Joe Benton

Click here for an interactive
map of the constituency


General Election Result, 7th June 2001

Candidate	Party	Polled	%
*Benton, J.	Lab	21,400	77.6
Murray, J.	LibDem	3,357	8.5
Symes, J.	Con	2,194	8.0
Flynn, D.	SLP	971	3.5
Glover, P.	SA	672	2.4

Analysis
Lab majority	19,043	74.36%
Total vote	27,594	49.8%

General Election Result, 1st May 1997

Candidate	Party	Polled	%
*Benton, J.	Lab	31,668	82.9
Matthews, R.	Con	3,247	8.5
Reid, K.	LibDem	2,191	5.7
Elliot, J.	Ref	571	1.5
Glover, P.	SLP	420	1.1
Cohen, S.	NLP	126	0.3

Analysis
Lab majority	28,421	74.36%
Electorate	57,284
Total vote	38,223	66.7%

A mixture of rented and owner occupied houses. Historically one of the country's deprived areas. Unemployment is higher than the national average and the number of people on government schemes is among the highest in England and Wales. Merseyside docks are still in operation, most of the post operation is in Bootle.

However, employment prospects have improved markedly in recent years through the presence of increased office development - the headquarters of Girobank and also the introduction of the New Deal and other government initiatives. Since 1997 a significant drop in unemployment has been experienced.

The local wards and councillors are as follows:

Derby Ward:
John Rice
Steve McGinnity
Paul Larkin

Ford Ward:
Kevin Cluskey
Ian Moncur
Owen Brady

Linacre Ward:
Gordon Friel
John Fairclough
Doreen Kerrigan

Litherland Ward:
Patricia Hardy
Darren Hardy
Paul Tweed

St Oswald Ward:
Jimmy Mahon
Mark Dowd
Peter Dowd

Netherton and Orrell Ward:
Dave Martin (Labour Group Leader)
Bobby Brennan
Ian Maher

All can be written to c/o Bootle Town Hall, Oriel Road, Bootle, Liverpool L20 7AE or by phoning the Labour group Office on 0151 934 4186.