Number of members One | Electorate 79,634 (December 2010) Created 1868 | |
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Member of parliament | ||
Dewsbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Paula Sherriff of the Labour Party.
Contents
History
Dewsbury's seat dates back to 1868 and the electorate has usually given the winning MP marginal majorities which means it is a marginal seat. Labour MPs served the seat from 1935 until 1983 and again from 1987. In 2010 it was gained by Simon Reevell, a Conservative and in 2015 it was gained by Paula Sherriff, a Labour Party candidate.
Boundaries
1918-1950: The County Borough of Dewsbury.
1950-1955: The County Borough of Dewsbury, the Municipal Borough of Ossett, and the Urban Districts of Heckmondwike and Mirfield.
1955-1983: The County Borough of Dewsbury, the Municipal Borough of Ossett, and the Urban District of Mirfield.
1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Denby Dale, Dewsbury East, Dewsbury West, Kirkburton, Mirfield, and Thornhill.
1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Dewsbury East, Dewsbury West, Heckmondwike, Mirfield, and Thornhill.
2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Denby Dale, Dewsbury East, Dewsbury South, Dewsbury West, Kirkburton, and Mirfield.
The constituency covers the towns of Dewsbury and Mirfield, and the surrounding areas.
In the 2010 redistribution, the constituency lost the Labour-leaning ward of Heckmondwike, but gained the Conservative-leaning wards of Denby Dale and Kirkburton.
Constituency profile
The seat has a substantial Muslim population and few rural parts. The seat has close to national average income and several developments have desirable views as the upland town cuts into the Pennines. Relatively few people rely upon social housing. In the light of increasing concern over Muslim extremism, the Labour Party candidate Shahid Malik enjoyed a fairly large public media profile after his victory in 2005, with various TV appearances and interviews, strongly denouncing believers in and adherents of such views; however, this has also been a strong area for the British National Party, who obtained their highest vote in Britain (13.1%) in the 2005 general election, much of it taken at the Labour Party's expense. They have also had a substantial vote at local level, when in 2006 for the first time in the UK the BNP polled more votes than any other party standing. However, at the 2010 general election, the BNP's popularity in Dewsbury fell (despite a substantial nationwide rise in support for the party compared to five years previously) and they gained a mere 6% of the vote.
Elections in the 1940s
General Election 1939/40:
Another General Election was due to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected:
Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1931: Dewsbury