- Normanton (UK Parliament constituency)
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Coordinates: 53°42′00″N 1°24′54″W / 53.700°N 1.415°W
Normanton Former County constituency for the House of Commons 
Boundary of Normanton in West Yorkshire for the 2005 general election.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.County West Yorkshire 1885–2010 Number of members One Replaced by Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, Morley and Outwood Created from Southern West Riding of Yorkshire Normanton was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Contents
Boundaries
The West Yorkshire constituency includes the towns of Normanton and Ossett and several villages. The area has a tradition of being working-class, but it has now become almost entirely gentrified as nearby Leeds has expanded as a financial centre.
The wards included are "Normanton and Sharlston" [the safest Labour ward], "Stanley and Outwood East", "Wrenthorpe and Outwood West", "Ossett" and "Horbury and South Ossett". Ossett is now actually the largest town in the area, due to its high growth in recent years. The Tory vote is very low in Normanton itself and in Ossett, but councillors have been elected for Horbury and for Wrenthorpe. Until recently the LibDems had all three councillors for the "Ossett" ward, but have never performed well in general elections, in this area. "Stanley and Outwood East" is a fairly safe Labour ward.
The constituency is nicknamed the banana constituency on account of its unusual shape.
The village of Altofts, located just to the north of Normanton, is currently included in the constituency, despite being part of a Castleford ward. The village is planned to move into a proposed "Pontefract and Castleford" seat. (but see below)
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England had created a Normanton and Pontefract constituency. In late May 2006, the Commission published a revised recommendation changing the name of this constituency to Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.
Local newspapers and the Labour Party opposed the initial change, but following a public consultation the Commission decided to create the seat conceding only a name change - from Pontefract and Castleford, to Normanton and Pontefract. This has now been extended to cover all three names. The wards of "Wrenthorpe and Outwood West" and "Stanley and Outwood East" - the most affluent part of the constituency - is set to be joined to the Conservative-leaning commuter town of Morley, which is in the Leeds district, in a Morley and Outwood constituency. Local groups and newspapers have protested that this represents a takeover of the Wakefield district by the Leeds district. Cynics reply that the Labour Party is worried that "Morley and Outwood" would be won the Conservatives. Ossett and Horbury are set for inclusion in the Wakefield constituency.
Members of Parliament
The constituency elected only Labour MPs since 1905, the longest run (with Gower and Makerfield) of any UK constituency. From 1885 to 1906, it had returned Liberal-Labour MPs.
Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, represented the seat from the 2005 general election until 2010 when it was abolished.
Election Member[1] Party 1885 Benjamin Pickard Lib-Lab 1904 by-election William Parrott Lib-Lab 1905 by-election Frederick Hall Lib-Lab then Labour 1933 by-election Tom Smith Labour 1947 by-election George Sylvester Labour 1950 Thomas Brooks Labour 1951 Albert Roberts Labour 1983 Bill O'Brien Labour 2005 Ed Balls Labour Co-op 2010 constituency abolished : see Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
and Morley and OutwoodElections
Elections in the 2000s
General Election 2005: Normanton Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Co-op Ed Balls 19,161 51.2 −4.9 Conservative Andrew Percy 9,159 24.5 −2.5 Liberal Democrat Simone Butterworth 6,357 17.0 +2.4 BNP John Aveyard 1,967 5.3 N/A Independent Mark Harrop 780 2.1 N/A Majority 10,002 26.7 Turnout 37,424 57.5 +5.3 Labour Co-op hold Swing General Election 2001: Normanton Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Bill O'Brien 19,152 56.1 −4.5 Conservative Graham Smith 9,215 27.0 +3.4 Liberal Democrat Stephen Pearson 4,990 14.6 +2.2 Socialist Labour Mick Appleyard 798 2.3 N/A Majority 9,937 29.1 Turnout 34,155 52.2 −16.0 Labour hold Swing Elections in the 1990s
General Election 1992: Normanton[2] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Bill O'Brien 25,936 51.8 +2.3 Conservative RW Sturdy 16,986 33.9 -0.1 Liberal Democrat M Galdas 7,137 14.3 -2.1 Majority 8,950 17.9 +2.4 Turnout 50,059 76.3 +1.5 Labour hold Swing +1.2 Elections in the 1940s
Normanton by-election, 1947 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour George Sylvester 19,085 79.8 −4.5 Conservative Enoch Powell 4,258 17.9 +2.1 Independent Dr W.D. Hartley 579 2.4 N/A Majority 14,827 62.0 -6.6 Turnout 23,922 54.6 −25.3 Labour hold Swing -3.3 See also
Notes and references
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
Sources
- The Independent Labour Party and the Yorkshire Miners: The Barnsley By-Election of 1897: details on the Liberal-Labour movement in the area in the late 19th century
Categories:- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1885
- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies disestablished in 2010
- Politics of Wakefield
- Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber (historic)
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