Pontefract and Castleford (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°42′29″N 1°18′58″W / 53.708°N 1.316°W

Pontefract and Castleford
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Pontefract and Castleford in West Yorkshire for the 2005 general election.

Outline map

Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County West Yorkshire
1974–2010
Number of members One
Replaced by Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford
Created from Pontefract

Pontefract and Castleford was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 2010 general election. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

1974-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Pontefract and Castleford; and the Urban District of Featherstone.

1983-2010: The City of Wakefield wards of Castleford Ferry Fryston, Castleford Glasshoughton, Castleford Whitwood, Knottingley, Pontefract North, and Pontefract South.

The constituency covered the West Yorkshire towns of Pontefract and Castleford. It was a very safe Labour seat, made up of former mining towns and villages. The MP from 1997 until its abolition in 2010, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, is married to fellow Labour MP, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the number of seats in West Yorkshire were reduced by one due to population decline by the Boundary Commission for England. A new, geographically larger, constituency called Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford was created in 2010 including the whole of this constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[1]Party
Feb 1974 Joe Harper Labour
1978 by-election Sir Geoffrey Lofthouse Labour
1997 Yvette Cooper Labour
2010 Constituency abolished: see Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 20,973 63.7 −6.0
Conservative Simon Jones 5,727 17.4 −0.2
Liberal Democrat Wesley Paxton 3,942 12.0 +4.6
BNP Suzy Cass 1,835 5.6 N/A
Alliance for Green Socialism Bob Hague 470 1.4 N/A
Majority 15,246 46.3
Turnout 32,947 53.3 +3.6
Labour hold Swing
General Election 2001: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 21,890 69.7 −6.0
Conservative Pamela Singleton 5,512 17.6 +4.0
Liberal Democrat Wesley Paxton 2,315 7.4 +0.1
UKIP John Burdon 739 2.4 N/A
Socialist Labour Trevor Bolderson 605 1.9 N/A
Socialist Alliance John Gill 330 1.1 N/A
Majority 16,378 52.1
Turnout 31,391 49.7 −16.7
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Yvette Cooper 31,339 75.7 +5.8
Conservative Adrian John Flook 5,614 13.6 -7.3
Liberal Democrat Wesley Paxton 3,042 7.4 -1.8
Referendum Party R. Wood 1,401 3.4 N/A
Majority 25,725 62.1
Turnout 41,396 66.3
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Pontefract and Castleford[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 33,546 69.9 +3.0
Conservative AGM Rockall 10,051 20.9 −0.3
Liberal Democrat DL Ryan 4,410 9.2 −2.1
Majority 23,495 48.9 +3.2
Turnout 48,007 74.3 +0.8
Labour hold Swing +1.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 31,656 66.9
Conservative J. H. Mallins 10,051 21.2
SDP–Liberal Alliance M. F. Taylor 5,334 11.3
Red Front D. M. Lees 295 0.6
Majority 21,626 45.7
Turnout 47,315 73.5
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1983: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 24,990 57.1
Conservative Barry Howell 11,299 25.8
SDP–Liberal Alliance D. Dale 7,452 17.1
Majority 13,691 31.3
Turnout 43,741 67.4
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 30,566 68.1
Conservative Hugo Page 10,665 23.8
Liberal Leslie Marsh 3,616 8.0
Majority 19,901 44.4
Turnout 73.9
Labour hold Swing
Pontefract and Castleford by-election, 1978
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 19,508 65.8 -4.6
Conservative Hugo Page 8,080 27.3 +11.1
Liberal Leslie Marsh 2,054 6.9 -5.4
Majority 11,428 38.6 -15.6
Turnout 29,642
Labour hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Harper 30,208 70.4 -4.4
Conservative I. Bloomer 6,966 16.2 -6.9
Liberal S. Galloway 5,259 12.3 N/A
Workers Revolutionary T. Parsons 457 1.1 -1.1
Majority 23,242 54.2 +2.4
Turnout 42,890 71.1
Labour hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Pontefract and Castleford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Harper 34,409 74.8 N/A
Conservative Richard Needham 10,605 23.1 N/A
Workers Revolutionary B. Lavery 991 2.2 N/A
Majority 23,804 51.8 N/A
Turnout 46,005 77.1 N/A
Labour hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)
  2. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.