County West Yorkshire Member of parliament Yvette Cooper Party Labour Party | Electorate 83,284 (December 2010) Number of members 1 | |
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European Parliament constituency Yorkshire and the Humber Major settlements Normanton, Castleford, Pontefract Replaced by Pontefract and Castleford, Normanton Created from Pontefract and Castleford, Normanton | ||
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party.
Contents
History
Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which recommended this constituency for the 2010 general election in the district of the city of Wakefield. Due to less increase in population than elsewhere the Commission had to reduce constituencies in the county by one, resulting in the "merger" of Normanton and Pontefract/Castleford seats, however some wards of both went to other neighbouring seats to give the correct size electorate.
The Commission had great difficulty in naming the constituency, with "Normanton and Pontefract" and "Pontefract and Castleford" both suggested. On 24 May 2006 the modified name was chosen following further public consultation. The only other three-place constituency in England in terms of name is Ruislip, Northwood, and Pinner in Middlesex.
Boundaries
The constituency first contested at the 2010 general election has electoral wards of the City of Wakefield:
Constituency profile
The area has the three retail towns, Pontefract being the most touristic — producing liquorice as well as Pontefract cakes — the wider economy includes self-employed trades, work in local manufacturing and jobs in creative industry, retail, public sector and corporate headquarters including in Leeds and Wakefield.
The last working deep coal mine in the United Kingdom, Kellingley Colliery, was a significant employer until it closed in December 2015.
Well recovered from economic decline from the loss of most local mines, the rate of jobseeking benefits claimed is lower than the Yorkshire and Humber average (4.6%) at 4.4% however this slightly exceeds the national average and is over twice that of six constituencies in the region.