The present Liverpool Wavertree constituency dates from 1997. It contained parts of the former constituencies of Liverpool Broadgreen and Liverpool Mossley Hill. It was held by Jane Kennedy of the Labour Party from 1997-2010, who was also the former MP for Liverpool Broadgreen. At the 2005 general election, the Labour lead over the Liberal Democrats was cut from 38 points to 15 points. At the 2010 general election, Jane Kennedy retired, and Luciana Berger was selected as the official Labour candidate, which caused some friction in the local CLP, especially due to her close connection with Kennedy.