Post by YL on Aug 5, 2023 10:53:20 GMT
There is more than one River Rother, but the one whose valley has given its name to a Yorkshire Parliamentary constituency since 1918 is the one which rises in north east Derbyshire and flows through Chesterfield and then east of Sheffield to join the River Don at Rotherham. The constituency named after its valley has changed its boundaries quite significantly over the years, but since 1983 it has referred to the southern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, south of that town and east of the city of Sheffield. It also contains a small part of the town of Rotherham. The current round of boundary changes makes only minor alterations, but removes the parts of Bramley and the new Waverley development which were included (including the site of the Orgreave coking works) and slightly extends the part of Rotherham town included.
This is a mixed area of mining communities with more traditional rural villages and commuter elements; overall it is a constituency with demographics which are quite working class, with proportions in managerial and professional jobs and with degree level qualifications below average, but with quite high home ownership and less deprived than many former mining areas. It also has an older than average population, with the proportion in every age group over 50 being above average. Areas with this sort of demographics have moved more towards the Conservative Party in recent years, and indeed looking at both Westminster and local election results this is now the strongest part of South Yorkshire for that party.
The best known of the mining communities is Maltby, in the north-east of the constituency, the town which produced Fred Trueman. Memories of mining are more recent here than elsewhere, as Maltby Main colliery lasted as late as 2013. Much of the town, roughly corresponding to Maltby East ward, has a deprived and working class population, with several Lower Super Output Areas in the most deprived decile in England and Wales and very low proportions in middle class occupations and degrees. However, Maltby is not uniformly poor: the western part of the town, in Hellaby & Maltby West ward, is a bit better off and looks more like the rest of the constituency demographically.
South of Maltby, Dinnington is another town which owes most of its growth to mining. It also has a very deprived core in the areas where the original miners' housing was, but is generally a bit better off than Maltby, with more of a commuter element. Its urban area extends south to include the formerly separate villages of North and South Anston, which are one of the more middle class parts of the constituency. Their ward also contains the village of Woodsetts and a rural area near the Nottinghamshire border which includes Lindrick golf course, venue for the 1957 Ryder Cup, and the ward as a whole has a particularly high elderly population, with a lot of bungalows.
The south-west of the constituency is the part actually closest to the Rother and includes the Rother Valley Country Park; this is also the closest part to Sheffield, making it attractive to some commuters. East of the Country Park are the communities of Wales and Kiveton Park, and to the north is the small urban area of Aston-cum-Aughton, also including Swallownest. Although most of the area once known as Orgreave has gone, the small parish which retains the name, effectively a part of the Sheffield suburb of Woodhouse, is still in this constituency and forms its westernmost extension. There are also smaller villages, including Todwick, which is warded with Aston, and Harthill, which is in Wales ward.
North-west of Dinnington is Thurcroft. This is another mining village, and one of the most deprived parts of the constituency. However its ward is now something of a shotgun marriage, as the other part is the southern part of the suburban community of Wickersley, which is one of the more middle class parts of Rotherham borough, with particularly high areas of owner occupation, and overall the ward's demographics are quite typical of the constituency. The rest of the Wickersley area is not in this constituency.
Finally, since 2010 the constituency has included the ward called Sitwell, which is essentially the southern part of the town of Rotherham and includes Whiston and parts of Broom, Moorgate and, since the last ward boundary changes, Herringthorpe. This area is, together with neighbouring areas not in this constituency, essentially Rotherham town's middle class quarter and has traditionally been the Conservative Party's bastion in the area, although this was not the case in 2021. The Moorgate and Broom areas of Sitwell ward are also the one part of this constituency with a notable non-white population.
Before 2012 the usual pattern in local elections was for the Conservatives to win in Sitwell and sometimes in the former Hellaby ward (which included southern Wickersley as well as much of the current Hellaby & Maltby West), while in very good years for them (such as 2008) they could make breakthroughs elsewhere. In 2014 they were completely supplanted as the opposition to Labour in Rotherham by UKIP, but more recently the shift of UKIP votes to the Conservatives has strengthened them. In the 2021 Rotherham election only Wales ward did not elect at least one Conservative. Labour won the two seats in Wales and single seats in Aughton & Swallownest, Sitwell (surprisingly) and Hellaby & Maltby West, with all other seats going Conservative, with them even winning the two seats in Maltby East. Since then there have been three by-elections, all in Conservative-held seats. These have seen the Tory tide ebb a little, with Labour taking the second seat in Aughton & Swallownest and the Lib Dems taking a seat in Anston & Woodsetts, but the Tories held a seat in Dinnington.
As far as Westminster elections are concerned, the constituency had voted Labour consistently since 1918, though under rather different boundaries before 1983. In 2010 unfavourable boundary changes (the addition of the Sitwell and south Wickersley areas) and the general swing saw Kevin Barron's majority reduced to just under 6000. UKIP took second place from the Tories in 2015, but then as in the local elections the UKIP votes shifted to the Conservatives. Barron retired in 2019, and the Labour vote fell sharply, with Alexander Stafford winning by over 6000 to become the constituency's first Conservative MP. Although current polls suggest that he is likely to be a one term MP, the demographics are quite favourable to the modern Conservative Party and their strong local results suggest that this area is not likely to return to being a safe Labour seat.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 20975 (46.1%)
Lab 14840 (32.6%)
Brexit Party 5314 (11.7%)
Lib Dem 2195 (4.8%)
Green 1124 (2.5%)
Other 1040 (2.3%)
Con majority 6135 (13.5%)
This is a mixed area of mining communities with more traditional rural villages and commuter elements; overall it is a constituency with demographics which are quite working class, with proportions in managerial and professional jobs and with degree level qualifications below average, but with quite high home ownership and less deprived than many former mining areas. It also has an older than average population, with the proportion in every age group over 50 being above average. Areas with this sort of demographics have moved more towards the Conservative Party in recent years, and indeed looking at both Westminster and local election results this is now the strongest part of South Yorkshire for that party.
The best known of the mining communities is Maltby, in the north-east of the constituency, the town which produced Fred Trueman. Memories of mining are more recent here than elsewhere, as Maltby Main colliery lasted as late as 2013. Much of the town, roughly corresponding to Maltby East ward, has a deprived and working class population, with several Lower Super Output Areas in the most deprived decile in England and Wales and very low proportions in middle class occupations and degrees. However, Maltby is not uniformly poor: the western part of the town, in Hellaby & Maltby West ward, is a bit better off and looks more like the rest of the constituency demographically.
South of Maltby, Dinnington is another town which owes most of its growth to mining. It also has a very deprived core in the areas where the original miners' housing was, but is generally a bit better off than Maltby, with more of a commuter element. Its urban area extends south to include the formerly separate villages of North and South Anston, which are one of the more middle class parts of the constituency. Their ward also contains the village of Woodsetts and a rural area near the Nottinghamshire border which includes Lindrick golf course, venue for the 1957 Ryder Cup, and the ward as a whole has a particularly high elderly population, with a lot of bungalows.
The south-west of the constituency is the part actually closest to the Rother and includes the Rother Valley Country Park; this is also the closest part to Sheffield, making it attractive to some commuters. East of the Country Park are the communities of Wales and Kiveton Park, and to the north is the small urban area of Aston-cum-Aughton, also including Swallownest. Although most of the area once known as Orgreave has gone, the small parish which retains the name, effectively a part of the Sheffield suburb of Woodhouse, is still in this constituency and forms its westernmost extension. There are also smaller villages, including Todwick, which is warded with Aston, and Harthill, which is in Wales ward.
North-west of Dinnington is Thurcroft. This is another mining village, and one of the most deprived parts of the constituency. However its ward is now something of a shotgun marriage, as the other part is the southern part of the suburban community of Wickersley, which is one of the more middle class parts of Rotherham borough, with particularly high areas of owner occupation, and overall the ward's demographics are quite typical of the constituency. The rest of the Wickersley area is not in this constituency.
Finally, since 2010 the constituency has included the ward called Sitwell, which is essentially the southern part of the town of Rotherham and includes Whiston and parts of Broom, Moorgate and, since the last ward boundary changes, Herringthorpe. This area is, together with neighbouring areas not in this constituency, essentially Rotherham town's middle class quarter and has traditionally been the Conservative Party's bastion in the area, although this was not the case in 2021. The Moorgate and Broom areas of Sitwell ward are also the one part of this constituency with a notable non-white population.
Before 2012 the usual pattern in local elections was for the Conservatives to win in Sitwell and sometimes in the former Hellaby ward (which included southern Wickersley as well as much of the current Hellaby & Maltby West), while in very good years for them (such as 2008) they could make breakthroughs elsewhere. In 2014 they were completely supplanted as the opposition to Labour in Rotherham by UKIP, but more recently the shift of UKIP votes to the Conservatives has strengthened them. In the 2021 Rotherham election only Wales ward did not elect at least one Conservative. Labour won the two seats in Wales and single seats in Aughton & Swallownest, Sitwell (surprisingly) and Hellaby & Maltby West, with all other seats going Conservative, with them even winning the two seats in Maltby East. Since then there have been three by-elections, all in Conservative-held seats. These have seen the Tory tide ebb a little, with Labour taking the second seat in Aughton & Swallownest and the Lib Dems taking a seat in Anston & Woodsetts, but the Tories held a seat in Dinnington.
As far as Westminster elections are concerned, the constituency had voted Labour consistently since 1918, though under rather different boundaries before 1983. In 2010 unfavourable boundary changes (the addition of the Sitwell and south Wickersley areas) and the general swing saw Kevin Barron's majority reduced to just under 6000. UKIP took second place from the Tories in 2015, but then as in the local elections the UKIP votes shifted to the Conservatives. Barron retired in 2019, and the Labour vote fell sharply, with Alexander Stafford winning by over 6000 to become the constituency's first Conservative MP. Although current polls suggest that he is likely to be a one term MP, the demographics are quite favourable to the modern Conservative Party and their strong local results suggest that this area is not likely to return to being a safe Labour seat.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 20975 (46.1%)
Lab 14840 (32.6%)
Brexit Party 5314 (11.7%)
Lib Dem 2195 (4.8%)
Green 1124 (2.5%)
Other 1040 (2.3%)
Con majority 6135 (13.5%)