Sheffield Central
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Sheffield Central in South Yorkshire
Outline map
Location of South Yorkshire within England
CountySouth Yorkshire
Electorate79,414 (December 2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentPaul Blomfield (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromSheffield Park, Sheffield Hillsborough, Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Attercliffe[2]
1885–1950
SeatsOne
Created fromSheffield
Replaced bySheffield Neepsend and Sheffield Hallam

Sheffield Central is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Paul Blomfield, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Boundaries

First creation

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Sheffield wards of St Peter's and St Philip's, and part of St George's ward.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Sheffield wards of St Peter's and St Philip's, and part of Broomhall ward.

1950-1983: See other seats.

Second creation (current)
Map
Map of current boundaries

1983–1997: The City of Sheffield wards of Burngreave, Castle, Manor, Netherthorpe, and Sharrow.

1997–2010: as above plus Nether Edge

Sheffield City Council was subject to new ward boundaries from 2004, which removed Castle, Manor, Netherthorpe and Sharrow, whilst adding Central and Manor Castle wards.

2010–2015: The City of Sheffield wards of Broomhill, Central, Manor Castle, Nether Edge, and Walkley.

2015–present: The City of Sheffield wards of Broomhill & Sharrow Vale, City, Manor Castle, Nether Edge & Sharrow, and Walkley; and parts of the wards of Crookes & Crosspool, Ecclesall, Fulwood and Hillsborough.

Present boundaries

The seat covers central Sheffield and extends as far as Nether Edge and the Manor. It covers a similar area to the former Sheffield Park seat. It borders Sheffield Hallam, Sheffield Heeley, Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough and Sheffield South East.

History

1885–1950

Created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the election that year, Sheffield Central was one of five divisions of the former Sheffield constituency. Sheffield Central was abolished in 1950 and the sitting MP, Harry Morris, stood and won in the new seat (now extinct) of Sheffield Neepsend.

1983–present

Revival

In varied form the constituency was brought back into existence for the 1983 general election.

MPs

Labour's Richard Caborn represented Sheffield Central from its recreation in 1983 until he retired in 2010 and was narrowly succeeded at the ballot box by another Labour MP, Paul Blomfield.

Winning margin

The 2015 result made the seat the 32nd-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[3]

Labour majorities since 1983 in Sheffield Central have been in the top quartile save for 2010 — the Liberal Democrat share of the vote came 0.4% short of winning the seat — a highly marginal result.

Opposition parties

The Green Party took second place in 2015, gaining a +12.1% swing (compared with +2.8% nationwide). This was the main target seat of the party in Yorkshire. Its 2012-2016 Leader Natalie Bennett, chose to settle locally on stepping down from the policy-steering role in 2016 and had chosen to contest Sheffield Central at the 2017 general election. Lib Dem candidates scored variable second places in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2010 then took fourth place in 2015.

Turnout

Turnout has ranged from 62.5% in 1987 to 49.5% in 2001.

Future

Blomfield has announced that he will stand down at the next general election. The Labour Party has selected Sheffield city councillor Abtisam Mohamed to fight the seat, beating Eddie Izzard in the selection contest.[4][5]

Constituency profile

The constituency has a working population whose income is close to the national average and lower than average reliance upon social housing.[6] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 4.0% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, see table.[7]

There is a large student population and in 2015, the constituency had the youngest median age of voters at 26 years, compared to 39 years for the UK.[8]

Sheffield's seats compared – worklessness[7]
Office for National Statistics November 2012 Jobseeker's Allowance claimant count
Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough 7.6%[n 3]
Sheffield Central 4.0%
Sheffield Hallam 1.5%
Sheffield Heeley 5.7%
Sheffield South East 4.4%

The district contributing to the bulk of the seat has a medium 33% of its population without a car.[n 4] A medium 24.3% of the city's population are without qualifications, a high 15.8% of the population with level 3 qualifications and a medium 25.7% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure a relatively low 58.3% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage by occupants as at the 2011 census across the district.[9]

Members of Parliament

Year Member[10] Party
1885 Howard Vincent Conservative
1908 James Hope Conservative
1929 Philip Hoffman Labour
1931 William Boulton Conservative
1945 Harry Morris Labour
1950 Constituency abolished
1983 Constituency created
Richard Caborn Labour
2010 Paul Blomfield Labour

Elections

Election results for Sheffield Central, 1885–1950 and 1983–2005

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Sheffield Central[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Blomfield 33,968 66.7 ―4.2
Conservative Janice Silvester-Hall 6,695 13.1 +0.1
Green Alison Teal 4,570 9.0 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Colin Ross 3,237 6.4 +1.3
Brexit Party Paul Ward 1,969 3.9 New
Yorkshire Jack Carrington 416 0.8 +0.4
Independent Barry James 30 0.1 New
Socialist Equality Chris Marsden 28 0.1 New
Majority 27,273 53.6 ―4.3
Turnout 50,913 56.7 ―5.3
Labour hold Swing -2.1
General election 2017: Sheffield Central[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Blomfield 33,963 70.9 +15.9
Conservative Stephanie Roe 6,215 13.0 +1.9
Green Natalie Bennett 3,848 8.0 -7.8
Liberal Democrats Shaffaq Mohammed 2,465 5.1 -4.6
UKIP Dominic Cook 1,060 2.2 -5.3
Yorkshire Jack Carrington 197 0.4 New
Pirate Rob Moran 91 0.2 -0.1
SDP Joe Westnidge 38 0.1 New
Majority 27,748 57.9 +15.7
Turnout 47,877 62.0 +4.6
Labour hold Swing +7.0
General election 2015: Sheffield Central[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Blomfield 24,308 55.0 +13.7
Green Jillian Creasy 6,999 15.8 +12.0
Conservative Stephanie Roe 4,917 11.1 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Joe Otten 4,278 9.7 -31.2
UKIP Dominic Cook 3,296 7.5 +5.9
Communist Steve Andrew 119 0.3 New
Pirate Andy Halsall 113 0.3 New
English Democrat Elizabeth Breed 68 0.2 New
Above and Beyond Party Thom Brown 42 0.1 New
Workers Revolutionary Michael Driver 33 0.1 New
Majority 17,309 39.2 +38.8
Turnout 44,173 57.4 -2.2
Labour hold Swing +0.8
General election 2010: Sheffield Central[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Blomfield 17,138 41.3 -5.2
Liberal Democrats Paul Scriven 16,973 40.9 +9.5
Conservative Andrew Lee 4,206 10.1 +1.0
Green Jillian Creasy 1,556 3.8 -2.0
BNP Tracey Smith 903 2.2 +0.6
UKIP Jeffrey Shaw 652 1.6 -0.1
Independent Rod Rodgers 40 0.1 New
Majority 165 0.4 -23.1
Turnout 41,468 59.6 +4.6
Labour hold Swing -7.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Sheffield Central[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 14,950 49.9 -11.5
Liberal Democrats Ali Qadar 7,895 26.3 +6.6
Conservative Samantha George 3,094 10.3 -0.6
Green Bernard Little 1,808 6.0 +2.6
Respect Maxine Bowler 1,284 4.3 New
BNP Mark Payne 539 1.8 New
UKIP Charlotte Arnott 415 1.4 +0.5
Majority 7,055 23.6 −18.1
Turnout 29,985 50.1 +0.6
Labour hold Swing -9.1
General election 2001: Sheffield Central[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 18,477 61.4 -2.2
Liberal Democrats Ali Qadar 5,933 19.7 +2.5
Conservative Noelle Brelsford 3,289 10.9 -1.0
Green Bernard Little 1,008 3.4 +0.8
Socialist Alliance Nick Riley 754 2.5 New
Socialist Labour David Hadfield 289 1.0 New
UKIP Elizabeth Schofield 257 0.9 New
Workers Revolutionary Robert Driver 62 0.2 -0.0
Majority 12,544 41.7 −4.7
Turnout 30,069 49.5 -3.5
Labour hold Swing -2.36

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Sheffield Central[21][22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 23,179 63.6 −5.1
Liberal Democrats Ali Qadar 6,273 17.2 +5.6
Conservative Martin Hess 4,341 11.9 −4.6
Green Andy D'Agorne 954 2.6 +0.3
Referendum Anthony Brownlow 863 2.4 New
Socialist Alternative Ken Douglas 466 1.3 New
ProLife Alliance Maureen Aitken 280 0.8 New
Workers Revolutionary Michael Driver 63 0.2 New
Majority 16,906 46.4 −5.8
Turnout 36,419 53.0 −3.1
Labour hold Swing
General election 1992: Sheffield Central[24][22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 22,764 68.7 +1.0
Conservative Vernon Davies 5,470 16.5 −0.6
Liberal Democrats Andrew Sangar 3,856 11.6 −2.3
Green Graham Wroe 750 2.3 New
End Unemployment Vote Justice for Jobless Martin Clarke 212 0.6 New
Communist League Josephine O'Brien 92 0.3 New
Majority 17,294 52.2 +1.6
Turnout 33,144 56.1 −5.4
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Sheffield Central[25][23][26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 25,872 67.7 +7.5
Conservative Brian Oxley 6,530 17.1 −2.1
SDP Fiona Hornby 5,314 13.9 −5.5
Red Front Ceri T. Dingle 278 0.7 New
Communist Keith Petts 203 0.5 −0.2
Majority 19,342 50.6 +9.8
Turnout 38,197 62.5 +0.9
Labour hold Swing
General election 1983: Sheffield Central[27][23][26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Caborn 24,759 60.2
SDP Patricia Major 7,969 19.4
Conservative Patricia Rawlings 7,908 19.2
Communist Vi Gill 296 0.7
Revolutionary Communist C. Barrett 222 0.5
Majority 16,790 40.8
Turnout 41,154 61.6
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Sheffield Central[23][28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Morris 7,954 59.2 +10.0
Conservative George Vivian Hunt 5,481 40.8 −10.0
Majority 2,473 18.4 N/A
Turnout 13,435 72.0 -2.2
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Boulton 13,828 50.8 −11.2
Labour Philip Hoffman 13,408 49.2 +11.2
Majority 420 1.6 -22.4
Turnout 27,229 74.2 -6.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1931: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Boulton 21,589 62.0 +12.1
Labour Philip Hoffman 13,212 38.0 -12.1
Majority 8,377 24.0 N/A
Turnout 34,801 80.2 +6.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Sheffield Central [28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Philip Hoffman 19,183 59.1 +8.5
Unionist John Ralph Patientins Warde-Aldam 13,284 40.9 -8.5
Majority 5,899 18.2 N/A
Turnout 32,467 74.1 -0.4
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +8.5
General election 1924: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hope 13,302 50.6 +4.9
Labour Tom Snowden 12,995 49.4 +8.3
Majority 307 1.2 -3.4
Turnout 26,297 74.5 +13.2
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1923: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Hope 9,727 45.7 N/A
Labour Tom Snowden 8,762 41.1 New
Liberal John Henry Freeborough 2,810 13.2 New
Majority 965 4.6 N/A
Turnout 21,299 61.3 N/A
Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 1922: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Hope Unopposed
Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Sheffield Central[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist James Hope 9,361 58.7 +7.3
Independent Labour Alfred James Bailey 5,959 37.3 −11.3
British Socialist Party Robert George Murray 643 4.0 New
Majority 3,402 21.4 +18.6
Turnout 15,963 43.1 −34.4
Unionist hold Swing +9.3
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Bailey was sponsored by the National Amalgamated Union of Labour

Bailey
General election December 1910: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hope 3,455 51.4 −1.3
Lib-Lab Alfred James Bailey 3,271 48.6 +1.3
Majority 184 2.8 −2.6
Turnout 6,726 77.5 −6.2
Registered electors 8,684
Conservative hold Swing −1.3
General election January 1910: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hope 3,829 52.7 −3.5
Lib-Lab Alfred James Bailey 3,440 47.3 +3.5
Majority 389 5.4 −7.0
Turnout 7,269 83.7 +1.6
Registered electors 8,684
Conservative hold Swing −3.5

Elections in the 1900s

By-election, 1908: Sheffield Central[30][31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Hope Unopposed
Conservative hold
Howard Vincent
General election 1906: Sheffield Central[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent 4,217 56.2 N/A
Liberal Stanley Udale 3,290 43.8 New
Majority 927 12.4 N/A
Turnout 7,507 82.1 N/A
Registered electors 9,142
Conservative hold Swing N/A
1900 general election: Sheffield Central[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent Unopposed
Conservative hold
Robert Cameron
General election 1892: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent 4,474 55.3 −2.3
Liberal Robert Cameron 3,618 44.7 +2.3
Majority 856 10.6 −4.6
Turnout 8,092 83.2 +4.1
Registered electors 9,728
Conservative hold Swing −2.3

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent 4,522 57.6 +1.5
Liberal Joshua Hawkins 3,326 42.4 +0.2
Majority 1,196 15.2 +1.3
Turnout 7,848 79.1 −4.1
Registered electors 9,923
Conservative hold Swing +0.7
Samuel Plimsoll
General election 1885: Sheffield Central[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Vincent 4,633 56.1
Lib-Lab Samuel Plimsoll 3,484 42.2
Independent Liberal Mervyn Lanark Hawkes[32] 140 1.7
Majority 1,149 13.9
Turnout 8,257 83.2
Registered electors 9,923
Conservative 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.
  3. ^ This seat also saw the widest gender disparity with 10.5% of men were claimants, vs. 4.8% of women
  4. ^ This falls within the centrally coloured banding for metropolitan areas

References

  1. ^ "Constituency data: electorates – House of Commons Library". Parliament UK. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. ^ "'Sheffield Central', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting". Zoom Video. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Eddie Izzard fails in bid to become Labour MP". The Guardian. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  7. ^ a b Rogers, Simon; Evans, Lisa (17 November 2010). "Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Chalabi, Mona (1 May 2015). "The U.K.'s Youngest Constituency".
  9. ^ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
  11. ^ "Sheffield Central Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Sheffield Central". Sheffield City Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Sheffield Central Parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ^ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Sheffield Central". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  17. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Election 2005 | Results | Sheffield Central". BBC News.
  19. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ^ "VOTE 2001 | RESULTS & CONSTITUENCIES | Sheffield Central". BBC News.
  21. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Sheffield Central". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010.((cite news)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. ^ a b c d e Sheffield General Election Results 1945 - 2001[permanent dead link], Sheffield City Council
  24. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  26. ^ a b "Politicsresources.net - Official Web Site ✔". Politics Science Resources.
  27. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  29. ^ a b c d e f British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, F. W. S. Craig
  30. ^ a b c Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  31. ^ Whittaker's Almanack (1910), p.159
  32. ^ "Mr Mervyn Lanark Hawkes and the Sheffield Central Division". Sheffield Telegraph. 25 July 1885. p. 6. Retrieved 10 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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