Oldham West And Royton (UK Parliament Constituency)
Boundaries
The constituency is one of three covering the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It covers most of the western part of the borough, including Chadderton and Royton but not Failsworth which was in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency until 2024, and then Manchester Central thereafter.
1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Alexandra, Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Coldhurst, Royton North, Royton South, St Paul's, and Werneth.
2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Coldhurst, Failsworth East (part), Hollinwood, Medlock Vale, Royton North, Royton South, and Werneth.
Name
In July 2006, fourteen representations were received by the Boundary Commission for England, which called for the inclusion of Chadderton in the name of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency. Many of these objectors pointed out that Chadderton was much larger and more populous than Royton. The commission rejected the proposed alternative name (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) because it was too long and they did not believe that there was a significant amount of support for a name change.
The commission later adopted the proposed renaming of the constituency to Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, with unchanged boundaries.
History
The present constituency was formed in 1997 from parts of the former Oldham Central and Royton and Oldham West constituencies and has to date been a safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by Michael Meacher since the 1997 general election. Meacher had previously been the MP for the predecessor seat of Oldham West since 1970.
Despite no part of the constituency, nor Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council ever having had a BNP councillor, the constituency gained a level of notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate. Griffin received 6,552 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place and 524 votes behind the Conservative Duncan Reed in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the serious race riots that had occurred in Oldham (and other northern towns) a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth".
In local elections following the 2001 race riots, the BNP also received considerable support: specifically in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, from 2008 the BNP share of the vote has been markedly lower, with BNP and former BNP candidates coming in third or fourth in Royton North and other Oldham West and Royton Wards.
At the 2005 and 2010 general elections the BNP managed to retain their deposits (polling around 7% on both occasions) but have only achieved fourth place, with the Conservative Party second behind veteran politician Michael Meacher of the Labour Party, who stood at the 2015 general election. Meacher's death in October 2015 triggered a by-election, the first of the new Parliament, which was held on 3 December 2015 and was won by Jim McMahon of the Labour Party.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Michael Meacher | Labour | |
2015 by-election | Jim McMahon | Labour Co-op |
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Jim McMahon | 13,232 | 34.3 | −21.0 | |
Independent | Zaffar Iqbal | 8,256 | 21.4 | N/A | |
Reform UK | David Silbiger | 6,848 | 17.8 | N/A | |
Conservative | Horatio Lovering | 4,066 | 10.5 | −19.8 | |
Independent | Raja Miah | 2,470 | 6.4 | N/A | |
Green | Samsuzzaman Syed | 1,857 | 4.8 | +3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Hannah Kitching | 1,271 | 3.3 | 0.0 | |
Independent | Tony Wilson | 573 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 4,976 | 12.9 | −12.1 | ||
Turnout | 38,573 | 51.0 | −8.7 | ||
Registered electors | 75,346 | ||||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | -21.2 |
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Jim McMahon | 24,579 | 55.3 | −9.9 | |
Conservative | Kirsty Finlayson | 13,452 | 30.3 | +2.7 | |
Brexit Party | Helen Formby | 3,316 | 7.5 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Garth Harkness | 1,484 | 3.3 | +1.2 | |
Green | Dan Jerrome | 681 | 1.5 | +0.5 | |
Proud of Oldham & Saddleworth | Debbie Cole | 533 | 1.2 | N/A | |
UKIP | Anthony Prince | 389 | 0.9 | −3.2 | |
Majority | 11,127 | 25.0 | −12.6 | ||
Turnout | 44,434 | 60.8 | −2.4 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | -6.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Jim McMahon | 29,846 | 65.2 | +10.4 | |
Conservative | Christopher Glenny | 12,648 | 27.6 | +8.6 | |
UKIP | Ruth Keating | 1,899 | 4.1 | −16.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Garth Harkness | 956 | 2.1 | −1.6 | |
Green | Adam King | 439 | 1.0 | −0.9 | |
Majority | 17,198 | 37.6 | +3.4 | ||
Turnout | 45,788 | 63.2 | +3.6 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | +0.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Jim McMahon | 17,209 | 62.1 | +7.3 | |
UKIP | John Bickley | 6,487 | 23.4 | +2.8 | |
Conservative | James Daly | 2,596 | 9.4 | −9.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jane Brophy | 1,024 | 3.7 | 0.0 | |
Green | Simeon Hart | 249 | 0.9 | −1.0 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Sir Oink A-Lot | 141 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,722 | 38.7 | +4.5 | ||
Turnout | 27,706 | 40.3 | −19.3 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | +2.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 23,630 | 54.8 | +9.3 | |
UKIP | Francis Arbour | 8,892 | 20.6 | +17.4 | |
Conservative | Kamran Ghafoor | 8,187 | 19.0 | −4.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Garth Harkness | 1,589 | 3.7 | −15.4 | |
Green | Simeon Hart | 839 | 1.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 14,738 | 34.2 | +12.4 | ||
Turnout | 43,137 | 59.6 | +0.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −4.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 19,503 | 45.5 | −2.9 | |
Conservative | Kamran Ghafoor | 10,151 | 23.7 | +2.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark Alcock | 8,193 | 19.1 | −2.1 | |
BNP | Dave Jones | 3,049 | 7.1 | +0.3 | |
UKIP | Helen Roberts | 1,387 | 3.2 | +0.7 | |
Respect | Shahid Miah | 627 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 9,352 | 21.8 | −5.3 | ||
Turnout | 42,910 | 59.1 | +5.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −2.7 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 18,452 | 49.1 | −2.1 | |
Conservative | Sean Moore | 7,998 | 21.3 | +3.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stuart Bodsworth | 7,519 | 20.0 | +7.6 | |
BNP | Anita Corbett | 2,606 | 6.9 | −9.5 | |
UKIP | David Short | 987 | 2.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,454 | 27.8 | −5.7 | ||
Turnout | 37,562 | 53.3 | −4.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −2.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 20,441 | 51.2 | −7.6 | |
Conservative | Duncan Reed | 7,076 | 17.7 | −5.7 | |
BNP | Nick Griffin | 6,552 | 16.4 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Marc Ramsbottom | 4,975 | 12.4 | +0.5 | |
Green | David Roney | 918 | 2.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 13,365 | 33.5 | −1.9 | ||
Turnout | 39,962 | 57.6 | −8.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 26,894 | 58.8 | +9.7 | |
Conservative | Jonathan Lord | 10,693 | 23.4 | −14.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Howard Cohen | 5,434 | 11.9 | +0.4 | |
Socialist Labour | Gias Choudhury | 1,311 | 2.9 | N/A | |
Referendum | Peter Etherden | 1,157 | 2.5 | N/A | |
Natural Law | Sheila Dalling | 249 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 16,201 | 35.4 | +24.4 | ||
Turnout | 45,738 | 66.1 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
See also
Notes
- ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ^ 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
- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "What plans to change MP constituency boundaries mean for Oldham". The Oldham Times. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "New Seat Details - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Boundary Commission for England, published 19 July 2006. URL accessed 24 October 2006.
- ^ "North West | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
- ^ BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed 11 December 2006.
- ^ [1], Oldham Council Election Results 2008.
- ^ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election". Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
- ^ "General Election 4 July 2024 results". Oldham Council. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton results". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ Sansome, Jessica; Otter, Saffron (14 November 2019). "All the Greater Manchester General Election 2019 candidates". men. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ^ "Oldham West & Royton parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election Results". Oldham Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Oldham West & Royton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Guardian Online
- ^ "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.
External links
- Oldham West and Royton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Oldham West and Royton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK