County North Yorkshire Created 1997 Member of parliament Andrew Jones Replaced by Harrogate | Electorate 75,044 (December 2010) Created from Harrogate constituency Number of members 1 Major settlements Harrogate, Knaresborough | |
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European Parliament constituency Yorkshire and the Humber | ||
Harrogate and Knaresborough /ˈhærəɡᵻt ənd ˈnɛərzbrə, -ɡeɪt-, -bruː/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Jones of the Conservative Party.
Contents
Constituency profile
An area with little unemployment, a relatively large retired population and large neighbourhoods of high house prices the former Harrogate constituency was a safe Conservative seat. When former Chancellor Norman Lamont stood for the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat in The New Labour landslide general election in 1997 Harrogate moved the way of other famous spa towns in England such as Bath by returning the Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis until Andrew Jones regained the seat for his party on Willis's retirement in the 2010 General Election with a swing of 9.1% and a margin of 1,039 votes.
Boundaries
1997-2010: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Duchy, East Central, Granby, Harlow, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough West, New Park, Pannal, Starbeck, Wedderburn, and West Central.
2010-present: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Boroughbridge, Claro, Granby, Harlow Moor, High Harrogate, Hookstone, Killinghall, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough King James, Knaresborough Scriven Park, Low Harrogate, New Park, Pannal, Rossett, Saltergate, Starbeck, Stray, and Woodfield.
As its name suggests, the constituency is centred on the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, with no parts more than 10 miles (16 km) away from either.
History
Before 1950 the two eponymous towns had been part of the Ripon constituency. The constituency was created as Harrogate and following boundary changes in 1997 the name was changed to 'Harrogate and Knaresborough'.
The current constituency embraces three former borough constituencies: Aldborough (now a suburb of Boroughbridge civil parish) and Boroughbridge, which were abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832, and Knaresborough, abolished 1885.