Bolton South East was a constituency in the House of Commons. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to boundary changes which incorporated the community of Walkden in the City of Salford. As a consequence, it was replaced with the constituency of Bolton South and Walkden, which was first contested at the 2024 general election.

Constituency profile

The seat covered the southern part of Bolton town and its suburbs around the M61 motorway. Towns such as Farnworth and Kearsley are former mining areas. Residents were generally poorer than the UK average, though the Hulton ward is more Conservative, and there were smaller villages and suburban areas such as Ringley, as well as green spaces such as the 750-acre Moses Gate Country Park.

Boundaries

1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton wards of Burnden, Daubhill, Derby, Farnworth, Harper Green, Kearsley, and Little Lever. 2010–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton wards of Farnworth, Great Lever, Harper Green, Hulton, Kearsley, Little Lever and Darcy Lever, and Rumworth. Following a boundary reorganization in the early 1980s, parts of the former constituencies of Bolton East and Farnworth were combined to create this constituency, with effect from the 1983 general election.

Members of Parliament

Elections

This area has elected Labour candidates to be MP since its creation in 1983, with majorities of more than 15%; therefore, until 2019, it could have been seen as a safe seat. Unlike the other two Bolton seats, it has remained safely Labour. This is also reflected by the majority of wards returning councillors for Labour; a notably stronger ward for the Conservative Party to date has been Hulton, which has often returned Conservative councillors.

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s