Constituency view

Leigh and Atherton

North West, England

Lab gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

Jo Platt

Labour

Female

Majority8,881

Turnout51.5%

Electorate79,978

Valid votes41,170

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour19,971 - 48.5%

Reform11,090 - 26.9%

Conservative6,483 - 15.7%

Green1,653 - 4.0%

Lib Dem1,597 - 3.9%

Other376 - 0.9%

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Benefits bill · 2025/26

£290,418,418

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£2,514 total benefits bill per resident · 11% above average

Leigh and Atherton: £2,514
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 186 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£290,418,418	156/575
Change over 2 years	+16.8%
Median local wage (2025)	£31,374	+12.8%

Universal Credit£155,879,143
£1,349 per resident · 14,023 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 5,761 · 1 in 13 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£73,824,479
£639 per resident · 10,128 claimants (+16.1% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,679 · 36% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 4,906
Disability Living Allowance£20,028,202
£173 per resident · 3,283 claimants
Housing Benefit£19,199,711
£166 per resident · 2,551 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£11,963,370
£104 per resident · 1,882 claimants
Carer's Allowance£9,523,512
£82 per resident · 2,196 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 94.0%White British 90.5%Asian 2.1%Black, African or Caribbean 1.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.6%Other 0.7%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 96.7%White British 94.8%Asian 1.4%Black, African or Caribbean 0.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.9%Other 0.2%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 98.5%White British 97.2%Asian 0.8%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.4%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 99.2%White British N/AAsian 0.6%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Leigh and Atherton (2021)

UK 93.0%Other EU 3.4%Other countries 3.6%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Leigh and Atherton (2011)

UK 96.1%Other EU 1.3%Other countries 2.6%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Leigh and Atherton (2001)

UK 97.7%Other EU 0.4%Other countries 1.8%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Leigh and Atherton (1991)

UK 98.1%Other EU 1.0%Other countries 0.9%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

Leigh and Atherton

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Leigh and Atherton	National	Difference	Rank
% White	94.0%	83.0%	+10.9pp	274/650
% White British	90.5%	74.4%	+16.1pp	187/632
% Asian	2.1%	8.6%	-6.5pp	410/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	1.6%	3.7%	-2.1pp	275/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	1.6%	2.7%	-1.1pp	412/650
% Other ethnic group	0.7%	2.0%	-1.2pp	375/650
% UK-born	93.0%	84.0%	+9.1pp	207/650
% Non-UK-born	7.0%	16.0%	-9.1pp	444/650
% Other EU-born	3.4%	6.0%	-2.6pp	427/650
% Other countries-born	3.6%	10.1%	-6.5pp	438/650
% Christian	59.9%	46.7%	+13.2pp	19/575
% Muslim	1.5%	6.3%	-4.8pp	312/575
% Hindu	0.3%	1.6%	-1.4pp	402/575
% Sikh	0.0%	0.9%	-0.8pp	503/575
% Jewish	0.0%	0.5%	-0.4pp	509/575
% Buddhist	0.3%	0.4%	-0.2pp	375/575
% Other religion	0.4%	0.6%	-0.2pp	471/575
% No religion	32.7%	37.0%	-4.3pp	444/575
% Religion not stated	4.9%	6.0%	-1.1pp	541/575
% Has any religion	62.4%	57.0%	+5.4pp	120/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Leigh and Atherton

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.