Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency)

Birkenhead
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Birkenhead in Merseyside.
Location of Merseyside within England.
County	1861–1918 Cheshire1950–1974 Cheshire1974– Merseyside
Population	88,818 (2011 census)
Electorate	62,432 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Birkenhead
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of parliament	Frank Field (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Birkenhead East, Birkenhead West
1861–1918
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Birkenhead East, Birkenhead West
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Birkenhead /ˈbɜːrkənˌhɛd/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1979 by Frank Field of the Labour Party.

Birkenhead was enfranchised in 1861 by the Birkenhead Enfranchisement Act 1861 and was a single constituency for 57 years until it was split as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1918 which took effect from the 1918 general election. Birkenhead East and West constituencies then covered its area and certain smaller neighbouring communities of The Wirral until the single Birkenhead constituency was re-established at the 1950 general election. Since then it has returned only Labour MPs, being a safe Labour seat with large majorities apart from a 7% majority in 1955.

For the 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections Birkenhead had the fewest candidates of any British constituency: only candidates for the Labour Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat contested the seat.