Pontefract and Castleford (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pontefract and Castleford County constituency |
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| Pontefract and Castleford shown within West Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire shown within England | |
| Created: | 1974 |
| MP: | Yvette Cooper |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | West Yorkshire |
| EP constituency: | Yorkshire and the Humber |
Pontefract and Castleford is a 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.
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[edit] Boundaries
The constituency covers the West Yorkshire towns of Pontefract and Castleford. It is a very safe Labour seat comprising of former mining towns and villages. The local MP, Yvette Cooper, is married to fellow Labour MP Ed Balls.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England has suggested the creation of a new constituency called Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. Due to population decline, the Commission has suggested reducing the number of seats in the county by one, resulting in the "merger" of the Normanton and Pontefract constituencies.
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Joseph Harper | Labour | |
| 1978 | Geoffrey Lofthouse | Labour | |
| 1997 | Yvette Cooper | Labour | |
[edit] Election results
[edit] 1970s
| General Election February 1974: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Joseph Harper | 34,409 | 74.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Richard Needham | 10,605 | 23.1 | N/A | |
| Workers' Revolutionary | B. Lavery | 991 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 23,804 | 51.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 46,005 | 77.1 | N/A | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election October 1974: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Joseph Harper | 30,208 | 70.4 | -4.4 | |
| Conservative | I. Bloomer | 6,966 | 16.2 | -6.9 | |
| Liberal | S. Galloway | 5,259 | 12.3 | N/A | |
| Workers' Revolutionary | T. Parsons | 457 | 1.1 | -1.1 | |
| Majority | 23,242 | 54.2 | +2.4 | ||
| Turnout | 42,890 | 71.1 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Pontefract and Castleford by-election, 1978 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Geoffrey Lofthouse | 19,508 | 65.8 | -4.6 | |
| Conservative | Hugo Page | 8,080 | 27.3 | +11.1 | |
| Liberal | Leslie Marsh | 2,054 | 6.9 | -5.4 | |
| Majority | 11,428 | 38.6 | -15.6 | ||
| Turnout | 29,642 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1979: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Geoffrey Lofthouse | 30,566 | 68.1 | ||
| Conservative | Hugo Page | 10,665 | 23.8 | ||
| Liberal | Leslie Marsh | 3,616 | 8.0 | ||
| Majority | 19,901 | 44.4 | |||
| Turnout | 73.9 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] 1980s
| General Election 1983: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Geoffrey Lofthouse | 24,990 | 57.1 | ||
| Conservative | J. B. Howell | 11,299 | 25.8 | ||
| SDP-Liberal Alliance | D. Dale | 7,452 | 17.1 | ||
| Majority | 13,691 | 31.3 | |||
| Turnout | 43,741 | 67.4 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1987: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Geoffrey Lofthouse | 31,656 | 66.9 | ||
| Conservative | J. H. Mallins | 10,051 | 21.2 | ||
| SDP-Liberal Alliance | M. F. Taylor | 5,334 | 11.3 | ||
| Red Front | D. M. Lees | 295 | 0.6 | ||
| Majority | 21,626 | 45.7 | |||
| Turnout | 47,315 | 73.5 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] 1990s
| General Election 1992: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Geoffrey Lofthouse | 33,546 | 69.9 | ||
| Conservative | A.G.M. Rockall | 10,051 | 20.9 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | D.L. Ryan | 4,410 | 9.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 23,495 | 49.0 | |||
| Turnout | 48,007 | 74.3 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Yvette Cooper | 31,339 | 75.7 | +5.8 | |
| Conservative | Adrian John Flook | 5,614 | 13.6 | -7.3 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Wesley Paxton | 3,042 | 7.4 | -1.8 | |
| Referendum Party | R. Wood | 1,401 | 3.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 25,725 | 62.1 | |||
| Turnout | 41,396 | 66.3 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] 2000s
| General Election 2001: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Yvette Cooper | 21,890 | 69.7 | −6.0 | |
| Conservative | Pamela Singleton | 5,512 | 17.6 | +4.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Wesley Paxton | 2,315 | 7.4 | +0.1 | |
| UK Independence | John Burdon | 739 | 2.4 | N/A | |
| Socialist Labour | Trevor Bolderson | 605 | 1.9 | N/A | |
| Socialist Alliance | John Gill | 330 | 1.1 | N/A | |
| Majority | 16,378 | 52.1 | |||
| Turnout | 31,391 | 49.7 | −16.7 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2005: Pontefract and Castleford | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Yvette Cooper | 20,973 | 63.7 | −6.0 | |
| Conservative | Simon Jones | 5,727 | 17.4 | −0.2 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Wesley Paxton | 3,942 | 12.0 | +4.6 | |
| British National Party | Suzy Cass | 1,835 | 5.6 | N/A | |
| Alliance for Green Socialism | Bob Hague | 470 | 1.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 15,246 | 46.3 | |||
| Turnout | 32,947 | 53.3 | +3.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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