	646	56.6	N/A
	Conservative	William Brett	496	43.4	N/A
Majority			150	13.2	N/A
Turnout			1,142	84.1	N/A
Registered electors			1,358
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Cobden's death.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Cobden	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,340
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1857: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Ramsay	532	52.2	+10.7
	Radical	Edward Miall	488	47.8	−10.7
Majority			44	4.4	N/A
Turnout			1,020	81.3	+3.4
Registered electors			1,255
	Conservative gain from Radical		Swing	+10.7

General election 1852: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Edward Miall	529	58.5	N/A
	Conservative	Alexander Ramsay	375	41.5	N/A
Majority			154	17.0	N/A
Turnout			904	77.9	N/A
Registered electors			1,160
	Radical hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Rochdale^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	William Sharman Crawford	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,026
	Radical hold

General election 1841: Rochdale^[10][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	William Sharman Crawford	399	54.4	N/A
	Conservative	James Fenton[46]	335	45.6	−2.7
Majority			64	8.8	N/A
Turnout			734	72.2	−12.2
Registered electors			1,016
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Rochdale^[10][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fenton (MP for Rochdale)	374	51.7	+4.8
	Conservative	Alexander Ramsay	349	48.3	−4.8
Majority			25	3.4	N/A
Turnout			723	84.4	−8.8
Registered electors			857
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.8

By-election, 19 April 1837: Rochdale^[10][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fenton (MP for Rochdale)	383	53.0	+6.1
	Conservative	Clement Royds	339	47.0	−6.1
Majority			44	6.0	N/A
Turnout			722	84.2	−9.0
Registered electors			857
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.1

• Caused by Entwistle's death

General election 1835: Rochdale^[10][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Entwistle (politician)	369	53.1	+14.2
	Whig	John Fenton (MP for Rochdale)	326	46.9	+3.1
Majority			43	6.2	N/A
Turnout			695	93.2	+1.2
Registered electors			746
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.6

General election 1832: Rochdale^[10][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Fenton (MP for Rochdale)	277	43.8
	Tory	John Entwistle (politician)	246	38.9
	Radical	James Taylor	109	17.2
Majority			31	4.9
Turnout			632	92.0
Registered electors			687
	Whig win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester
• 1940 Rochdale by-election
• 1958 Rochdale by-election
• 1972 Rochdale by-election

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer). As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
2. Ali was suspended from the Labour Party on 12 February 2024, after nominations closed on 2 February, so he was still identified as the Labour Party candidate on the ballot paper.^[24]
3. The Green Party withdrew Otten's endorsement on 7 February 2024, after nominations closed on 2 February, so he was still identified as the Green Party candidate on the ballot paper.^[25]