From 1885-1935, the constituency returned Conservative MPs and the most notable MP was Conservative Party leader Bonar Law from 1911–18, when property qualifications for the vote were abolished. Bonar Law would later serve as UK Prime Minister from 1922–23, but no longer represented Bootle in the House of Commons. James Burnie of the Liberal Party held the seat from 1922–24, and the seat was briefly held by John Kinley from the Labour Party from 1929–31 and became a Conservative – Labour marginal in the 1930s when the mainstream Labour party went into National Coalition. The Labour Party has held it continuously since the 1945 general election; this period saw two decades of steep decline in the profitability of Liverpool Docks, manufacturing and shipbuilding, which employed many constituents. At the three general elections from and including 1997, Bootle was the safest seat for any party in the United Kingdom by percentage of majority.