Batley and Spen (UK Parliament constituency)

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Batley and Spen
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire.
Outline map
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County West Yorkshire
Population 107,899 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate 77,472 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements Batley, Cleckheaton, Birstall, Birkenshaw
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament Jo Cox (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Batley and Morley, Brighouse and Spenborough and Dewsbury
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency Yorkshire and the Humber

Batley and Spen /bætli ənd spɛn/ normally: /bæʔli ənd spɛn/ is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jo Cox of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Constituency profile

The area is in the rolling Pennines of West Yorkshire with considerable commerce, industry, retail and occupational trades carried out by most of its residents and a sizeable retired population, compared to city centres. A lower percentage of social housing is present than the regional average, however most of the larger settlements have some social housing.[3] The population in the district is diverse. Cleckheaton and many of the villages in the Spen Valley have few residents from non-white heritage backgrounds, while Batley has a sizeable number residents with South Asian backgrounds, namely Pakistani (9.2%) and Indian (Gujarati) (15.9%). Heckmondwike also has a well-established South Asian community with 16.9% residents having Pakistani heritage.[4]

The results of the last fifty years show marginal majorities for Labour and for the Conservatives.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and Spen.

1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, and Spen.

2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and Liversedge and Gomersal.

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Batley and Morley, Brighouse and Spenborough & Dewsbury. This West Yorkshire constituency covers Batley, Birkenshaw, Birstall, Cleckheaton, East Bierley, Gomersal, Hunsworth, and Liversedge. Traditionally Batley and Heckmondwike have been inclined to vote Labour, while the other settlements have been more inclined to vote Conservative. The exception is Cleckheaton which has returned Liberal Democrat members for the local council.

The seat swung in Labour's favour in the elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 though the Conservatives reduced the Labour majority in 2010 with a swing below the national average.

History

The seat did not exist in its present form prior to 1983. It has seen not insignificant boundary changes during that time - most notably those changes that took effect for the 1997 General Election.

For the purposes of the 2010 general election, a neighbouring town, Heckmondwike was re-added to the constituency having previously been in the seat from its creation in 1983 until 1997 when it was transferred to Dewsbury where it remained for the next 13 years. Heckmondwike ward, also considered to be part of the Spen Valley (although it was never included in the former Spenborough Urban district) has in recent years been a Labour-BNP[5] marginal, especially in the local elections. The BNP's representation in the town was cut in half due to a broad-based community campaign by Labour at the 2008 local council elections which saw the sitting BNP councillor defeated and to date that party's share of the vote has not exceeded 7.1% at General Elections (2010).

Members of Parliament

Election Member[6] Party
1983 Elizabeth Peacock Conservative
1997 Mike Wood Labour
2015 Jo Cox Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Batley and Spen[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jo Cox 21,826 43.2 +1.0
Conservative Imtiaz Ameen 15,769 31.2 -2.3
UKIP Aleks Lukic 9,080 18.0 +18.0
Liberal Democrat John Lawson 2,396 4.7 -11.1
Green Ian Bullock 1,232 2.4 +1.3
TUSC Dawn Wheelhouse 123 0.2 +0.2
Patriotic Socialist Karl Varley 53 0.1 +0.1
Majority 6,057 12.0
Turnout 50,479 64.4
Labour hold Swing +1 7
General Election 2010: Batley and Spen[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mike Wood 21,565 41.5 −3.7
Conservative Janice Small 17,159 33.0 +1.3
Liberal Democrat Neil Bentley 8,925 17.2 +1.8
BNP David Exley 3,685 7.1 +1.1
Green Matt Blakeley 605 1.2 −0.5
Majority 4,406 8.5
Turnout 51,939 67.7 +6.9
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Batley and Spen[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mike Wood 17,974 45.8 −4.1
Conservative Robert Light 12,186 31.1 −5.6
Liberal Democrat Neil Bentley 5,731 14.6 +4.3
BNP Colin Auty 2,668 6.8 N/A
Green Clive Richard Lord 649 1.7 +0.2
Majority 5,788 14.8
Turnout 39,208 62.3 +1.8
Labour hold Swing +0.8
General Election 2001: Batley and Spen[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mike Wood 19,224 49.9 +0.5
Conservative Elizabeth Peacock 14,160 36.7 +0.4
Liberal Democrat Kathryn Mary Pinnock 3,989 10.3 +1.5
Green Clive Richard Lord 595 1.5 +0.7
UKIP Allen Frederick Burton 574 1.5 N/A
Majority 5,064 13.2
Turnout 38,542 60.5 −12.6
Labour hold Swing +0.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Batley and Spen[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mike Wood 23,213 49.4 +6.3
Conservative Elizabeth Peacock 17,072 36.4 −9.0
Liberal Democrat Kathryn Mary Pinnock 4,133 8.8 −1.7
Referendum Ed O.C. Wood 1,691 0.5 N/A
BNP Ron A. Smith 472 0.5 N/A
Green Clive Richard Lord 384 0.8 −0.2
Majority 6,141 13.1
Turnout 46,965 73.2 −6.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +7.7
General Election 1992: Batley and Spen[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Elizabeth Peacock 27,629 45.4 +2.0
Labour Eunice A. Durkin 26,221 43.1 +2.0
Liberal Democrat Gordon J. Beever 6,380 10.5 −3.8
Green Clive Richard Lord 628 1.0 N/A
Majority 1,408 2.3 0.0
Turnout 60,858 79.7 +0.7
Conservative hold Swing 0.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Batley and Spen[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Elizabeth Peacock 25,512 43.4 +4.1
Labour Kenneth John Woolmer 24,150 41.1 +3.5
Social Democratic Keith Burke 8,372 14.3 −7.2
Moderate Labour Allan Harrison 689 1.2 N/A
Majority 1,365 2.3
Turnout 58,723 79.0 +5.6
Conservative hold Swing +0.3
General Election 1983: Batley and Spen[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Elizabeth Peacock 21,433 39.6 N/A
Labour Kenneth John Woolmer 20,563 38.0 N/A
Social Democratic Stephen Woollery 11,678 21.5 N/A
Ecology Clive Richard Lord 493 0.9 N/A
Majority 870 1.6 N/A
Turnout 54,167 73.4 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
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  3. 2001 census
  4. Kirklees Census 2001
  5. Kirklees Election Results 2007
  6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
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