[3] West Lancashire covers the southern part of the borough of the same name, with the major settlements being the towns of Burscough, Ormskirk and Skelmersdale.

[4] The constituency was created as the successor to Ormskirk for the 1983 United Kingdom general election and was held by Conservative Ken Hind until 1992 when it was taken for Labour by Colin Pickthall.

[6] In November, The Times reported that Cooper was delaying her resignation in an attempt to secure a peerage, meaning that the writ of election could not be moved until January 2023 at the earliest.

[11] Labour had shortlisted three women to be their candidate: Dalton; Emma Fox, former shortlisted candidate for Warrington South and daughter of Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle; and Louise Harbour, former deputy leader of Knowsley Council until she lost her seat in the 2022 local elections.

[12] The Conservative Party confirmed in October 2022 that Mike Prendergast, an Ormskirk-based solicitor and councillor for Dukes ward on Sefton Council, would be their candidate in the by-election.