Barnsley Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°33′14″N 1°28′48″W / 53.554°N 1.480°W

Barnsley Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Barnsley Central in South Yorkshire.
Location of South Yorkshire within England.
County	South Yorkshire
Population	85,714 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	64,732 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Barnsley, Royston
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Dan Jarvis[3] (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Barnsley, Wakefield
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Barnsley Central is a constituency^{[n 1]} in South Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Dan Jarvis of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

Barnsley Central is generally an urban seat and has a large majority of its population on middle or low incomes, with most of the large former mining towns social housing contained within it.^[4] It has been held by the Labour Party since 1983 on large majorities, like its main predecessor, making it a safe seat.

History

Created in 1983, Barnsley Central covers a similar area to that of the former Barnsley constituency. The seat was held by almost a year from May 2010 by Eric Illsley as an independent MP after he was suspended from the Labour party over the expenses row and he led to its becoming vacant on 8 February 2011.^[5]

On 12 January 2011 having admitted the crime of fraud over his expenses, Illsley announced the intention to stand down from Parliament, necessitating a by-election in early 2011.^[6] On 8 February 2011 Ilsley resigned his seat^{[n 3]} before he was due to be sentenced for fraudulently claiming parliamentary expenses.^[7] The by-election was held on 3 March 2011 and was won by Dan Jarvis for the Labour Party. The Labour majority and share of the vote rose to give an absolute majority, on a turnout 20% lower than in the General Election, meanwhile the Conservative share of the vote fell steeply to just 8.3%, less than UKIP on 12.2%.^[3]

Boundaries

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Ardsley, Athersley, Central, Monk Bretton, North West, Royston, and South West.

1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Ardsley, Athersley, Central, Cudworth, Monk Bretton, North West, Royston, and South West.

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley wards of Central, Darton East, Darton West, Kingstone, Monk Bretton, Old Town, Royston, and St Helens.

Barnsley Central constituency covers most of the town of Barnsley. It is bordered by the constituencies of Wakefield, Hemsworth, Barnsley East, and Penistone and Stocksbridge.

Members of Parliament

The constituency has had three Members of Parliament since its creation in 1983, all of whom have been from the Labour Party.

Election		Member[8]	Party
	1983	Roy Mason	Labour
	1987	Eric Illsley	Labour
	2010		Independent[5]
	2011 by-election	Dan Jarvis	Labour

Elections

General Election 2015: Barnsley Central^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dan Jarvis	20,376	55.7	+8.5
	UKIP	Lee Hunter	7,941	21.7	+17.1
	Conservative	Kay Carter	5,485	15.0	-2.3
	Green	Michael Short	938	2.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	John Ridgway	770	2.1	-15.2
	TUSC	Dave Gibson	573	1.6	N/A
	English Democrat	Ian Sutton	477	1.3	N/A
Majority			12,435	34.0	+4.0
Turnout			36,560	56.7	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.3

General election results since 1983

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
Barnsley Central by-election, 2011 [11] Turnout: 24,219 (36.5%) -19.6		Labour hold Majority: 11,771 (48.6%) +18.6		Dan Jarvis	Labour	14,724	60.8	+13.5
				Jane Collins	UKIP	2,953	12.2	+7.5
				James Hockney	Conservative	1,999	8.3	-9.0
				Enis Dalton	BNP	1,463	6.0	-2.9
				Tony Devoy	Independent	1,266	5.2	+3.6
				Dominic Carman	Liberal Democrat	1,012	4.2	-13.1
				Kevin Riddiough	English Democrat	544	2.2	N/A
				Howling Laud Hope	Monster Raving Loony	198	0.8	N/A
				Michael Val Davies	Independent	60	0.2	N/A
General Election 2010 [12][13] Turnout: 37,001 (56.5%) +8.8		Labour hold Majority: 11,093 (30.0%) −14.5 Swing: 5.5% from Lab to Lib Dem		Eric Illsley	Labour	17,487	47.3	−10.4
				Christopher Wiggin	Liberal Democrat	6,394	17.3	+0.7
				Piers Tempest	Conservative	6,388	17.3	+2.5
				Ian Sutton	BNP	3,307	8.9	+4.4
				David Silver	UKIP	1,727	4.7	N/A
				Donald Wood	Independent	732	2.0	-2.1
				Tony Devoy	Independent	610	1.6	N/A
				Terence Robinson	Socialist Labour	356	1.0	N/A
General Election 2005 [14][15] Turnout: 28,615 (47.2%) +1.4		Labour hold Majority: 12,732 (44.5%) −10.4 Swing: 5.2% from Lab to Lib Dem		Eric Illsley	Labour	17,478	61.1	−8.5
				Miles Crompton	Liberal Democrat	4,746	16.6	+1.9
				Peter Morel	Conservative	3,813	13.3	+0.2
				Geoffrey Broadley	BNP	1,403	4.9	N/A
				Donald Wood	Independent	1,175	4.1	N/A
General Election 2001 [16][17] Turnout: 27,543 (45.8%) −13.8		Labour hold Majority: 15,130 (54.9%) −12.7 Swing: 6.3% from Lab to Con		Eric Illsley	Labour	19,181	69.6	−7.4
				Alan Hartley	Liberal Democrat	4,051	14.7	+5.2
				Ian McCord	Conservative	3,608	13.1	+3.3
				Henry Rajch	Socialist Alliance	703	2.6	N/A
General Election 1997 [18][19][20][21] Turnout: 36,485 (59.7%) −10.8		Labour hold Majority: 24,501 (67.2%) +17.6 Swing: 7.5% from Con to Lab		Eric Illsley	Labour	28,090	77.0	+6.2
				Simon Gutteridge	Conservative	3,589	9.8	−8.7
				Darren Finlay	Liberal Democrat	3,481	9.5	−1.2
				James Walsh	Referendum	1,325	3.6	N/A
General Election 1992 [22][23] Turnout: 39,056 (70.5%) +0.5		Labour hold Majority: 19,361 (49.6%) +0.9 Swing: 0.5% from Con to Lab		Eric Illsley	Labour	27,048	69.3	+2.5
				David N. Senior	Conservative	7,687	19.7	+1.6
				Stephen R. Cowton	Liberal Democrat	4,321	11.1	−4.1
General Election 1987 [24][25] Turnout: 37,548 (70.0%) +3.7		Labour hold Majority: 19,051 (48.7%) +9.9		Eric Illsley	Labour	26,139	66.8	+7.0
				Mrs. Vivien Prais	Conservative	7,088	18.1	−2.9
				Mrs. Susan Anne Maxwell Holland	Liberal	4,321	15.1	−4.1
General Election 1983 [26][27] New constituency Turnout: 36,532 (66.3%) N/A		Labour win Majority: 14,173 (38.8%) N/A		Roy Mason	Labour	21,847	59.8	N/A
				Howard S. Oldfield	Conservative	7,674	21.0	N/A
				Rev. Geoffrey C. Reid	Liberal	7,011	19.2	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in South Yorkshire

Notes and references

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. By the time-honoured tradition of accepting appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds

References

1. "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "Labour win Barnsley Central by-election". BBC News. BBC. 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
5. "Labour MP charged over expenses". BBC News. BBC. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
6. BBC News Website, 12 January 2011
7. "Expenses fraud Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley resigns" (Press release). BBC. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
8. • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. "Barnsley Central". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
11. "By election result for Barnsley Central". BBC. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "UK general election 2010: Results for Barnsley Central". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Vote 2005". Vote 2005. BBC News. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Vote 2001". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
20. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.25 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
21. The 1997 election result is calculated relative to the notional, not the actual, 1992 result.
22. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
24. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
26. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Retrieved 2011-01-13.

Sources

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)