53°33′22″N 1°35′28″W / 53.556°N 1.591°W / 53.556; -1.591

Barnsley West and Penistone
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Barnsley West and Penistone in South Yorkshire in 2005.
Outline map
Location of South Yorkshire within England.
CountySouth Yorkshire
Major settlementsPenistone
1983–2010
SeatsOne
Created fromBarnsley and Penistone
Replaced byBarnsley Central, Penistone & Stocksbridge

Barnsley West and Penistone was a parliamentary constituency in South Yorkshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

History

It was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party.

Boundaries

The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Darton, Dodworth, Hoyland East, Hoyland West, Park, Penistone East, Penistone West, and Worsbrough.

Barnsley West and Penistone constituency was created in 1983 when the former Barnsley constituency was split into three divisions. This seat also contained parts of the former Penistone constituency, which was abolished in the same boundary review: in total it covered the western part of the Borough of Barnsley and included the town of Penistone. It bordered the constituencies of Sheffield Hillsborough, Wentworth, Barnsley East and Mexborough, Barnsley Central, Hemsworth, Wakefield, Colne Valley, and High Peak. Penistone itself provides the highest Conservative vote in the Borough of Barnsley (although not always a majority - see for instance 1998 Barnsley Council election and 2008 Barnsley Council election), but the other small towns and villages, mostly former mining areas, are safely Labour.

Boundary review

Following the Boundary Commission for England's report on South Yorkshire's Parliamentary constituencies in 2004 and the subsequent inquiry in 2005 it was announced that the constituency of Barnsley West and Penistone would be abolished for future elections. The revisions split the constituency in two: the easternmost wards were to become part of a revised Barnsley Central constituency, while the westernmost wards, around Penistone, would be combined with the northern wards from the Sheffield Hillsborough constituency. This new constituency was to be named Penistone and Stocksbridge, and covers a similar area to the historic Penistone constituency.

Members of Parliament

The constituency had two Members of Parliament, both of which were from the Labour Party or Labour Co-operative.

Election Member[1] Party
1983 Allen McKay Labour
1992 Michael Clapham Labour Co-operative
2010 constituency abolished: see Barnsley Central & Penistone and Stocksbridge

Elections

General election results since 1983

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Barnsley West & Penistone[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Michael Clapham 20,372 55.3 −3.3
Conservative Clive Watkinson 9,058 24.6 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Alison Brelsford 7,422 20.1 +1.5
Majority 11,314 30.7 -5.1
Turnout 36,842 55.0 +2.1
Labour Co-op hold Swing −2.5
General election 2001: Barnsley West & Penistone[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Michael Clapham 20,244 58.6 −0.7
Conservative William Rowe 7,892 22.8 +4.4
Liberal Democrats Miles Crompton 6,428 18.6 +0.6
Majority 12,352 35.8 -5.1
Turnout 34,564 52.9 −12.1
Labour Co-op hold Swing −2.6

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Barnsley West & Penistone[4][5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Michael Clapham 25,017 59.3 +1.0
Conservative Paul Watkins 7,750 18.4 −9.6
Liberal Democrats Winifred Knight 7,613 18.0 +6.3
Referendum Joyce Miles 1,828 4.3 New
Majority 17,267 40.9 +10.6
Turnout 42,208 65.0 −10.7
Labour Co-op hold Swing +5.3
General election 1992: Barnsley West and Penistone[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Michael Clapham 27,965 58.3 +0.9
Conservative Graham Sawyer 13,461 28.0 +1.4
Liberal Democrats Hugh Nicolson 5,610 11.7 −4.3
Green Derek Jones 970 2.0 New
Majority 14,504 30.3 −0.5
Turnout 48,006 75.7 0.0
Labour Co-op gain from Labour Swing −0.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Barnsley West & Penistone[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Allen McKay 26,498 57.4 +6.6
Conservative Alan Duncan 12,307 26.6 −0.9
SDP Richard Hall 7,409 16.0 −5.7
Majority 14,191 30.8 +7.5
Turnout 46,214 75.7 +2.5
Labour hold Swing +3.7

The first general election in this constituency was won by Allen McKay, who had been the MP for the abolished Penistone constituency since 1978.

General election 1983: Barnsley West & Penistone[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Allen McKay 22,560 50.8
Conservative Timothy Hartley 12,218 27.5
SDP John Evans 9,624 21.7
Majority 10,342 23.3
Turnout 44,402 73.2
Labour win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  2. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  6. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.120 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
  7. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

Categories