Normanton (UK Parliament constituency)

Normanton was a county constituency 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.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Normanton, Altofts, Castleford, Featherstone, Methley, and Whitwood.

1950-1983: The Urban Districts of Normanton, Rothwell, and Stanley, in the Rural District of Tadcaster the civil parishes of Great and Little Preston, and Swillington, and in the Rural District of Wakefield the civil parishes of Crofton, Sharlston, and Warmfield-cum-Heath.

1983-1997: The City of Wakefield wards of Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe, and the City of Leeds ward of Rothwell.

1997-2010: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury, Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe.

The West Yorkshire constituency includes the towns of Normanton and Ossett and several villages. The area has a tradition of being working-class, but it has now become almost entirely gentrified as nearby Leeds has expanded as a financial centre.

The wards included are "Normanton and Sharlston" [the safest Labour ward], "Stanley and Outwood East", "Wrenthorpe and Outwood West", "Ossett" and "Horbury and South Ossett". Ossett is now actually the largest town in the area, due to its high growth in recent years. The Tory vote is very low in Normanton itself and in Ossett, but councillors have been elected for Horbury and for Wrenthorpe. Until recently the LibDems had all three councillors for the "Ossett" ward, but have never performed well in general elections, in this area. "Stanley and Outwood East" is a fairly safe Labour ward.

The constituency is nicknamed the banana constituency on account of its unusual shape.

The village of Altofts, located just to the north of Normanton, is currently included in the constituency, despite being part of a Castleford ward. The village is planned to move into a proposed "Pontefract and Castleford" seat. (but see below)

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England had created a Normanton and Pontefract constituency. In late May 2006, the Commission published a revised recommendation changing the name of this constituency to Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

Local newspapers and the Labour Party opposed the initial change, but following a public consultation the Commission decided to create the seat conceding only a name change - from Pontefract and Castleford, to Normanton and Pontefract. This has now been extended to cover all three names. The wards of "Wrenthorpe and Outwood West" and "Stanley and Outwood East" - the most affluent part of the constituency - is set to be joined to the Conservative-leaning commuter town of Morley, which is in the Leeds district, in a Morley and Outwood constituency. Local groups and newspapers have protested that this represents a takeover of the Wakefield district by the Leeds district. Cynics reply that the Labour Party is worried that "Morley and Outwood" would be won the Conservatives. Ossett and Horbury are set for inclusion in the Wakefield constituency.

Members of Parliament

The constituency elected only Labour MPs since 1905, the longest run (with Gower and Makerfield) of any UK constituency. From 1885 to 1906, it had returned Liberal-Labour MPs.

Ed Balls, the former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, represented the seat from the 2005 general election until 2010 when it was abolished.

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Benjamin Pickard	Lib-Lab
	1904 by-election	William Parrott	Lib-Lab
	1905 by-election	Frederick Hall	Lib-Lab
	1909		Labour
	1933 by-election	Tom Smith	Labour
	1947 by-election	George Sylvester	Labour
	1950	Thomas Brooks	Labour
	1951	Albert Roberts	Labour
	1983	Bill O'Brien	Labour
	2005	Ed Balls	Labour Co-op
	2010	constituency abolished : see Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford and Morley and Outwood

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Ed Balls	19,161	51.2	−4.9
	Conservative	Andrew Percy	9,159	24.5	−2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Simone Butterworth	6,357	17.0	+2.4
	BNP	John Aveyard	1,967	5.3	N/A
	Independent	Mark Harrop	780	2.1	N/A
Majority			10,002	26.7
Turnout			37,424	57.5	+5.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General Election 2001: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	19,152	56.1	−4.5
	Conservative	Graham Smith	9,215	27.0	+3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Pearson	4,990	14.6	+2.2
	Socialist Labour	Mick Appleyard	798	2.3	N/A
Majority			9,937	29.1
Turnout			34,155	52.2	−16.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	26,046	60.57
	Conservative	Fiona Bulmer	10,153	23.61
	Liberal Democrat	David Ridgway	5,347	12.43
	Referendum	Ken Shuttleworth	1,458	3.39
Majority			15,893	36.96
Turnout				68.28
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	25,936	51.8	+2.3
	Conservative	RW Sturdy	16,986	33.9	-0.1
	Liberal Democrat	M Galdas	7,137	14.3	-2.1
Majority			8,950	17.9	+2.4
Turnout			50,059	76.3	+1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	23,303	49.54
	Conservative	MDM Smith	16,016	34.05
	Social Democratic	RJ Macey	7,717	16.41
Majority			7,287	15.49
Turnout				74.78
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill O'Brien	18,782	43.56
	Conservative	A Paul	14,599	33.86
	Social Democratic	P Pantelli	9,741	22.59
Majority			4,183	9.70
Turnout				70.40
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	26,591	56.43
	Conservative	MH Cavendish	14,398	30.55
	Liberal	ARC Paton	6,134	13.02
Majority			12,193	25.87
Turnout				76.76
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	24,372	58.73
	Conservative	J Makin	9,739	23.47
	Liberal	W Whitaker	7,384	17.79
Majority			14,633	35.26
Turnout				70.41
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	29,621	67.22
	Conservative	Antony Marlow	14,447	32.78
Majority			15,174	34.43
Turnout				75.40
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	28,421	68.40
	Conservative	DH Cargill	13,132	31.60
Majority			15,289	36.79
Turnout				71.55
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	29,416	76.41
	Conservative	JER Wauchope	9,084	23.59
Majority			20,332	52.81
Turnout				74.31
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	28,477	72.53
	Conservative	FK Roberts	10,785	27.47
Majority			17,692	45.06
Turnout				77.51
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	29,672	72.65
	Conservative	JAC Briggs	11,169	27.35
Majority			18,503	45.30
Turnout				83.11
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	27,846	73.50
	Conservative	J Bird	10,040	26.50
Majority			17,806	47.00
Turnout				78.09
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Roberts	31,052	73.49
	Liberal National	T Heseltine	11,199	26.51
Majority			19,853	46.99
Turnout				85.48
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Brooks	31,986	74.53
	Liberal National	T Heseltine	10,929	25.47
Majority			21,057	49.07
Turnout				87.54
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

Normanton by-election, 1947

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Sylvester	19,085	79.8	−4.5
	Conservative	Enoch Powell	4,258	17.9	+2.1
	Independent	Dr W.D. Hartley	579	2.4	N/A
Majority			14,827	62.0	-6.6
Turnout			23,922	54.6	−25.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.3

General Election 1945: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	28,238	84.30
	Conservative	JH Hulbert	5,259	15.70
Majority			22,979	68.60
Turnout				80.15
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	26,705	81.39
	Conservative	EO Moss	6,106	18.61
Majority			20,599	62.78
Turnout				77.72
	Labour hold		Swing

By Election 1933: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Hall	22,877	69.64
	Conservative	J. N. Cumberbirch	9,974	30.36
Majority			12,903	30.36
Turnout				78.84
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Hall	26,008	83.1	n/a
	Unionist	Alfred Coates	5,276	16.9	n/a
Majority			20,732	66.2	n/a
Turnout				75.8	n/a
	Labour hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1924: Normanton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Hall	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• Altofts
• Horbury
• Normanton
• Ossett
• Outwood
• Sharlston
• South Ossett
• Stanley
• Wrenthorpe

Sources

• The Independent Labour Party and the Yorkshire Miners: The Barnsley By-Election of 1897: details on the Liberal-Labour movement in the area in the late 19th century

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)