Elmet (UK Parliament constituency)

Elmet
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Elmet in West Yorkshire for the 2005 general election.

Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County West Yorkshire
Major settlements Garforth, Wetherby
1983 (1983)–2010 (2010)
Number of members One
Replaced by Elmet and Rothwell
Created from Barkston Ash

Elmet was a county constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

From 1997 the MP was Colin Burgon of Labour, who did not stand in the 2010 general election.[1]

Contents

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1983 to cover the far eastern wards of Leeds and neighbouring areas, notably Wetherby, Barwick-in-Elmet, Kippax, Garforth and Swillington. It also includes the Whinmoor area of east Leeds. Initially the Boundary Commission for England proposed calling the constituency Leeds East, with the existing Leeds East constituency being renamed Leeds East Central.[2] This was opposed during local enquiries where the seat was instead named for the ancient kingdom of Elmet although it covers a significantly smaller area. Wetherby and Garforth are the largest settlements in the constituency.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representations in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England has created a new seat of Elmet and Rothwell. The Commission have reduced the number of seats in the region by one.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Barkston Ash, Leeds East, and Normanton. Elmet was historically always a marginal seat due to the demographic makeup of the region, in contrast to Barkston Ash which was traditionally Tory.

After the 1983 general election the metropolitan district of the City of Leeds was represented by the constituencies of Elmet, Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North East, Leeds North West, Leeds West, Morley and Leeds South and Pudsey.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [3] Party
1983 Spencer Batiste Conservative
1997 Colin Burgon Labour
2010 constituency abolished: see Elmet and Rothwell

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Elmet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Burgon 22,260 47.2 −0.8
Conservative Andrew Millard 17,732 37.6 −1.3
Liberal Democrat Madeleine Kirk 5,923 12.6 +1.7
BNP Tracy Andrews 1,231 2.6 N/A
Majority 4,528 9.6
Turnout 47,146 68.8 +3.2
Labour hold Swing
General Election 2001: Elmet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Colin Burgon 22,038 48.0 −4.4
Conservative Andrew Millard 17,867 38.9 +2.7
Liberal Democrat Madeleine Kirk 5,001 10.9 +2.2
UKIP Andrew Spence 1,031 2.2 N/A
Majority 4,171 9.1
Turnout 45,937 65.6 −11.2
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Elmet[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Spencer Batiste 27,677 47.5 +0.6
Labour Colin Burgon 24,416 41.9 +4.8
Liberal Democrat Mrs Ann Beck 6,144 10.5 −5.5
Majority 3,261 5.6 −4.2
Turnout 58,237 82.4 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing −2.1

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Marsh, David (24 April 2009). "Leeds MP Burgon is quitting - with blast at leaders". Yorkshire Evening Post. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-MP-Burgon-is-quitting.5202653.jp. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
  2. ^ Boundary Commission for England, Third Periodic Report, 1983
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
  4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010. 
Labour (31)
Conservative (19)
Liberal Democrats (3)
Independent (1)