The constituency is located in
Greater Manchester and covers parts of the
City of Salford and the
Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is almost entirely
urban or
suburban and includes the southern areas of the large town of
Bolton and the smaller towns of
Walkden,
Farnworth and
Kearsley. Like much of Greater Manchester, the area has a history of
textile manufacturing. Bolton was once a world centre for
cotton spinning, and the area also has a history of
coal mining. Compared to national averages, deprivation in the constituency is high and residents have low levels of education and professional employment. The constituency is more ethnically diverse than the rest of Greater Manchester and the rest of the country; 65% of residents are
White, 24% are
Asian (mostly
Pakistani) and 6% are
Black. White people make up over 90% of residents in Walkden and Kearsley, whilst Asians are a majority of the population in parts of Bolton. At
the most recent local council elections in 2024, most areas in the constituency elected
Labour Party councillors, although
independents were elected in Farnworth and Kearsley. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the
European Union in the
2016 referendum, with an estimated 63% voting in favour of
Brexit. ==Boundaries==