Barnsley East
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Barnsley East in South Yorkshire in 2010.
Outline map
Location of South Yorkshire within England.
CountySouth Yorkshire
Electorate68,448 (December 2019)[1]
Major settlementsWombwell
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentStephanie Peacock (Labour)
Seats1
Created fromBarnsley East & Mexborough, Barnsley West & Penistone and Barnsley Central[2]
1983–1997
Created fromBarnsley and Dearne Valley
Replaced byBarnsley East and Mexborough

Barnsley East is a constituency[n 1] in South Yorkshire,[n 2] represented since 2017 by Stephanie Peacock of the Labour Party.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to boundary changes. As a consequence, it will be renamed Barnsley South, to be first contested at the next general election.[3]

Constituency profile

The seat covers the south-east suburbs of Barnsley and former coal mining areas such as Hoyland, Darfield and Wombwell. Its residents are poorer than the UK average.[4]

History

The seat was created as Barnsley East in 1983 and later abolished in 1997 to create Barnsley East and Mexborough. It was recreated as Barnsley East at the 2010 general election.

Eight candidates competed for the seat in the 2010 general election; however, the largest two opposition parties failed to gain more than 18.2% each and the winning candidate Michael Dugher managed to obtain 47% of all votes despite the presence of a candidate from the Socialist Labour Party. Although the percentage decline in the Labour vote was the largest in the country (at nearly 24%), they still won the seat safely. In 2017, Stephanie Peacock succeeded Dugher as MP for Barnsley East.

Both between 1983 and 1997, and at the 2010 general election, this constituency has been a safe seat for the Labour Party, as indeed was its temporary replacement, Barnsley East and Mexborough. After the 2019 general election however, this constituency became a marginal seat, with Labour's vote share dropping by 21.9% and their majority cut to just 8.4%.

Boundaries

Map
Map of present boundaries

1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Brierley, Cudworth, Darfield, Dearne South, Dearne Thurnscoe, Wombwell North, and Wombwell South.

2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Cudworth, Darfield, Hoyland Milton, North East, Rockingham, Stairfoot, Wombwell, and Worsbrough.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in South Yorkshire for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England divided the existing Barnsley East and Mexborough seat to split off Barnsley East from Mexborough, to create the new Barnsley East constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1983–1997

Election Member[5] Party
1983 Terry Patchett Labour
1996 by-election Jeff Ennis Labour
1997 Constituency abolished: see Barnsley East and Mexborough & Barnsley Central

MPs since 2010

Election Member[5] Party
2010 Michael Dugher Labour
2017 Stephanie Peacock Labour

Elections

Barnsley East general election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Barnsley East[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephanie Peacock 14,329 37.6 Decrease21.9
Brexit Party Jim Ferguson 11,112 29.2 New
Conservative Adam Gregg 10,377 27.3 Increase0.3
Liberal Democrats Sophie Thornton 1,330 3.5 Increase1.7
Green Richard Trotman 922 2.4 New
Majority 3,217 8.4 Decrease24.1
Turnout 38,070 54.8 Decrease3.8
Labour hold Swing
General election 2017: Barnsley East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephanie Peacock 24,280 59.5 +4.8
Conservative Andrew Lloyd 10,997 27.0 +12.4
UKIP James Dalton 3,247 8.0 −15.5
Yorkshire Tony Devoy 1,215 3.0 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Nicola Turner 750 1.8 −1.4
English Democrat Kevin Riddiough 287 0.7 −0.4
Majority 13,283 32.5 +1.3
Turnout 40,776 58.6 +2.9
Labour hold Swing −3.8
General election 2015: Barnsley East[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Dugher 21,079 54.7 +7.7
UKIP Robert Swiffen 9,045 23.5 +19.0
Conservative Katharine Harborne 5,622 14.6 −1.9
Liberal Democrats Ruth Coleman-Taylor 1,217 3.2 −15.0
Yorkshire First Tony Devoy 647 1.7 New
English Democrat Kevin Riddiough 440 1.1 New
TUSC Ralph Dyson 364 0.9 New
Vapers in Power Billy Marsden 103 0.3 New
Majority 12,034 31.2 +2.3
Turnout 38,517 55.7 −0.4
Labour hold Swing −5.6
General election 2010: Barnsley East[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Dugher 18,059 47.0 −23.9
Liberal Democrats John Brown 6,969 18.2 +4.1
Conservative James Hockney 6,329 16.5 +3.8
BNP Colin Porter 3,301 8.6 New
UKIP Tony Watson 1,731 4.5 New
Independent Kevin Hogan 712 1.9 New
Independent Eddie Devoy 684 1.8 New
Socialist Labour Ken Capstick 601 1.6 −0.7
Majority 11,090 28.9
Turnout 38,396 56.1 +7.3
Labour hold Swing −14.0

Elections in the 1990s

Following the death of Terry Patchett on 11 October 1996, a by-election was held on 12 December 1996. The replacement Labour candidate Jeff Ennis held the seat for the party despite a low voter turnout.

1996 Barnsley East by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jeff Ennis 13,683 76.4 −0.8
Liberal Democrats David Willis 1,502 8.4 −0.2
Conservative Jane Ellison 1,299 7.3 −6.9
Socialist Labour Ken Capstick 949 5.3 New
UKIP Nikolai Tolstoy 378 2.1 New
Socialist Equality Julie Hyland 89 0.5 New
Majority 12,181 68.0 +5.0
Turnout 17,900 33.7 −39.2
Labour hold Swing
General election 1992: Barnsley East[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Terry Patchett 30,346 77.2 +2.7
Conservative John M. Procter 5,569 14.2 +0.2
Liberal Democrats Sylvia Anginotti 3,399 8.6 −2.9
Majority 24,777 63.0 +2.5
Turnout 39,314 72.9 +0.3
Labour hold Swing +1.3

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Barnsley East[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Terry Patchett 29,948 74.5 +8.2
Conservative James Clappison 5,437 14.0 −1.9
Liberal Geoffrey Griffiths 4,482 11.5 −7.3
Majority 23,511 60.5 +12.0
Turnout 39,867 72.6 +5.3
Labour hold Swing
General election 1983: Barnsley East[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Terry Patchett 23,905 66.3
Liberal Peter Tomlinson 6,413 17.8
Conservative George England 5,749 15.9
Majority 17,492 48.5
Turnout 36,067 67.3
Labour win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A borough 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

  1. ^ "Constituency data: electorates – House of Commons Library". Parliament UK. 15 June 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Barnsley East' UK Parliament, 6 May 2010 –". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Yorkshire and the Humber | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Barnsley East: Seat Details". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Barnsley East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Barnsley East". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  13. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2011.

Sources

Categories