Post by YL on Jul 17, 2020 16:31:44 GMT
This constituency forms a rough crescent around the south side of the town of Doncaster, and forms the southern part of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough. It stretches from the town of Conisbrough with its prominent castle above the Don in the west, to the towns of Thorne and Hatfield in the east. A look at a map may show that Thorne and Hatfield have "Moors", but these are not the Yorkshire Moors of the Brontës or even the western part of South Yorkshire, but low lying peatlands, and some of the scenery in the east of this constituency in some ways resembles the Fens of Cambridgeshire or Lincolnshire more than other parts of Yorkshire. In between are small towns and villages such as Tickhill, Bawtry, Rossington and Finningley, the latter being the site of a former airbase which has now been redeveloped into Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Many of these communities have a mining heritage. This is true of Conisbrough and its neighbour Denaby, Rossington and Hatfield, among others. On the other hand Tickhill, Bawtry and Finningley (essentially the middle part of the consituency, with the striking exception of Rossington) have less of a mining heritage, and between them have often produced much of the Conservative representation on Doncaster council. A look at the deprivation statistics shows this pattern, with high deprivation in the mining communities and relatively low deprivation around Tickhill, Bawtry and Finningley. Similar patterns appear in the census statistics for occupation and education levels: Conisbrough, Edlington, Rossington, Hatfield and Thorne show high proportions with no qualifications and very low proportions with higher education or middle class occupations, whereas other areas, especially the area around Tickhill, show well above average proportions with higher education and of managerial and professional occupations and rather low proportions with no qualifications.
Overall the more working class areas tend to dominate the demographics, with the proportion of professional occupations well below the median, managerial slightly below, and working class occupations well above the median. Similarly, the constituency is fairly deprived, though not exceptionally so, ranked 147th in England. The constituency is ranked 88th in the UK for the proportion with no qualifications, and the proportion with higher education is well below the median. The age profile of the constituency shows a rather old population, with every age group over 50 above the UK average and every age group under 50 below it.
The constituency has existed in name since 1918, but until 1983 contained areas north of Doncaster as well as south. That version was a very safe Labour seat, held from 1922 onwards, even in 1931. The new borders, especially after Mexborough was removed in 1997, produced a more marginal seat, though until 2019 it looked like a fairly long shot for the Conservatives. It was held by Caroline Flint for Labour from 1997, with her lowest majority being under 4000 in 2010. However, the pattern of low education levels and an older population, together with the general patterns in ex-mining areas, suggests strong support for Brexit and for the populist right, and UKIP did well here in 2015. In 2019, the constituency fell to the Tories' Nick Fletcher, with an 8% majority, the closest of their three South Yorkshire gains.
Many of these communities have a mining heritage. This is true of Conisbrough and its neighbour Denaby, Rossington and Hatfield, among others. On the other hand Tickhill, Bawtry and Finningley (essentially the middle part of the consituency, with the striking exception of Rossington) have less of a mining heritage, and between them have often produced much of the Conservative representation on Doncaster council. A look at the deprivation statistics shows this pattern, with high deprivation in the mining communities and relatively low deprivation around Tickhill, Bawtry and Finningley. Similar patterns appear in the census statistics for occupation and education levels: Conisbrough, Edlington, Rossington, Hatfield and Thorne show high proportions with no qualifications and very low proportions with higher education or middle class occupations, whereas other areas, especially the area around Tickhill, show well above average proportions with higher education and of managerial and professional occupations and rather low proportions with no qualifications.
Overall the more working class areas tend to dominate the demographics, with the proportion of professional occupations well below the median, managerial slightly below, and working class occupations well above the median. Similarly, the constituency is fairly deprived, though not exceptionally so, ranked 147th in England. The constituency is ranked 88th in the UK for the proportion with no qualifications, and the proportion with higher education is well below the median. The age profile of the constituency shows a rather old population, with every age group over 50 above the UK average and every age group under 50 below it.
The constituency has existed in name since 1918, but until 1983 contained areas north of Doncaster as well as south. That version was a very safe Labour seat, held from 1922 onwards, even in 1931. The new borders, especially after Mexborough was removed in 1997, produced a more marginal seat, though until 2019 it looked like a fairly long shot for the Conservatives. It was held by Caroline Flint for Labour from 1997, with her lowest majority being under 4000 in 2010. However, the pattern of low education levels and an older population, together with the general patterns in ex-mining areas, suggests strong support for Brexit and for the populist right, and UKIP did well here in 2015. In 2019, the constituency fell to the Tories' Nick Fletcher, with an 8% majority, the closest of their three South Yorkshire gains.