The constituency was located on the Wirral Peninsula, historically part of Cheshire in North West England.

It covered the whole of the historical hundred of Wirral, which included Birkenhead, Wallasey, Neston, Bebington, Ellesmere Port and extended south to the City of Chester.

[4] 1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Hoylake, Neston, and Wirral, and the County Borough of Birkenhead wards of Prenton and Upton.

From 1 April 1974 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election, Neston remained in Cheshire whilst the rest of the constituency comprised parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, but its boundaries were unchanged.

The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;