Stockport

The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. As well as the town of Stockport, it includes the outyling areas of Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Bredbury, Reddish and Romiley. In 2001, it had a population of 284,500. The borough was created in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 from the former area of the County Borough of Stockport and from the administrative county of Cheshire the urban districts of Bredbury and Romiley, Cheadle and Gatley, Hazel Grove and Bramhall and Marple.

Stockport became a county borough in 1889 and was enlarged by gaining territory from Lancashire, including in 1906 Reddish and in 1913, the Four Heatons. The Marple Urban District of Cheshire, formed in 1894, gained parts of Derbyshire in 1936 including Mellor and Ludworth from Chapel en le Frith Rural District.

Prior to its creation, it was suggested that the metropolitan borough be named "Norchester", but this was rejected as "a concocted name", being beaten by "Stockport" by a vote of 16 to 5.

There are four parliamentary constituencies in the Stockport Metropolitan Borough: Stockport, Cheadle, Hazel Grove, and Denton and Reddish. Stockport has been represented by Ann Coffey (Labour) since 1992. Mark Hunter (Liberal Democrats) has been MP for Cheadle since the 2005 by-election. Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrats) has been MP for Hazel Grove since 1997. The constituency of Denton and Reddish bridges Stockport and Tameside; the current member is Andrew Gwynne (Labour).

Stockport is part of the North West England constituency in the European Parliament. North West England elects nine MEPs, as at 2008 made up of four Conservatives, three from the Labour Party, one Liberal Democrat, and one member of the United Kingdom Independence Party.