Post by bsjmcr on Jul 6, 2023 23:23:47 GMT
Remarkably, this is one of the select few constituencies in the UK not to have had any change in boundary or name, though if the Commission wanted to extend its penchant for elongating constituency names into this neck of the woods, it would be Stalybridge-Dukinfield, Hyde, Longdendale and Mossley. Initial proposals suggested splitting Stalybridge into two, with the northern part going to Ashton-under-Lyne, and Hyde joining Denton, understandably this did not go down well. Also, since the original entry for this was written over three years ago, very little has changed in the area that I can think of. The land that time forgot? That may be a bit harsh, one recent announcement is that the train line from Stalybridge to Manchester will be one of two (the other being from Glossop and also running through this area) to join the integrated 'Bee Network' of contactless bus, tram and train travel across Greater Manchester. Time will tell if it will make the area more attractive for commuters, as the Metrolink tram line doesn't quite run up to here, instead terminating at Ashton.
Nestled in the foothills of the Pennines with plenty of quality green space, bordering the Peak District, and once upon a time in Cheshire (before Greater Manchester was born in 1974), at first sight or if this was elsewhere in the country it would be a safe Conservative seat. Instead it covers two slightly gritty towns and as such has been more or less safely Labour since 1945. It covers the eastern half of the Tameside borough, and of course the river winds through this constituency.
The area is known for retaining some industry though there was much deprivation after the loss of the predominant cotton industry. The proportion of people working in manufacturing is well above the regional and national average, at 14% compared to 10% and 8% for the North West and the country respectively. Reflecting this, the proportion of people with no qualifications is slightly lower than average, while the proportion of graduates is also slightly lower than the country as a whole. The two eponymous towns are proudly working class, and here many of the terraced houses are stone-clad rather than brick, which gives the area a more provincial feel. In these towns the centres of affluence are in Stalybridge South, which is Conservative on the council - being semi-rural, with some attractive countryside and undulating roads. There has also been an increase in house-building across the area, particularly several vast identikit estates of modern detached family houses for commuters wanting a quieter life facing the hills. Stalybridge has its own train station as mentioned before, but for trams, one has to drive to a park-and-ride at Ashton.
In Hyde, the Werneth ward in the far south is often Conservative, again, made of desirable hilly housing. This is named after the somewhat inappropriately named 'Werneth Low' - which is actually a very nice hill to climb and offers great views of the city, some of the best I find, and not too labourious to find and climb - would highly recommend going at sunset. The other two Hyde wards are Godley, and Newton, both safely Labour. Godley Reservoir is home to Europe's largest floating solar farm, made of 12,000 panels, completed in 2016 at a cost of £3.5 million, producing 2.7GWh of energy annually, helping power the water treatment works.
Places other than the two named towns include part of Dukinfield, most of which is in Ashton UL, and Mossley in the far north, which has a very market town feel and even had its own constituency before 1950. It is thought to be moving in the direction of neighbouring Saddleworth, attracting those looking for a cheaper alternative with a similar landscape. The area includes another high viewpoint, Hartshead Pike, which almost gave its name to the name of the council before Tameside was chosen. In the far southwest is Longdendale, which is almost the Peak District as it's closer to Glossop than Manchester and includes Mottram. There is also the Hattersley estate, somewhat isolated and exposed in the middle of green fields, it was one of the many 'overspill estates' commissioned by Manchester City Council in the 1960's.
In terms of people associated with the area, Ricky Hatton would be the most famous, he was born raised in Hattersley. And although the artist LS Lowry will forever be associated with Salford, he actually retired to and died in Mottram - there is a statue of him sat on a bench there. Apart from them, unfortunately some of the other associations in the area make it somewhat chequered - Harold Shipman was a GP in Hyde, and more recently Mottram was the site of the tragic murder of two police officers. Though the Moors murderers' heinous crimes may be more associated with Saddleworth, they resided in Hattersley. Their house has since been demolished.
Politics now - and it must be said the borough of Tameside takes great affection in its former representatives, or vice versa (or perhaps it's mutual). In Ashton there is a Lord Sheldon way, named after a former MP. In Stalybridge there is a Lord Pendry Square, named after the Labour MP from 1970-2001. He was replaced by Balliol Oxford-alumnus and not particularly local James Purnell, a former adviser to Tony Blair. Turnout at his first election in 2001 was a dismal 48%, in line with the inner-city seats of Manchester and Liverpool. He was comfortably re-elected in 2005 and was a minister and Culture Secretary, finally DWP Secretary until 2009 when he resigned to protest Gordon Brown and stood down in 2010 - there were also some expenses issues. He was replaced by Jonathan Reynolds who is originally from the North East and retains his accent, but his links to the area stem from his Manchester University education after which he became a Councillor for Longdendale. His first election though made the seat marginal at 2,744 votes, less than a third of his predecessor. The BNP also held their deposit at that election. Amicable and personable from what I hear, Reynolds very effectively built it up at the subsequent two elections to 8,000 in 2017. It tumbled to just under 3,000 at the latest election, but this is still a very good result for him given it is better than his 2010 tally and the crumbling of the Red Wall in other heavily leave voting seats (60% leave estimated here). Aside from his personal vote, some of this may be down to the somewhat odd choice of Conservative candidate who managed to lose vote share, and the Brexit Party took over 8% of the vote. Turnout is still yet to exceed 60%, this was last exceeded in '97. Funnily enough like his predecessor's last position, Mr Reynolds briefly served as shadow DWP Secretary, later Shadow Business Secretary, shadowing Grant Shapps at one point.
Speaking of whom - Grant Shapps may have made headlines in 2022 when he put out a tweet with the former PM Johnson photoshopped-out - but way back in 2007, it was James Purnell who was ridiculed for being photoshopped in to a picture as he could not make a group photoshoot at a Tameside hospital on time. Alas, Tameside have not named anything after Mr Purnell, but Mr Reynolds will be secure here for a long time to come, and looks set on his way to a career in government thanks to the loyal support of his constituents.
In the event he was easily re-elected with a virtually unchanged vote share from last time and an increased majority of over 8,500 with Reform UK in second, and the Conservatives pushed into third. The 'Shadow' in his job title has now been duly removed and no doubt he will continue to bat for the now-government from his safe base in this little corner of Greater Manchester.
Indeed, Tameside, for all its flaws, is well-represented in government, with a full house through Reynolds, then of course the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner next door in Ashton, and the third Tameside MP, Andrew Gwynne in Gorton and Denton, who now serves as Parliamentary Under-secretary for Public Health.
Nestled in the foothills of the Pennines with plenty of quality green space, bordering the Peak District, and once upon a time in Cheshire (before Greater Manchester was born in 1974), at first sight or if this was elsewhere in the country it would be a safe Conservative seat. Instead it covers two slightly gritty towns and as such has been more or less safely Labour since 1945. It covers the eastern half of the Tameside borough, and of course the river winds through this constituency.
The area is known for retaining some industry though there was much deprivation after the loss of the predominant cotton industry. The proportion of people working in manufacturing is well above the regional and national average, at 14% compared to 10% and 8% for the North West and the country respectively. Reflecting this, the proportion of people with no qualifications is slightly lower than average, while the proportion of graduates is also slightly lower than the country as a whole. The two eponymous towns are proudly working class, and here many of the terraced houses are stone-clad rather than brick, which gives the area a more provincial feel. In these towns the centres of affluence are in Stalybridge South, which is Conservative on the council - being semi-rural, with some attractive countryside and undulating roads. There has also been an increase in house-building across the area, particularly several vast identikit estates of modern detached family houses for commuters wanting a quieter life facing the hills. Stalybridge has its own train station as mentioned before, but for trams, one has to drive to a park-and-ride at Ashton.
In Hyde, the Werneth ward in the far south is often Conservative, again, made of desirable hilly housing. This is named after the somewhat inappropriately named 'Werneth Low' - which is actually a very nice hill to climb and offers great views of the city, some of the best I find, and not too labourious to find and climb - would highly recommend going at sunset. The other two Hyde wards are Godley, and Newton, both safely Labour. Godley Reservoir is home to Europe's largest floating solar farm, made of 12,000 panels, completed in 2016 at a cost of £3.5 million, producing 2.7GWh of energy annually, helping power the water treatment works.
Places other than the two named towns include part of Dukinfield, most of which is in Ashton UL, and Mossley in the far north, which has a very market town feel and even had its own constituency before 1950. It is thought to be moving in the direction of neighbouring Saddleworth, attracting those looking for a cheaper alternative with a similar landscape. The area includes another high viewpoint, Hartshead Pike, which almost gave its name to the name of the council before Tameside was chosen. In the far southwest is Longdendale, which is almost the Peak District as it's closer to Glossop than Manchester and includes Mottram. There is also the Hattersley estate, somewhat isolated and exposed in the middle of green fields, it was one of the many 'overspill estates' commissioned by Manchester City Council in the 1960's.
In terms of people associated with the area, Ricky Hatton would be the most famous, he was born raised in Hattersley. And although the artist LS Lowry will forever be associated with Salford, he actually retired to and died in Mottram - there is a statue of him sat on a bench there. Apart from them, unfortunately some of the other associations in the area make it somewhat chequered - Harold Shipman was a GP in Hyde, and more recently Mottram was the site of the tragic murder of two police officers. Though the Moors murderers' heinous crimes may be more associated with Saddleworth, they resided in Hattersley. Their house has since been demolished.
Politics now - and it must be said the borough of Tameside takes great affection in its former representatives, or vice versa (or perhaps it's mutual). In Ashton there is a Lord Sheldon way, named after a former MP. In Stalybridge there is a Lord Pendry Square, named after the Labour MP from 1970-2001. He was replaced by Balliol Oxford-alumnus and not particularly local James Purnell, a former adviser to Tony Blair. Turnout at his first election in 2001 was a dismal 48%, in line with the inner-city seats of Manchester and Liverpool. He was comfortably re-elected in 2005 and was a minister and Culture Secretary, finally DWP Secretary until 2009 when he resigned to protest Gordon Brown and stood down in 2010 - there were also some expenses issues. He was replaced by Jonathan Reynolds who is originally from the North East and retains his accent, but his links to the area stem from his Manchester University education after which he became a Councillor for Longdendale. His first election though made the seat marginal at 2,744 votes, less than a third of his predecessor. The BNP also held their deposit at that election. Amicable and personable from what I hear, Reynolds very effectively built it up at the subsequent two elections to 8,000 in 2017. It tumbled to just under 3,000 at the latest election, but this is still a very good result for him given it is better than his 2010 tally and the crumbling of the Red Wall in other heavily leave voting seats (60% leave estimated here). Aside from his personal vote, some of this may be down to the somewhat odd choice of Conservative candidate who managed to lose vote share, and the Brexit Party took over 8% of the vote. Turnout is still yet to exceed 60%, this was last exceeded in '97. Funnily enough like his predecessor's last position, Mr Reynolds briefly served as shadow DWP Secretary, later Shadow Business Secretary, shadowing Grant Shapps at one point.
Speaking of whom - Grant Shapps may have made headlines in 2022 when he put out a tweet with the former PM Johnson photoshopped-out - but way back in 2007, it was James Purnell who was ridiculed for being photoshopped in to a picture as he could not make a group photoshoot at a Tameside hospital on time. Alas, Tameside have not named anything after Mr Purnell, but Mr Reynolds will be secure here for a long time to come, and looks set on his way to a career in government thanks to the loyal support of his constituents.
In the event he was easily re-elected with a virtually unchanged vote share from last time and an increased majority of over 8,500 with Reform UK in second, and the Conservatives pushed into third. The 'Shadow' in his job title has now been duly removed and no doubt he will continue to bat for the now-government from his safe base in this little corner of Greater Manchester.
Indeed, Tameside, for all its flaws, is well-represented in government, with a full house through Reynolds, then of course the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner next door in Ashton, and the third Tameside MP, Andrew Gwynne in Gorton and Denton, who now serves as Parliamentary Under-secretary for Public Health.
