Post by YL on Dec 14, 2023 19:21:08 GMT
This is a new name, and to all intents and purposes a new constituency as well, though as it contains slightly more than half of the electorate of the existing Wakefield constituency it may be regarded by some as its successor, although Wakefield city centre and most of the urban area go to the new Wakefield & Rothwell constituency. It does contain the southern part of the Wakefield urban area, mostly the parts which have been in the Hemsworth constituency since 1997, and otherwise it consists of a swathe of southern West Yorkshire south of Dewsbury and between Wakefield and Huddersfield, including parts of the Borough of Kirklees as well as the City of Wakefield. The Kirklees part, which comes from the Dewsbury constituency, though it had also been linked with Wakefield in the past, stretches into the Pennine foothills.
Its demographics are unexceptional, but it is generally a little more middle class than average, with high levels of owner occupation, and the population is also on the old side. As the tour below will show, most of the areas in it are Conservative leaning, but Labour are competitive, and indeed won five of the six wards in the most recent local elections in 2023. As such the constituency as a whole would be expected to be Conservative in an even year, but winnable for the Labour Party.
The parts of the Wakefield urban area included are mostly in the Wakefield South ward, including Belle Vue, Agbrigg and Sandal. Parts of this area actually have quite high deprivation, but its core around Sandal is the most middle class part of Wakefield and Wakefield South has a long history of voting Conservative, broken only in 1995 and 2023, when it narrowly voted Labour after the sitting councillor left the Tories and stood for the Wakefield District Independents. South-west of Sandal the urban area extends in a rather straggly way to include a number of communities in the parish of Crigglestone, including Durkar by M1 junction 39, to where Yorkshire County Cricket Club once considered moving from Headingley. Crigglestone is in the ward called Wakefield Rural together with a number of more genuinely rural communities, including West Bretton on the border with Barnsley, home of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and it also includes Overton on the border with Kirklees, home to the National Coal Mining Museum for England. As that suggests, there is some mining heritage here, though it is not dominant politically and Wakefield Rural has usually voted Conservative; Labour did win it narrowly in 2023.
On the other side of the River Calder, but still within the Wakefield council area, are the towns of Ossett and Horbury. These form the south-eastern part of the Heavy Woollen District of central West Yorkshire, with many textile mills making the recycled wool products known as shoddy and mungo, though there was some mining here as well. The area is quite socially mixed, though education levels are not very high and unlike some other parts of the Heavy Woollen District it is very white. There are two wards here; Horbury & South Ossett has tended to vote Labour but has voted Conservative in some of their better years, while Ossett has actually voted for four parties on its current boundaries: it was Lib Dem up to 2007, UKIP in 2014, Labour in 2012 and 2016 and otherwise Conservative, but in 2023 the sitting Conservative councillor dropped out just before the close of nominations, leaving them without a candidate and leading to a very easy Labour gain.
Finally, the Kirklees component of the constituency includes Denby Dale ward and most of Kirkburton ward. Denby Dale is known for its tradition of baking giant pies, and it has a station on the scenic but very slow railway line from Sheffield to Huddersfield. Its ward contains a number of other communities; these include Skelmanthorpe and Clayton West, which used to have stations on a branch of the aforementioned railway but lost them in the 1980s before the railway was revived as a narrow gauge tourist attraction, as well as Emley, which has at times had a well known non-league football team but is perhaps best known for the huge Emley Moor transmitter, the tallest free standing structure in the UK. Although there is some mining history here as well, this is a fairly middle class area, especially Denby Dale itself. The parts of Kirkburton ward in the constituency are include Shelley, Shepley and Kirkburton itself and are also a middle class area in the hills south of Huddersfield with mostly very low deprivation; Shepley also has a station on the Huddersfield to Sheffield line. Denby Dale is another marginal ward, perhaps with a slight Conservative lean, though it voted Labour in 2022 and 2023, while Kirkburton usually votes Conservative, including in 2023, though has occasionally voted Green.
The constituency contains parts of the existing Wakefield (Wakefield Rural, Horbury, Ossett), Hemsworth (Wakefield South) and Dewsbury (Denby Dale, Kirkburton) constituencies. Had Imran Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield elected in 2019, not resigned in disgrace with the seat going Labour in the resulting by-election, he would have been most likely to stand here, but as it is Mark Eastwood, the Conservative MP for Dewsbury whose seat has been notionally flipped to Labour and then some, has moved here. Labour's by-election victor Simon Lightwood has been selected for Wakefield & Rothwell, reflecting that being regarded as a better chance for Labour, but at least on current (late 2023) polling Labour's new candidate here must have a good chance of winning.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher)
Con 26177 (53.9%)
Lab 15150 (31.2%)
Brexit Party 2484 (5.1%)
Lib Dem 2400 (4.9%)
Green 602 (1.2%)
Other 1795 (3.7%)
Con majority 11027 (22.7%)
Its demographics are unexceptional, but it is generally a little more middle class than average, with high levels of owner occupation, and the population is also on the old side. As the tour below will show, most of the areas in it are Conservative leaning, but Labour are competitive, and indeed won five of the six wards in the most recent local elections in 2023. As such the constituency as a whole would be expected to be Conservative in an even year, but winnable for the Labour Party.
The parts of the Wakefield urban area included are mostly in the Wakefield South ward, including Belle Vue, Agbrigg and Sandal. Parts of this area actually have quite high deprivation, but its core around Sandal is the most middle class part of Wakefield and Wakefield South has a long history of voting Conservative, broken only in 1995 and 2023, when it narrowly voted Labour after the sitting councillor left the Tories and stood for the Wakefield District Independents. South-west of Sandal the urban area extends in a rather straggly way to include a number of communities in the parish of Crigglestone, including Durkar by M1 junction 39, to where Yorkshire County Cricket Club once considered moving from Headingley. Crigglestone is in the ward called Wakefield Rural together with a number of more genuinely rural communities, including West Bretton on the border with Barnsley, home of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and it also includes Overton on the border with Kirklees, home to the National Coal Mining Museum for England. As that suggests, there is some mining heritage here, though it is not dominant politically and Wakefield Rural has usually voted Conservative; Labour did win it narrowly in 2023.
On the other side of the River Calder, but still within the Wakefield council area, are the towns of Ossett and Horbury. These form the south-eastern part of the Heavy Woollen District of central West Yorkshire, with many textile mills making the recycled wool products known as shoddy and mungo, though there was some mining here as well. The area is quite socially mixed, though education levels are not very high and unlike some other parts of the Heavy Woollen District it is very white. There are two wards here; Horbury & South Ossett has tended to vote Labour but has voted Conservative in some of their better years, while Ossett has actually voted for four parties on its current boundaries: it was Lib Dem up to 2007, UKIP in 2014, Labour in 2012 and 2016 and otherwise Conservative, but in 2023 the sitting Conservative councillor dropped out just before the close of nominations, leaving them without a candidate and leading to a very easy Labour gain.
Finally, the Kirklees component of the constituency includes Denby Dale ward and most of Kirkburton ward. Denby Dale is known for its tradition of baking giant pies, and it has a station on the scenic but very slow railway line from Sheffield to Huddersfield. Its ward contains a number of other communities; these include Skelmanthorpe and Clayton West, which used to have stations on a branch of the aforementioned railway but lost them in the 1980s before the railway was revived as a narrow gauge tourist attraction, as well as Emley, which has at times had a well known non-league football team but is perhaps best known for the huge Emley Moor transmitter, the tallest free standing structure in the UK. Although there is some mining history here as well, this is a fairly middle class area, especially Denby Dale itself. The parts of Kirkburton ward in the constituency are include Shelley, Shepley and Kirkburton itself and are also a middle class area in the hills south of Huddersfield with mostly very low deprivation; Shepley also has a station on the Huddersfield to Sheffield line. Denby Dale is another marginal ward, perhaps with a slight Conservative lean, though it voted Labour in 2022 and 2023, while Kirkburton usually votes Conservative, including in 2023, though has occasionally voted Green.
The constituency contains parts of the existing Wakefield (Wakefield Rural, Horbury, Ossett), Hemsworth (Wakefield South) and Dewsbury (Denby Dale, Kirkburton) constituencies. Had Imran Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield elected in 2019, not resigned in disgrace with the seat going Labour in the resulting by-election, he would have been most likely to stand here, but as it is Mark Eastwood, the Conservative MP for Dewsbury whose seat has been notionally flipped to Labour and then some, has moved here. Labour's by-election victor Simon Lightwood has been selected for Wakefield & Rothwell, reflecting that being regarded as a better chance for Labour, but at least on current (late 2023) polling Labour's new candidate here must have a good chance of winning.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher)
Con 26177 (53.9%)
Lab 15150 (31.2%)
Brexit Party 2484 (5.1%)
Lib Dem 2400 (4.9%)
Green 602 (1.2%)
Other 1795 (3.7%)
Con majority 11027 (22.7%)
