Post by BossMan on Apr 24, 2020 21:52:47 GMT
PUDSEY
The West Yorkshire constituency of Pudsey has had various incarnations since it was first created in 1885 out of the very large Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire constituency. Originally it included outer fringes of the modern day Bradford and Kirklees districts, and was a Liberal seat for most of the period until its abolition in 1918 (except 1908-1910 when the Conservatives briefly held it as a result of a mid term by-election).
Between 1918 and 1950, a Pudsey and Otley seat existed which took in Otley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and stretched as far north west as Ilkley, some 15 miles away from Pudsey - and covered parts of five modern day constituencies. That was a Tory inclined seat – the Labour candidate in 1945 there was Denis Healey, who missed out that landslide year by just 1,651 votes.
Pudsey was revived as a constituency name in the 1950 boundary changes. Nowadays it comprises of suburban settlements in the upland west and northwest of Leeds, all within the Leeds borough. Its workers' income is close to the national average, there is low unemployment and a low dependency on social housing.
The MP between 1974 and 1997 was Sir Giles Shaw, a popular man with his parliamentary colleagues. Until 1992 it was the Liberals, not Labour who were his principal opponents – in February 1974, the Liberals were only 3,739 votes shy of winning.
For a while it seemed as though the Liberal tradition from the pre-1918 seat was reasserting itself. The Lib Dems’ best ward has long been Horsforth , where they have been competitive with the Conservatives for decades, although they have struggled even there in recent years.
In 1992, Labour managed to sneak back into second place in the constituency as they slowly readied themselves for returning to government and Pudsey was well placed to follow so many other suburban, middle class constituencies like this to fall to the New Labour/Blair landslide of 1997. Sir Giles retired, and Labour candidate Paul Truswell managed to overturn a Conservative majority of 8,972 to a Labour one of 6,207. His Tory opponent that year was Peter Bone (later MP for Wellingborough).
Truswell was comfortably re-elected twice until he decided to stand down for a variety of personal reasons at the 2010 general election, by which time Blair had been replaced as Prime Minister by Gordon Brown. Conservative candidate Stuart Andrew managed to gain the seat, but only by 1,659 votes.
The Conservatives’ best ward is the middle class Guiseley and Rawdon. Then there are two more marginal wards: the Conservatives have normally been able to emerge ahead in Calverley and Farsley, situated between Leeds and Shipley, although Labour finally managed to sneak a win there in May 2019. Conversely, Pudsey ward, in closest proximity to Leeds city centre, has been by far the best ward for Labour since the 2004 ward boundary changes, but they have lost seats to Conservatives there since 2018.
Stuart Andrew is still the MP, having been re-elected three times, but Pudsey should still be considered a marginal seat – in 2017, Andrew survived the then Corbyn surge by just 337 votes, although he managed to increase that majority back up to to three and a half thousand in 2019. Unlike most Yorkshire seats, Pudsey was estimated to have been (51%) in favour of remaining in the European Union. As a bellwether since 1979, Pudsey is definitely one of those marginal seats to watch at any general election.
The West Yorkshire constituency of Pudsey has had various incarnations since it was first created in 1885 out of the very large Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire constituency. Originally it included outer fringes of the modern day Bradford and Kirklees districts, and was a Liberal seat for most of the period until its abolition in 1918 (except 1908-1910 when the Conservatives briefly held it as a result of a mid term by-election).
Between 1918 and 1950, a Pudsey and Otley seat existed which took in Otley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and stretched as far north west as Ilkley, some 15 miles away from Pudsey - and covered parts of five modern day constituencies. That was a Tory inclined seat – the Labour candidate in 1945 there was Denis Healey, who missed out that landslide year by just 1,651 votes.
Pudsey was revived as a constituency name in the 1950 boundary changes. Nowadays it comprises of suburban settlements in the upland west and northwest of Leeds, all within the Leeds borough. Its workers' income is close to the national average, there is low unemployment and a low dependency on social housing.
The MP between 1974 and 1997 was Sir Giles Shaw, a popular man with his parliamentary colleagues. Until 1992 it was the Liberals, not Labour who were his principal opponents – in February 1974, the Liberals were only 3,739 votes shy of winning.
For a while it seemed as though the Liberal tradition from the pre-1918 seat was reasserting itself. The Lib Dems’ best ward has long been Horsforth , where they have been competitive with the Conservatives for decades, although they have struggled even there in recent years.
In 1992, Labour managed to sneak back into second place in the constituency as they slowly readied themselves for returning to government and Pudsey was well placed to follow so many other suburban, middle class constituencies like this to fall to the New Labour/Blair landslide of 1997. Sir Giles retired, and Labour candidate Paul Truswell managed to overturn a Conservative majority of 8,972 to a Labour one of 6,207. His Tory opponent that year was Peter Bone (later MP for Wellingborough).
Truswell was comfortably re-elected twice until he decided to stand down for a variety of personal reasons at the 2010 general election, by which time Blair had been replaced as Prime Minister by Gordon Brown. Conservative candidate Stuart Andrew managed to gain the seat, but only by 1,659 votes.
The Conservatives’ best ward is the middle class Guiseley and Rawdon. Then there are two more marginal wards: the Conservatives have normally been able to emerge ahead in Calverley and Farsley, situated between Leeds and Shipley, although Labour finally managed to sneak a win there in May 2019. Conversely, Pudsey ward, in closest proximity to Leeds city centre, has been by far the best ward for Labour since the 2004 ward boundary changes, but they have lost seats to Conservatives there since 2018.
Stuart Andrew is still the MP, having been re-elected three times, but Pudsey should still be considered a marginal seat – in 2017, Andrew survived the then Corbyn surge by just 337 votes, although he managed to increase that majority back up to to three and a half thousand in 2019. Unlike most Yorkshire seats, Pudsey was estimated to have been (51%) in favour of remaining in the European Union. As a bellwether since 1979, Pudsey is definitely one of those marginal seats to watch at any general election.