Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
Apr 26, 2020 8:58:41 GMT
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Post by BossMan on Apr 26, 2020 8:58:41 GMT
NORMANTON, PONTEFRACT AND CASTLEFORD
This seat was created in 2010 after the decision was made to reduce the allocation of constituencies in West Yorkshire by one. The abolished constituency was Normanton, which had been won by senior Labour figure Ed Balls only in 2005. One of the seats Normanton was being merged into was Pontefract and Castleford, which since 1997 had been represented by another senior Labour figure, Yvette Cooper, who happens to be Ed Balls’ wife.
The marriage of the two constituency names was not an equal partnership, as only the town of Normanton itself, plus Altofts was taken into the new seat, which dwarfs that area. Ms Cooper had little claim on any other constituency, so Ed Balls felt obliged to find another seat into which Normanton had been dispersed, and he was selected for Morley and Outwood. He became its MP but was ultimately defeated in 2015.
The Boundary Commission had great difficulty deciding on a name for this seat, but it was chosen after a good deal of public consultation and is one of this is one of the few English seats with more than two places mentioned in its name.
In normal circumstances, this seat seems to be natural, traditional Labour Party territory. As one travels east from Leeds, the Pennine countryside gradually flattens into a plain, and the traditional base of the economy changes from textiles to coal. The Pontefract and Castleford constituency (named Pontefract from 1885 until 1974) was once one of the strongest coal mining constituencies in the county. It has returned Labour MPs continuously since 1935, often giving the party well over 70% of the vote. It was here that the very last coal mine in the UK, Kellingley Colliery, closed in 2015. Nowadays this is still a seat of heavy industry, by the production of power and energy. Massive power stations, which can be seen for miles, have tapped the great Aire and Ouse rivers of this low lying land.
Labour continue to dominate local elections here since the most recent ward boundary changes in 2004, although they have faced increasingly strong opposition in recent years. Knottingley ward, home to the huge Ferrybridge power station caused a huge upset in May 2019 by voting for the Liberal Democrats, who came from nowhere to win almost three times as many votes as Labour. This could encourage the Lib Dems to try their luck in other wards they have not been contesting. That year Labour also lost Airedale and Ferry Fryston to an Independent, and only just fended off UKIP in Normanton. UKIP also had a sizeable vote in Castleford Central and Glasshoughton.
There is also a threat in the form of the Yorkshire Party, who came close to winning Pontefract North and put up a strong performance in Altofts and Whitwood. Pontefract, with its castle, cakes and liquorice, is the most touristic area of this seat. The Conservatives’ best ward in the seat is Pontefract South, although they have not won it since 2010. Pontefract North voted Tory just once, in Labour’s low point of 2008.
The threat to Labour dominance at a parliamentary level finally manifested itself in the “Brexit election” of December 2019. This constituency had been estimated to have voted 69% in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum. Yvette Cooper, who had enjoyed a frontbench career since the Blair years and had contested the Labour Party leadership in 2015 before returning to the backbenches, was one of the MPs who tabled amendments to stop a no deal Brexit in 2019. Unfairly or not, this may have been viewed by some of her constituents as an attempt to prevent Brexit happening at all. This was also combined with reservations over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party with many of its voters. Labour’s share of the vote declined by a massive 22% while the Conservatives advanced by 5% and the Brexit Party took 17% of the vote. Ms Cooper nearly went the way of her husband as her majority was hammered from 14,449 to 1,276.
Now that Brexit has taken place and Sir Keir Starmer took over from Corbyn in 2020, we will see if Labour can win back the voters it lost to the Brexit Party here and return its majority to normal levels next time.
This seat was created in 2010 after the decision was made to reduce the allocation of constituencies in West Yorkshire by one. The abolished constituency was Normanton, which had been won by senior Labour figure Ed Balls only in 2005. One of the seats Normanton was being merged into was Pontefract and Castleford, which since 1997 had been represented by another senior Labour figure, Yvette Cooper, who happens to be Ed Balls’ wife.
The marriage of the two constituency names was not an equal partnership, as only the town of Normanton itself, plus Altofts was taken into the new seat, which dwarfs that area. Ms Cooper had little claim on any other constituency, so Ed Balls felt obliged to find another seat into which Normanton had been dispersed, and he was selected for Morley and Outwood. He became its MP but was ultimately defeated in 2015.
The Boundary Commission had great difficulty deciding on a name for this seat, but it was chosen after a good deal of public consultation and is one of this is one of the few English seats with more than two places mentioned in its name.
In normal circumstances, this seat seems to be natural, traditional Labour Party territory. As one travels east from Leeds, the Pennine countryside gradually flattens into a plain, and the traditional base of the economy changes from textiles to coal. The Pontefract and Castleford constituency (named Pontefract from 1885 until 1974) was once one of the strongest coal mining constituencies in the county. It has returned Labour MPs continuously since 1935, often giving the party well over 70% of the vote. It was here that the very last coal mine in the UK, Kellingley Colliery, closed in 2015. Nowadays this is still a seat of heavy industry, by the production of power and energy. Massive power stations, which can be seen for miles, have tapped the great Aire and Ouse rivers of this low lying land.
Labour continue to dominate local elections here since the most recent ward boundary changes in 2004, although they have faced increasingly strong opposition in recent years. Knottingley ward, home to the huge Ferrybridge power station caused a huge upset in May 2019 by voting for the Liberal Democrats, who came from nowhere to win almost three times as many votes as Labour. This could encourage the Lib Dems to try their luck in other wards they have not been contesting. That year Labour also lost Airedale and Ferry Fryston to an Independent, and only just fended off UKIP in Normanton. UKIP also had a sizeable vote in Castleford Central and Glasshoughton.
There is also a threat in the form of the Yorkshire Party, who came close to winning Pontefract North and put up a strong performance in Altofts and Whitwood. Pontefract, with its castle, cakes and liquorice, is the most touristic area of this seat. The Conservatives’ best ward in the seat is Pontefract South, although they have not won it since 2010. Pontefract North voted Tory just once, in Labour’s low point of 2008.
The threat to Labour dominance at a parliamentary level finally manifested itself in the “Brexit election” of December 2019. This constituency had been estimated to have voted 69% in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum. Yvette Cooper, who had enjoyed a frontbench career since the Blair years and had contested the Labour Party leadership in 2015 before returning to the backbenches, was one of the MPs who tabled amendments to stop a no deal Brexit in 2019. Unfairly or not, this may have been viewed by some of her constituents as an attempt to prevent Brexit happening at all. This was also combined with reservations over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party with many of its voters. Labour’s share of the vote declined by a massive 22% while the Conservatives advanced by 5% and the Brexit Party took 17% of the vote. Ms Cooper nearly went the way of her husband as her majority was hammered from 14,449 to 1,276.
Now that Brexit has taken place and Sir Keir Starmer took over from Corbyn in 2020, we will see if Labour can win back the voters it lost to the Brexit Party here and return its majority to normal levels next time.