Calder Valley (UK Parliament Constituency)
The constituency has a long record as a bellwether of national results in British elections. In every election since its creation, it has voted for an MP belonging to the largest party in the Commons; this record stretches back to February 1974 and 1960 for its main predecessors, Sowerby and Brighouse and Spenborough respectively.
Constituency profile
The constituency covers most of the upland metropolitan district of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, including the town of Todmorden which was formerly split in half between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Hebden Bridge and Todmorden are known for their bohemian culture and are more Labour-leaning, whereas Elland and Brighouse tend to vote Conservative, making the seat marginal overall.
Boundaries
1983-2024: Since the constituency's creation in 1983, it comprised the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale wards of Brighouse, Calder, Elland, Greetland and Stainland, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe, Luddendenfoot, Rastrick, Ryburn, and Todmorden.
2024-present: Same as above apart from the loss of part of the Ryburn ward (polling districts MB, MC and MD) to Halifax in order to bring the electorate within the permitted range as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.
History
The constituency was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Sowerby as well as parts of Brighouse and Spenborough. Historically a bellwether seat between Labour and the Conservatives, at the 2010 general election the seat became the closest three-way marginal in the north of England, with less than 1,000 votes between the Labour candidate in second place and the Liberal Democrat candidate in third, although with a significant Conservative majority. The seat's three-way marginal status did not last; the Labour vote increased significantly in both 2015 and 2017 while the Liberal Democrat vote collapsed dramatically over the same period. The seat has followed national trends, albeit with a disadvantage to the Conservatives when compared to the national swing, and is still considered a bellwether seat.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Sir Donald Thompson | Conservative | |
1997 | Christine McCafferty | Labour | |
2010 | Craig Whittaker | Conservative | |
2024 | Josh Fenton-Glynn | Labour |
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Josh Fenton-Glynn | 22,046 | 44.4 | +2.1 | |
Conservative | Vanessa Lee | 13,055 | 26.3 | −25.1 | |
Reform UK | Donald Walmsley | 7,644 | 15.4 | N/A | |
Green | Kieran Turner | 3,701 | 7.5 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Donal O'Hanlon | 2,587 | 5.2 | +0.1 | |
Yorkshire | James Vasey | 404 | 0.8 | N/A | |
SDP | Jim McNeill | 171 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 8,991 | 18.1 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 49,608 | 64.1 | −10.2 | ||
Registered electors | 77,364 | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | 13.6 |
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Conservative | 28,991 | 51.4 | |
Labour | 23,884 | 42.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2,858 | 5.1 | |
Others | 721 | 1.3 | |
Turnout | 56,454 | 74.3 | |
Electorate | 75,987 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Craig Whittaker | 29,981 | 51.9 | +5.8 | |
Labour | Josh Fenton-Glynn | 24,207 | 41.9 | −3.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Javed Bashir | 2,884 | 4.9 | +1.5 | |
Liberal | Richard Phillips | 721 | 1.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 5,774 | 10.0 | +9.0 | ||
Turnout | 57,793 | 72.9 | −0.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +4.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Craig Whittaker | 26,790 | 46.1 | +2.5 | |
Labour | Josh Fenton-Glynn | 26,181 | 45.1 | +9.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Janet Battye | 1,952 | 3.4 | −1.6 | |
UKIP | Paul Rogan | 1,466 | 2.6 | −8.5 | |
Independent | Robert Holden | 1,034 | 1.8 | N/A | |
Green | Kieran Turner | 631 | 1.1 | −2.8 | |
Majority | 609 | 1.0 | −7.2 | ||
Turnout | 58,054 | 73.4 | +4.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −3.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Craig Whittaker | 23,354 | 43.6 | +4.2 | |
Labour | Josh Fenton-Glynn | 18,927 | 35.4 | +8.4 | |
UKIP | Paul Rogan | 5,950 | 11.1 | +8.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alisdair McGregor | 2,666 | 5.0 | −20.2 | |
Green | Jenny Shepherd | 2,090 | 3.9 | +2.2 | |
Yorkshire First | Rod Sutcliffe | 389 | 0.7 | N/A | |
World Peace Through Song | Joe Stead | 165 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 4,427 | 8.2 | −4.0 | ||
Turnout | 53,541 | 68.9 | +1.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -2.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Craig Whittaker | 20,397 | 39.4 | +3.6 | |
Labour | Steph Booth | 13,966 | 27.0 | −11.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Hilary Myers | 13,037 | 25.2 | +6.3 | |
BNP | John Gregory | 1,823 | 3.5 | −0.4 | |
UKIP | Greg Burrows | 1,173 | 2.3 | N/A | |
Green | Kate Sweeny | 858 | 1.7 | −1.2 | |
Independent | Tim Cole | 194 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Independent | Barry Greenwood | 175 | 0.3 | N/A | |
English Democrat | Paul Rogan | 157 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,431 | 12.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 51,780 | 67.3 | +1.3 | ||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +7.6 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Christine McCafferty | 18,426 | 38.6 | −4.1 | |
Conservative | Liz Truss | 17,059 | 35.7 | −0.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Liz Ingleton | 9,027 | 18.9 | +2.9 | |
BNP | John Gregory | 1,887 | 4.0 | N/A | |
Green | Paul Palmer | 1,371 | 2.9 | +0.7 | |
Majority | 1,367 | 2.9 | −3.6 | ||
Turnout | 47,770 | 67.0 | +4.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −1.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Christine McCafferty | 20,244 | 42.7 | −3.4 | |
Conservative | Susan Robson-Catling | 17,150 | 36.2 | +1.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Michael Taylor | 7,596 | 16.0 | +1.3 | |
Green | Steven Hutton | 1,034 | 2.2 | +1.3 | |
UKIP | John Nunn | 729 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Legalise Cannabis | Philip Lockwood | 672 | 1.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 3,094 | 6.5 | −4.5 | ||
Turnout | 47,425 | 63.0 | −12.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −2.3 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Christine McCafferty | 26,050 | 46.1 | +8.7 | |
Conservative | Donald Thompson | 19,795 | 35.1 | −10.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stephen Pearson | 8,322 | 14.7 | −1.4 | |
Referendum | Anthony Mellor | 1,380 | 2.4 | N/A | |
Green | Vivienne Smith | 488 | 0.9 | −0.1 | |
BNP | Christian Jackson | 431 | 0.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,255 | 11.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 56,466 | 75.4 | −6.7 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +9.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Donald Thompson | 27,753 | 45.4 | +1.9 | |
Labour | David Chaytor | 22,875 | 37.4 | +4.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stephen Pearson | 9,842 | 16.1 | −7.0 | |
Green | Vivienne Smith | 622 | 1.0 | N/A | |
Majority | 4,878 | 8.0 | −2.1 | ||
Turnout | 61,092 | 82.1 | +1.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −1.1 |
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Donald Thompson | 25,892 | 43.5 | −0.2 | |
Labour | David Chaytor | 19,847 | 33.4 | +6.4 | |
Liberal | David Shutt | 13,761 | 23.1 | −6.3 | |
Majority | 6,045 | 10.1 | −4.2 | ||
Turnout | 59,500 | 81.1 | +2.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −3.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Donald Thompson | 24,439 | 43.7 | ||
Liberal | David Shutt | 16,440 | 29.4 | ||
Labour | Patricia Holmes | 15,108 | 27.0 | ||
Majority | 7,999 | 14.3 | |||
Turnout | 55,987 | 78.5 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
See also
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ "Calder Valley: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ "Constituency data: electorates – House of Commons Library". Parliament UK. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ "'Calder Valley', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Calder+Valley
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 9 Yorkshire and the Humber region.
- ^ "Calder Valley 1983–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)
- ^ "Parliamentary General Election - 04/07/2024 Calder Valley Constituency". Calderdale Council. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Calder Valley results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Calder Valley parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Calder Valley parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Calder Valley". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Calder Valley constituency: Parliamentary Election: Calder Valley constituency: Calderdale Council". Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Calder Valley". Election 2010. BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Sources
External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Calder Valley — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
- Calder Valley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Calder Valley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Calder Valley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK