Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (UK Parliament constituency)

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Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
NormantonPontefractCastleford2007Constituency.svg
2010–2024 boundary of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford in West Yorkshire
EnglandWestYorkshire.svg
Location of West Yorkshire within England
County West Yorkshire
Electorate 84,874 (December 2019) [1]
Major settlements
20102024
SeatsOne
Created from
Replaced by

Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford was a constituency [n 1] in West Yorkshire of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented by Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party for the whole of its creation. [n 2] Cooper served under the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown alongside her husband Ed Balls, and served as Shadow Home Secretary under the leadership of Ed Miliband. Having served as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, she is once again the Shadow Home Secretary.

Contents

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subjected to boundary changes, including the loss of Normanton, and reformed as Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley , to be first contested at the 2024 general election. [2]

History

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which recommended this constituency for the 2010 general election in the district of the city of Wakefield. Due to less increase in population than elsewhere the commission had to reduce constituencies in the county by one, resulting in the "merger" of Normanton and Pontefract/Castleford seats, however some wards of both went to other neighbouring seats to give the correct size electorate.

The commission had great difficulty in naming the constituency, with "Normanton and Pontefract" and "Pontefract and Castleford" both suggested. On 24 May 2006 the modified name was chosen following further public consultation. The only other three-place constituency name in England was Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in London.

Boundaries

Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of 2010-2024 boundaries

The constituency first contested at the 2010 general election has electoral wards of the City of Wakefield:

Constituency profile

The area has the three retail towns, Pontefract being the most touristic — producing liquorice as well as Pontefract cakes — the wider economy includes self-employed trades, work in local manufacturing and jobs in creative industry, retail, public sector and corporate headquarters including in Leeds and Wakefield.

The last working deep coal mine in the United Kingdom, Kellingley Colliery, was a significant employer until it closed in December 2015. [3]

Well recovered from economic decline from the loss of most local mines, the rate of jobseeking benefits claimed is lower than the Yorkshire and Humber average (4.6%) at 4.4% however this slightly exceeds the national average and is over twice that of six constituencies in the region. [n 3] [4]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [5] Party
2010 Yvette Cooper Labour
2024 Constituency abolished

Election results 2010-2024

Elections in the 2010s

Yvette Cooper Official portrait of Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP crop 2.jpg
Yvette Cooper
General election 2010: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 22,293 48.1
Conservative Nick Pickles11,31424.4
Liberal Democrats Chris Rush7,58516.4
BNP Graham Thewlis-Hardy3,8468.3
Independent Gareth Allen1,1832.6
Majority10,97923.7
Turnout 46,23956.2
Labour win (new seat)
General election 2015: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford [7] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 25,213 54.9 +6.8
UKIP Nathan Garbutt9,78521.3New
Conservative Beth Prescott9,56920.8–3.6
Liberal Democrats Edward McMillan-Scott 1,3302.9–13.5
Majority15,42833.6+9.9
Turnout 45,89755.6–0.6
Labour hold
General election 2017: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford [7] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 29,268 59.5 +4.6
Conservative Andrew Lee14,76930.0+9.2
UKIP Lewis Thompson3,0306.2–15.1
Yorkshire Daniel Gascoigne1,4312.9New
Liberal Democrats Clarke Roberts6931.4–1.5
Majority14,49929.5–4.1
Turnout 49,19160.3+4.7
Labour hold
General election 2019: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 18,297 37.9 –21.6
Conservative Andrew Lee17,02135.3+5.3
Brexit Party Deneice Florence-Jukes8,03216.6New
Liberal Democrats Tom Gordon 3,1476.5+5.1
Yorkshire Laura Walker1,7623.7+0.8
Majority1,2762.6–26.9
Turnout 48,41957.3–3.0
Labour hold Swing –13.4

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

The results for the referendum were not returned by individual parliamentary constituencies (instead using a counting area within a region), but the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford area is estimated to have voted by a 69.3% – 30.7% margin to leave the European Union. [10]

Neighbouring constituencies

See also

Notes

  1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
  3. York Outer, Elmet and Rothwell, Sheffield Hallam, Harrogate and Knaresborough, Skipton and Ripon and, Thirsk and Malton

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontefract</span> Market town in West Yorkshire, England

Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wakefield district and had a population of 30,881 at the 2011 Census. Pontefract's motto is Post mortem patris pro filio, Latin for "After the death of the father, support the son", a reference to the town's Royalist sympathies in the English Civil War. Small villages and settlements in the immediate area include Stapleton.

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References

  1. "Constituency data: electorates – House of Commons Library". 2019 Electorate Figures. Parliament UK. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Yorkshire and the Humber | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. "UK's last deep coal mine Kellingley Colliery capped off". BBC News Online. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016. Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire closed in December, bringing to an end centuries of deep coal mining in Britain.
  4. Unemployment statistics The Guardian
  5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)
  6. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  9. "Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  10. "Election 2017 dashboard". Democratic Dashboard.