Oldham West and Royton (UK Parliament constituency)

Oldham West and Royton
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Oldham West and Royton in Greater Manchester.
Location of Greater Manchester within England.
County	Greater Manchester
Electorate	72,402 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Michael Meacher (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Oldham West and Oldham Central & Royton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Oldham West and Royton is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of three covering the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It covers most of the western part of the borough, including Chadderton and Royton, but not Failsworth which is in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

Name

In July 2006 fourteen representations were received by the Boundary Commission for England, which called for the inclusion of Chadderton in the name of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency. Many of the objectors pointed out that Chadderton was much larger and more populous than Royton.

However the commission rejected the proposed alternative name (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) because it was too long and they did not believe that there was a significant amount of support for a name change.^[2]

History

The present constituency was formed in 1997, from parts of the former Oldham Central and Royton and Oldham West constituencies. It is a safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by Michael Meacher since the 1997 general election. Meacher had previously been the MP for Oldham West since 1970.

The constituency gained a level of notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate. Griffin received 6,552 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place, and finishing narrowly behind the Conservatives in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the serious race riots that had occurred in Oldham (and other northern towns) a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth".^[3]

In the immediate aftermath of the riots, the BNP have received considerable support in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, the BNP share of the vote has sharply declined since then, with BNP and former BNP candidates coming in third or fourth in Royton North and other Oldham West and Royton Wards.^[4]

At the 2005 election, the BNP's share of the vote declined (although they still retained their deposit), and Labour's Michael Meacher still won comfortably.

There has never been a BNP councillor in the constituency, nor on Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council as a whole.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1997	Michael Meacher	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Oldham West and Royton[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Meacher	19,503	45.5	-2.9
	Conservative	Kamran Ghafoor	10,151	23.7	+2.6
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Alcock	8,193	19.1	-2.1
	BNP	Dave Joines	3,049	7.1	+0.3
	UKIP	Helen Roberts	1,387	3.2	+0.7
	Respect	Shahid Miah	627	1.5	N/A
Majority			9,352	21.8	-5.3
Turnout			42,910	59.1	+5.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Meacher	18,452	49.1	-2.1
	Conservative	Sean Moore	7,998	21.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Bodsworth	7,519	20.0	+7.6
	BNP	Anita Corbett	2,606	6.9	-9.5
	UKIP	David Short	987	2.6	+2.6
Majority			10,454	27.8
Turnout			37,562	53.3	-4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.8

General Election 2001: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Meacher	20,441	51.2	-7.6
	Conservative	Duncan Reed	7,076	17.7	-5.7
	BNP	Nick Griffin	6,552	16.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Marc Ramsbottom	4,975	12.4	+0.6
	Green	David Roney	918	2.3	N/A
Majority			13,365	33.5
Turnout			39,962	57.6	-8.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Meacher	26,894	58.8	+9.7
	Conservative	Jonathan Lord	10,693	23.4	-14.7
	Liberal Democrat	Howard Cohen	5,434	11.9	+0.4
	Socialist Labour	Gias Choudhury	1,311	2.9	N/A
	Referendum Party	Peter Etherden	1,157	2.5	N/A
	Natural Law	Sheila Dalling	249	0.5	N/A
Majority			16,201	35.4
Turnout				66.1
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester

Notes and references

1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
2. ^ Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester, Boundary Commission for England, published July 19, 2006. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
3. ^ BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
4. ^ [1], Oldham Council Election Results 2008.
5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
6. ^ Guardian Online

Coordinates: 53°36′N 2°06′W / 53.6°N 2.1°W / 53.6; -2.1