Pontefract South (electoral ward)

Pontefract South
Pontefract South  Pontefract South shown within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
List of places UK England Yorkshire

Pontefract South is an electoral ward of the City of Wakefield district used for elections to Wakefield Metropolitan District Council.

Overview

The ward is one of 21 in the Wakefield district, and is one of its most marginal. Its marginal nature can be largely put down to the nature of its demographics. The ward takes in traditionally Labour-voting areas of Pontefract, in the form of Chequerfield, Baghill and the Carleton Park estate, along with more Conservative-leaning areas such as Carleton and the outlying villages of Darrington, Wentbridge and East Hardwick. Other areas of the ward, such as the Larks Hill estate, are probably the most locally marginal parts of the ward, their voters swinging between Labour and the Conservatives from one election to another. In December 2010 the ward's electorate stood at 12,090.

Representation

Like all wards in the Wakefield district, Pontefract South has 3 councillors, whom are elected on a 4-year-rota. This means elections for new councillors are held for three years running, with one year every four years having no elections.

At present, the ward is represented by Conservative councillor Geoff Walsh and Labour councillors Tony Dean and Celia Loughran. For several years the ward was represented solely by Tory councillors, however at the local government elections held on 5 May 2011, Conservative councillor Philip Booth lost his seat to Tony Dean, meaning Labour gained representation in the ward once again. At the local elections on 3 May 2012, Labour unseated the Tory group leader of Wakefield Council, Mark Crowther, with their candidate Celia Loughran winning by 605 votes. This means Labour hold the majority of seats in Pontefract South once again.

Election results

Note: The turnout figures below are inclusive of spoiled ballots, except for the 2012 result.

Local elections 2014: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Ayre	1,766	41.8	−8.6
	Conservative	Geoff Walsh	1,434	33.9	−2.8
	UKIP	Terence Edward Uttley	957	22.6	+12.5
	TUSC	John Gill	69	1.6	N/A
Majority			332	7.9	−5.8
Turnout			4,226	35.5	−1.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Local elections 2012: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Celia Loughran	2,222	50.4	−3.1
	Conservative	Mark Crowther	1,617	36.7	−9.1
	UKIP	Terence Edward Uttley	446	10.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Douglas Dale	122	2.8	N/A
Majority			605	13.7	+6.0
Turnout			4,407	36.6	−5.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Local elections 2011: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Dean	2,734	53.5	+17.1
	Conservative	Philip Booth	2,341	45.8	+6.7
Majority			393	7.7	N/A
Turnout			5,114	42.5	−20.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Local elections 2010: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoff Walsh	2,978	39.1	−9.5
	Labour	Jack Kershaw	2,773	36.4	−1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Rush	1,333	17.5	+4.0
	Independent	Matt Haddleton	275	3.6	N/A
	Green	Neil Frankland	221	2.9	N/A
Majority			205	2.7	−8.5
Turnout			7,612	63.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.7

Local elections 2008: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Crowther	2,340	48.6	−0.9
	Labour	Trevor Izon	1,801	37.4	+0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Rush	650	13.5	+0.8
Majority			539	11.2	−1.1
Turnout			4,810
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.6

Local elections 2007: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Booth	2,241	49.5	+7.5
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	1,685	37.2	−3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Rush	575	12.7	N/A
Majority			556	12.3	+11.3
Turnout			4,524
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.6

Local elections 2006: Pontefract South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoff Walsh	1,852	41.9
	Labour	James Nicholson	1,810	41.0
	Independent	Clive Wigham	730	16.5	N/A
Majority			42	1.0
Turnout			4,420
	Conservative hold		Swing