Post by YL on Jan 5, 2024 14:16:16 GMT
This could be seen as a new constituency, as it does not contain the largest part of any existing constituency. However, it could also be seen as the latest incarnation of the Wakefield constituency, which in addition to Wakefield city centre and adjacent areas has contained various areas outside the main urban area over the years. This constituency contains the northern and central parts of the Wakefield urban area, from the old Wakefield constituency, and also includes the "Outwood" parts of Morley & Outwood and the "Rothwell" parts of Elmet & Rothwell. The parts from Wakefield and Morley & Outwood are in the Wakefield metropolitan district, but Rothwell is in Leeds for local government purposes.
Most of the areas in this constituency have a long history of Labour representation, but all of it was in constituencies which elected Conservative MPs in 2019. Wakefield no longer has a Conservative MP following Imran Ahmad Khan's resignation in disgrace and the Labour gain at the resulting by-election; the by-election victor Simon Lightwood has chosen to stand here. Generally this constituency contains the more Labour parts of the constituencies it takes territory from and Lightwood's decision seems a sensible one, although it is still estimated that it voted narrowly Conservative in 2019.
Wakefield is a cathedral city centred on a low hill just north of the River Calder. It has influences from both the coalfield parts of Yorkshire to the south and east and the textile belt to the north and west. The cathedral was promoted to this status in the late 19th century, making Wakefield a city; the Anglican Diocese of Wakefield has recently been merged with those of Bradford and Ripon to form the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, but the cathedrals of the merged diocesses retain their status. The modern metropolitan district of Wakefield covers a considerably larger area than the pre-1974 city area.
Most of the city centre, including the cathedral, is in the Wakefield North ward which together with the wards of Wakefield West and Wakefield East roughly cover the parts of the pre-1974 city north of the River Calder. Wakefield East ward also contains Belle Isle on the south side of the river, but most of the city south of the river was transferred to Hemsworth constituency in 1997, with more following in 2010, and will now be in Ossett & Denby Dale.
For the most part the areas of the city in this constituency are on the working class side, with all three wards containing extensive areas of council housing, and deprivation is quite high, but there are some more middle class pockets, especially in the area north of the city centre along Leeds Road. The council area as a whole is largely white, but there are significant Asian populations in some parts of the city, especially immediately east of the city centre. Recently all three wards have usually voted Labour, though Wakefield East narrowly voted Conservative in 2021, a result completely out of line with its results in other recent years, and Wakefield West was actually quite strongly Conservative before 2012.
The urban area extends northwards to include much of what was formerly the separate Urban District of Stanley. This roughly corresponds to two wards, Stanley & Outwood East and Wrenthorpe & Outwood West and, perhaps because of the mention of "Outwood" in both ward names or the presence of Outwood railway station, the area has been referred to collectively as Outwood rather than Stanley, as in the name of its current constituency, Morley & Outwood. Somewhat surprisingly, most of this area has never previously been in a Wakefield constituency, having been variously in Normanton and Rothwell constituencies before its current inclusion with Morley. The area is rather less deprived than the core of the city to the south, though there is some deprivation, especially in the curiously named mining community of Bottom Boat and its surroundings. Stanley & Outwood East, which includes Bottom Boat, usually votes Labour, but did vote Conservative in 2008; Wrenthorpe & Outwood West is a marginal which has voted for both main parties but also voted UKIP in 2014.
To get to the final part of the constituency, Rothwell, we need to travel past Bottom Boat and cross the M62 and the local government boundary between Leeds and Wakefield, though Rothwell is separated from the main Leeds urban area by the modern route of the M1. Rothwell also has a mining history, and gave its name to a constituency of its own between 1918 and 1950, which was one of those which stayed Labour in 1931. Another thing it is known for is rhubarb: Wakefield and Rothwell are two of the vertices of the "Rhubarb Triangle", the other being Morley. In 1950 it was added to Normanton and more recently it was partnered with Morley between 1997 and 2010 and since 2010 with the "Elmet" area east of Leeds. It is a demographically mixed area, with the eastern parts near Woodlesford railway station generally being better off. In Leeds local elections, it sometimes votes Labour but tends to vote for the Liberal Democrats; probably it was one of the more Conservative parts of the constituency, together with the Outwood wards, in 2019.
Overall the demographics are quite working class, though not extremely so. It is not a particularly well educated constituency, with the proportion with no qualifications on the high side and that with degrees on the low side. The proportion in socially rented housing is also on the high side. As mentioned, there is an Asian population in parts of central Wakefield, but the rest of the area is quite white, and overall the constituency does not stand out in its ethnic demographics. This is consistent with it being the sort of constituency which would be expected to vote reasonably comfortably for Labour in a typical year, but was capable of voting narrowly Conservative in the difficult conditions for Labour of 2019.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 22022 (44.9%)
Lab 19396 (39.5%)
Lib Dem 5361 (10.9%)
Brexit Party 1586 (3.2%)
Green 490 (1.0%)
Other 238 (2.5%)
Con majority 2626 (5.3%)
Most of the areas in this constituency have a long history of Labour representation, but all of it was in constituencies which elected Conservative MPs in 2019. Wakefield no longer has a Conservative MP following Imran Ahmad Khan's resignation in disgrace and the Labour gain at the resulting by-election; the by-election victor Simon Lightwood has chosen to stand here. Generally this constituency contains the more Labour parts of the constituencies it takes territory from and Lightwood's decision seems a sensible one, although it is still estimated that it voted narrowly Conservative in 2019.
Wakefield is a cathedral city centred on a low hill just north of the River Calder. It has influences from both the coalfield parts of Yorkshire to the south and east and the textile belt to the north and west. The cathedral was promoted to this status in the late 19th century, making Wakefield a city; the Anglican Diocese of Wakefield has recently been merged with those of Bradford and Ripon to form the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, but the cathedrals of the merged diocesses retain their status. The modern metropolitan district of Wakefield covers a considerably larger area than the pre-1974 city area.
Most of the city centre, including the cathedral, is in the Wakefield North ward which together with the wards of Wakefield West and Wakefield East roughly cover the parts of the pre-1974 city north of the River Calder. Wakefield East ward also contains Belle Isle on the south side of the river, but most of the city south of the river was transferred to Hemsworth constituency in 1997, with more following in 2010, and will now be in Ossett & Denby Dale.
For the most part the areas of the city in this constituency are on the working class side, with all three wards containing extensive areas of council housing, and deprivation is quite high, but there are some more middle class pockets, especially in the area north of the city centre along Leeds Road. The council area as a whole is largely white, but there are significant Asian populations in some parts of the city, especially immediately east of the city centre. Recently all three wards have usually voted Labour, though Wakefield East narrowly voted Conservative in 2021, a result completely out of line with its results in other recent years, and Wakefield West was actually quite strongly Conservative before 2012.
The urban area extends northwards to include much of what was formerly the separate Urban District of Stanley. This roughly corresponds to two wards, Stanley & Outwood East and Wrenthorpe & Outwood West and, perhaps because of the mention of "Outwood" in both ward names or the presence of Outwood railway station, the area has been referred to collectively as Outwood rather than Stanley, as in the name of its current constituency, Morley & Outwood. Somewhat surprisingly, most of this area has never previously been in a Wakefield constituency, having been variously in Normanton and Rothwell constituencies before its current inclusion with Morley. The area is rather less deprived than the core of the city to the south, though there is some deprivation, especially in the curiously named mining community of Bottom Boat and its surroundings. Stanley & Outwood East, which includes Bottom Boat, usually votes Labour, but did vote Conservative in 2008; Wrenthorpe & Outwood West is a marginal which has voted for both main parties but also voted UKIP in 2014.
To get to the final part of the constituency, Rothwell, we need to travel past Bottom Boat and cross the M62 and the local government boundary between Leeds and Wakefield, though Rothwell is separated from the main Leeds urban area by the modern route of the M1. Rothwell also has a mining history, and gave its name to a constituency of its own between 1918 and 1950, which was one of those which stayed Labour in 1931. Another thing it is known for is rhubarb: Wakefield and Rothwell are two of the vertices of the "Rhubarb Triangle", the other being Morley. In 1950 it was added to Normanton and more recently it was partnered with Morley between 1997 and 2010 and since 2010 with the "Elmet" area east of Leeds. It is a demographically mixed area, with the eastern parts near Woodlesford railway station generally being better off. In Leeds local elections, it sometimes votes Labour but tends to vote for the Liberal Democrats; probably it was one of the more Conservative parts of the constituency, together with the Outwood wards, in 2019.
Overall the demographics are quite working class, though not extremely so. It is not a particularly well educated constituency, with the proportion with no qualifications on the high side and that with degrees on the low side. The proportion in socially rented housing is also on the high side. As mentioned, there is an Asian population in parts of central Wakefield, but the rest of the area is quite white, and overall the constituency does not stand out in its ethnic demographics. This is consistent with it being the sort of constituency which would be expected to vote reasonably comfortably for Labour in a typical year, but was capable of voting narrowly Conservative in the difficult conditions for Labour of 2019.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Con 22022 (44.9%)
Lab 19396 (39.5%)
Lib Dem 5361 (10.9%)
Brexit Party 1586 (3.2%)
Green 490 (1.0%)
Other 238 (2.5%)
Con majority 2626 (5.3%)
