Post by YL on Jan 8, 2024 21:25:23 GMT
Morley is a town in the north-eastern part of the Heavy Woollen District (see Dewsbury & Batley), but unlike most of the rest of that area it was included in the Leeds city council area in 1974. It has had its name included in a constituency name since 1885, though its partners, and hence the full names, have varied considerably over the years. Since 2010 it has been included in the Morley & Outwood constituency containing the Outwood area in Wakefield borough; Outwood now departs to Wakefield & Rothwell, and is replaced by the Leeds ward of Farnley & Wortley, which means that the constituency now contains part of the main Leeds urban area and as a result it is renamed Leeds South West & Morley.
Whether partnered with Batley (1918 until 1983), Beeston, Holbeck and Middleton (1983 to 1997) or Rothwell and Middleton (1997 to 2010), Morley had had a Labour MP since 1935, and Morley & Outwood was represented by Ed Balls from its creation in 2010 until he was defeated by the Conservatives' Andrea Jenkyns in 2015. It has moved further towards the Conservatives since and Jenkyns had a sizable majority in 2019; however the addition of Farnley & Wortley will help Labour and considerably reduce her notional majority. At local level the picture is confused by the strength of the localist Morley Borough Independents, who hold all the Morley seats on Leeds City Council.
There are two Morley wards, Morley South, including the bulk of the town, and Morley North, which also includes two separate communities to the west, Gildersome and Drighlington, both of which were part of the old Morley municipal borough but now have their own parish councils. Demographically the area is quite mixed, with both middle class and working class elements and with high levels of what the Office for National Statistics calls "intermediate occupations". It is fairly white by Heavy Woollen District standards, but not extremely so. Both wards have full slates of Morley Borough Independents councillors; this has been true for North since 2004, but South elected a BNP councillor in 2006, and more recently a Labour councillor took a seat in 2011 and held it until 2022.
Also in the pre-1974 Morley borough were the areas of East and West Ardsley. Except for Woodkirk on the western edge, which is in Morley South, these are now in the ward of Ardsley & Robin Hood, which extends east to include the areas of Robin Hood and Lofthouse, close to the M1/M62 junction which takes its name from the latter; these areas were associated with Rothwell before 1974. The demographics are not that different from Morley, but the Morley Borough Independents have only stood once here, and the ward usually votes Labour, though it voted Conservative in 2021.
The new ward, Farnley & Wortley, includes Wortley, just west of Leeds city centre, and Farnley, further west towards Pudsey. It also includes the area of New Farnley, which is a little detached from the Leeds urban area, and some rural fringe between Farnley and Gildersome. This is quite a working class ward, especially in Farnley, which contains a lot of council housing, some of the cottage estate style but also some postwar flat roofed houses; the south of the ward, including New Farnley, is a bit more middle class. For many years Farnley & Wortley elected mostly Greens to Leeds City Council, led by Ann and David Blackburn; however Labour can also win it, and Ann Blackburn lost her seat to them in 2022 and they took a second seat in 2023.
Overall this is not a constituency which stands out demographically. It is neither strongly middle class nor working class, though it is high on those intermediate occupations, nor is it strongly owner occupied nor dominated by council housing. Education levels are below average, though not strikingly so. It is neither very white nor very diverse. Part of it is clearly part of urban Leeds, but other parts are more independent-minded, although all of it is part of the city council area. It is not surprising that it is a marginal constituency.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 23166 (53.1%)
Lab 16052 (36.8%)
Green 1440 (3.3%)
Lib Dem 1207 (2.8%)
Brexit Party 780 (1.8%)
Other 957 (2.2%)
Con majority 7114 (16.3%)
Whether partnered with Batley (1918 until 1983), Beeston, Holbeck and Middleton (1983 to 1997) or Rothwell and Middleton (1997 to 2010), Morley had had a Labour MP since 1935, and Morley & Outwood was represented by Ed Balls from its creation in 2010 until he was defeated by the Conservatives' Andrea Jenkyns in 2015. It has moved further towards the Conservatives since and Jenkyns had a sizable majority in 2019; however the addition of Farnley & Wortley will help Labour and considerably reduce her notional majority. At local level the picture is confused by the strength of the localist Morley Borough Independents, who hold all the Morley seats on Leeds City Council.
There are two Morley wards, Morley South, including the bulk of the town, and Morley North, which also includes two separate communities to the west, Gildersome and Drighlington, both of which were part of the old Morley municipal borough but now have their own parish councils. Demographically the area is quite mixed, with both middle class and working class elements and with high levels of what the Office for National Statistics calls "intermediate occupations". It is fairly white by Heavy Woollen District standards, but not extremely so. Both wards have full slates of Morley Borough Independents councillors; this has been true for North since 2004, but South elected a BNP councillor in 2006, and more recently a Labour councillor took a seat in 2011 and held it until 2022.
Also in the pre-1974 Morley borough were the areas of East and West Ardsley. Except for Woodkirk on the western edge, which is in Morley South, these are now in the ward of Ardsley & Robin Hood, which extends east to include the areas of Robin Hood and Lofthouse, close to the M1/M62 junction which takes its name from the latter; these areas were associated with Rothwell before 1974. The demographics are not that different from Morley, but the Morley Borough Independents have only stood once here, and the ward usually votes Labour, though it voted Conservative in 2021.
The new ward, Farnley & Wortley, includes Wortley, just west of Leeds city centre, and Farnley, further west towards Pudsey. It also includes the area of New Farnley, which is a little detached from the Leeds urban area, and some rural fringe between Farnley and Gildersome. This is quite a working class ward, especially in Farnley, which contains a lot of council housing, some of the cottage estate style but also some postwar flat roofed houses; the south of the ward, including New Farnley, is a bit more middle class. For many years Farnley & Wortley elected mostly Greens to Leeds City Council, led by Ann and David Blackburn; however Labour can also win it, and Ann Blackburn lost her seat to them in 2022 and they took a second seat in 2023.
Overall this is not a constituency which stands out demographically. It is neither strongly middle class nor working class, though it is high on those intermediate occupations, nor is it strongly owner occupied nor dominated by council housing. Education levels are below average, though not strikingly so. It is neither very white nor very diverse. Part of it is clearly part of urban Leeds, but other parts are more independent-minded, although all of it is part of the city council area. It is not surprising that it is a marginal constituency.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 23166 (53.1%)
Lab 16052 (36.8%)
Green 1440 (3.3%)
Lib Dem 1207 (2.8%)
Brexit Party 780 (1.8%)
Other 957 (2.2%)
Con majority 7114 (16.3%)
