Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford in West Yorkshire
Outline map
Location of West Yorkshire within England
CountyWest Yorkshire
Electorate84,874 (December 2019)[1]
Major settlementsNormanton, Castleford and Pontefract
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentYvette Cooper (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromPontefract and Castleford, Normanton
Replaced byPontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency[n 1] in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party since its 2010 creation.[n 2] Cooper has 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.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to boundary changes which will entail the loss of Normanton. As a consequence, it will be renamed Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, to be first contested at the next 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 in England in terms of name is Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in London.

Boundaries

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

  • Airedale and Ferry Fryston, Altofts and Whitwood, Castleford Central and Glasshoughton, Knottingley, Normanton, Pontefract North, and Pontefract South.

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

Election Member[5] Party
2010 Yvette Cooper Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 18,297 37.9 –21.6
Conservative Andrew Lee 17,021 35.3 +5.3
Brexit Party Deneice Florence-Jukes 8,032 16.6 New
Liberal Democrats Tom Gordon 3,147 6.5 +5.1
Yorkshire Laura Walker 1,762 3.7 +0.8
Majority 1,276 2.6 –26.9
Turnout 48,419 57.3 –3.0
Labour hold Swing –13.4
General election 2017: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 29,268 59.5 +4.6
Conservative Andrew Lee 14,769 30.0 +9.2
UKIP Lewis Thompson 3,030 6.2 –15.1
Yorkshire Daniel Gascoigne 1,431 2.9 New
Liberal Democrats Clarke Roberts 693 1.4 –1.5
Majority 14,499 29.5 –4.1
Turnout 49,191 60.3 +4.7
Labour hold Swing
General election 2015: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 25,213 54.9 +6.8
UKIP Nathan Garbutt 9,785 21.3 New
Conservative Beth Prescott 9,569 20.8 –3.6
Liberal Democrats Edward McMillan-Scott 1,330 2.9 –13.5
Majority 15,428 33.6 +9.9
Turnout 45,897 55.6 –0.6
Labour hold Swing –7.3
General election 2010: Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 22,293 48.1
Conservative Nick Pickles 11,314 24.4
Liberal Democrats Chris Rush 7,585 16.4
BNP Graham Thewlis-Hardy 3,846 8.3
Independent Gareth Allen 1,183 2.6
Majority 10,979 23.7
Turnout 46,239 56.2
Labour win (new seat)

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

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. ↑ "Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  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. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Election 2017 dashboard". Democratic Dashboard.

53°43′01″N 1°21′40″W / 53.717°N 1.361°W / 53.717; -1.361

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