Runcorn and Helsby (UK Parliament constituency)

Runcorn and Helsby is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election.^[2]

Runcorn and Helsby
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Runcorn and Helsby in North West England
County	Cheshire
Electorate	70,950 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Runcorn, Frodsham and Helsby
Current constituency
Created	2024
Member of Parliament	Sarah Pochin (Reform UK)
Seats	One
Created from	Weaver Vale, Halton, City of Chester and Ellesmere Port and Neston and Eddisbury

The incumbent MP is Sarah Pochin, who defeated Labour Party candidate Karen Shore by six votes at a by-election on 1 May 2025, overturning a 34.8% majority. It was reported that she is the first non-Labour MP elected in Runcorn in over fifty years though this is not correct as the Runcorn and Helsby constituency was only created in 2024 - before this, the constituency was called Weaver Vale which had a Conservative MP, Graham Evans, from 2010 to 2017.^[3]

Boundaries

Map of boundaries from 2024

The constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Cheshire West and Chester wards of: Frodsham; Gowy Rural; Helsby; Sandstone.

• The Borough of Halton wards of: Beechwood & Heath; Bridgewater; Daresbury, Moore & Sandymoor; Grange; Halton Castle; Halton Lea; Mersey & Weston; Norton North; Norton South & Preston Brook.^[4]

The seat comprises the following areas:^[5]

• Helsby, Frodsham and the parts of the Borough of Halton transferred from the former constituency of Weaver Vale, comprising about half the electorate
• The town of Runcorn, transferred from the former constituency of Halton
• The Gowy Rural ward. This includes village of Elton, transferred from the former constituency of Ellesmere Port and Neston,^[6] Guilden Sutton, transferred from the former constituency of City of Chester and other small villages plus Dunham-on-the-Hill from the former constituency of Eddisbury.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[7]	Party	Notes
	2024	Mike Amesbury	Labour
	Oct 2024		Independent	Whip suspended in October 2024[8]
	2025 by-election	Sarah Pochin	Reform UK

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

By-election 2025: Runcorn and Helsby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Sarah Pochin	12,645	38.72	+20.58
	Labour	Karen Shore	12,639	38.70	−14.23
	Conservative	Sean Houlston	2,341	7.17	−8.83
	Green	Chris Copeman	2,314	7.09	+0.66
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Duffy	942	2.88	−2.2
	Liberal	Dan Clarke	454	1.39	+0.26
	Independent	Michael Williams	363	1.11	N/A
	Independent	Alan McKie	269	0.82	N/A
	Workers Party	Peter Ford	164	0.50	N/A
	Rejoin EU	John Stevens	129	0.40	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	128	0.39	N/A
	English Democrat	Catherine Blaiklock	95	0.29	N/A
	SDP	Paul Andrew Murphy	68	0.21	−0.07
	Volt	Jason Philip Hughes	54	0.17	N/A
	English Constitution Party	Graham Harry Moore	50	0.15	N/A
Rejected ballots			85
Majority			6	0.02	N/A
Turnout			32,655	46.2	−12.5
	Reform UK gain from Labour		Swing	+17.4

General election 2024: Runcorn and Helsby^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Amesbury	22,358	52.9	+4.1
	Reform UK	Jason Moorcroft	7,662	18.1	+13.3
	Conservative	Jade Marsden	6,756	16.0	−20.8
	Green	Chris Copeman	2,715	6.4	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Rowe	2,149	5.1	−1.6
	Liberal	Danny Clarke	479	1.1	New
	SDP	Paul Murphy	116	0.3	New
Rejected ballots			171
Majority			14,696	34.8	+22.9
Turnout			42,235	59.7	−9.5
Registered electors			70,801
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.6

Changes are from the notional results of the 2019 election on the new boundaries.^[11]

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[12]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	23,617	48.8
	Conservative	17,838	36.8
	Liberal Democrats	3,247	6.7
	Brexit Party	2,302	4.8
	Green	1,414	2.9
Turnout		48,418	68.2
Electorate		70,950