Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2021 23:36:55 GMT
And that's the last one in Northamptonshire
Wellingborough
Wellingborough lies in south-eastern Northamptonshire. The constituency is centred on the eponymous town, although it also includes the nearby towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers (in East Northamptonshire). It borders Kettering to the north, Corby to the north east, Bedfordshire North East to the south east, Milton Keynes North to the south, South Northamptonshire to the south west, and Daventry to the north west.
Wellingborough itself is an Anglo-Saxon town, although it took until the twentieth century for the town to grow to any significant size. As with much of Northamptonshire, the main industry of this area was shoemaking. This was large in Wellingborough, and massive in Rushden – which at one time had over 100 shoemaking factories. The industry in this area is now, however, quite a distant memory. The town grew quite extensively post-second world war, mostly thanks to London overspill.
Partly as a relic of this twentieth century growth, Wellingborough has significant areas of deprivation. It is the 268th most deprived constituency in England, and 3rd in Northamptonshire, making it comparable to Sherwood, Worcester and Leeds North East. Central Wellingborough and parts of Rushden have reasonably high levels of deprivation, with Higham Ferrers and rural/exurban Wellingborough being better off. Home ownership is above the national average (not a single ward is under 50%), and both social and private renting are below. Incomes are below average, as are the share of people employed in managerial and professional occupations. Elementary and routine occupations represent a larger than average proportion of the workforce. Manufacturing is still a reasonable proportion of the local workforce, while human health and social work is under-represented (that will be important later). It has a large commuter element, thanks t convenient transport links to London and the midlands.
The constituency is 90% white, although there is a significant Asian population in the central Wellingborough wards of Hatton and Swanspool. 89% of the population were born in the UK, roughly in line with the national average. The proportion of people with no qualifications is above average and the percentage of people educated to degree level is significantly below average. All of this adds up to an estimated 2016 leave vote of 64%.
Prior to 1983, the seat also included Irthlingborough, Raunds and Thrapston. After its creation in 1918, it was immediately won by Labour, making it one of the earliest constituencies to be won by Labour. It was a left-leaning marginal in its early years, going National Liberal in 1922 and Labour in 1923, 1951 and 1955, and otherwise voting for the party of government until being gained by the Conservatives in a 1969 by-election. It stayed Tory until 1997 when it was gained by Labour on a 9.9% swing. The Conservatives gained it in 2005, and has seen quite a swing since then, to leave Peter Bone with a 35.7% majority as of 2019. This has quite a bit to do with the seat’s economic profile; the middle two occupation categories (skilled occupations) are over-represented, and the seat’s commuter profile created a good environment for Blair in the late 1990s and 2000s, and then for the Tories since 2010. Unlike some seats, there isn't a massively large public-sector workforce to boost the Labour Party.
Labour’s strongest areas are in the deprived areas and central Wellingborough and Rushden, while the Conservatives dominate everywhere else. Overall, this is formerly marginal seat that, thanks to political change amongst its core demographics, and especially brexit, now looks unassailably Conservative. Labour will remain their main opposition, but barring major shocks or boundary changes they aren’t going to be winning it back any time soon.
Wellingborough
Wellingborough lies in south-eastern Northamptonshire. The constituency is centred on the eponymous town, although it also includes the nearby towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers (in East Northamptonshire). It borders Kettering to the north, Corby to the north east, Bedfordshire North East to the south east, Milton Keynes North to the south, South Northamptonshire to the south west, and Daventry to the north west.
Wellingborough itself is an Anglo-Saxon town, although it took until the twentieth century for the town to grow to any significant size. As with much of Northamptonshire, the main industry of this area was shoemaking. This was large in Wellingborough, and massive in Rushden – which at one time had over 100 shoemaking factories. The industry in this area is now, however, quite a distant memory. The town grew quite extensively post-second world war, mostly thanks to London overspill.
Partly as a relic of this twentieth century growth, Wellingborough has significant areas of deprivation. It is the 268th most deprived constituency in England, and 3rd in Northamptonshire, making it comparable to Sherwood, Worcester and Leeds North East. Central Wellingborough and parts of Rushden have reasonably high levels of deprivation, with Higham Ferrers and rural/exurban Wellingborough being better off. Home ownership is above the national average (not a single ward is under 50%), and both social and private renting are below. Incomes are below average, as are the share of people employed in managerial and professional occupations. Elementary and routine occupations represent a larger than average proportion of the workforce. Manufacturing is still a reasonable proportion of the local workforce, while human health and social work is under-represented (that will be important later). It has a large commuter element, thanks t convenient transport links to London and the midlands.
The constituency is 90% white, although there is a significant Asian population in the central Wellingborough wards of Hatton and Swanspool. 89% of the population were born in the UK, roughly in line with the national average. The proportion of people with no qualifications is above average and the percentage of people educated to degree level is significantly below average. All of this adds up to an estimated 2016 leave vote of 64%.
Prior to 1983, the seat also included Irthlingborough, Raunds and Thrapston. After its creation in 1918, it was immediately won by Labour, making it one of the earliest constituencies to be won by Labour. It was a left-leaning marginal in its early years, going National Liberal in 1922 and Labour in 1923, 1951 and 1955, and otherwise voting for the party of government until being gained by the Conservatives in a 1969 by-election. It stayed Tory until 1997 when it was gained by Labour on a 9.9% swing. The Conservatives gained it in 2005, and has seen quite a swing since then, to leave Peter Bone with a 35.7% majority as of 2019. This has quite a bit to do with the seat’s economic profile; the middle two occupation categories (skilled occupations) are over-represented, and the seat’s commuter profile created a good environment for Blair in the late 1990s and 2000s, and then for the Tories since 2010. Unlike some seats, there isn't a massively large public-sector workforce to boost the Labour Party.
Labour’s strongest areas are in the deprived areas and central Wellingborough and Rushden, while the Conservatives dominate everywhere else. Overall, this is formerly marginal seat that, thanks to political change amongst its core demographics, and especially brexit, now looks unassailably Conservative. Labour will remain their main opposition, but barring major shocks or boundary changes they aren’t going to be winning it back any time soon.
