Elmet and Rothwell (UK Parliament constituency)

Elmet and Rothwell
Elmet and Rothwell
County constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Elmet and Rothwell in West Yorkshire
	Location of West Yorkshire within England
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	80,957 (December 2019)
Major settlements	Rothwell, Garforth, Wetherby
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Elmet, Morley and Rothwell

Coordinates: 53°49′05″N 1°24′14″W / 53.818°N 1.404°W / 53.818; -1.404

Elmet and Rothwell is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation in 2010 by Alec Shelbrooke, a Conservative.^{[n 1]} In the 2017 general election, Elmet and Rothwell recorded the largest turnout of any seat in West or South Yorkshire, with almost 60,000 electors casting a vote.

There is no town of Elmet: the name refers to an ancient Celtic kingdom in the area. The name is however referenced by local villages Barwick-in-Elmet and Scholes-in-Elmet, and also Sherburn in Elmet which is nearby but outside the constituency.

History[]

Following its review of parliamentary boundaries in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England created this constituency for the 2010 election which principally contains the three towns of Garforth, Rothwell and Wetherby.

Constituency profile[]

Situated to the east of Leeds is the seat of Elmet and Rothwell in West Yorkshire. The constituency is named after the town of Rothwell and the ancient British Celtic kingdom of Elmet. The constituency includes rural hinterland and commuter towns to the east of Leeds, including the historical market town of Wetherby, and former coal mining towns and villages, in an area slightly further south, such as Allerton Bywater, Garforth, Kippax, Methley, Oulton, Rothwell and Swillington. The pits in this area were closed on agreement that the workforce could transfer to the nearby Selby coalfield, so the area had several residents who commuted to work as miners as late as 2004.

This is mostly white, owner-occupier territory, with only one in 10 living in social housing, according to ONS 2011 Census figures for England and Wales. Considering this, below average levels of adults here claim Job Seeker's Allowance, with only 1% of constituents doing so. A quarter of the population works in retail and manufacturing; four in 10 have a professional, managerial or technical job, while one in 20 is an apprentice. 28% of constituents have a university degree or higher.

The area has below average levels of immigration. Only 4% of the constituency were born outside the UK, compared to 13% nationally.^[2]

Elmet and Rothwell ranks 206th in a list of the largest constituencies in the UK (geographical size), and 248th in a list of the largest constituencies by population size. It is the safest seat for the Conservative Party in West Yorkshire.

Academic analysis suggests that roughly 56% of electors in the constituency voted to Leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.^[3]

Boundaries[]

Map of current boundaries

The five City of Leeds wards of Garforth and Swillington, Harewood, Kippax and Methley, Rothwell and Wetherby.

Members of Parliament[]

Alec Shelbrooke, Member of Parliament for Elmet and Rothwell since 2010

Election		Member^[4]	Party
	2010	Alec Shelbrooke	Conservative

Elections[]

Elections in the 2010s[]

The 2019 election saw Elmet and Rothwell continue to be the safest Conservative seat in West Yorkshire. A significant swing of nearly 7% to the Conservatives was recorded, in line with many seats in the area.

General election 2019: Elmet and Rothwell^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	33,726	57.9	+3.6
	Labour	David Nagle	16,373	28.1	-9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Golton	5,155	8.9	+4.5
	Green	Penny Stables	1,775	3.1	+1.4
	Yorkshire	Matt Clover	1,196	2.1	+0.3
Majority			17,353	29.8	+13.4
Turnout			58,225	71.9	-2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7

By numerical vote share and percentage majority, the 2017 general election saw Elmet and Rothwell become the safest Conservative seat in West Yorkshire.

General election 2017: Elmet and Rothwell ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	32,352	54.3	+5.9
	Labour	David Nagle	22,547	37.9	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Golton	2,606	4.4	-0.2
	Yorkshire	Matthew Clover	1,042	1.8	New
	Green	Dylan Brown	995	1.7	-0.5
Majority			9,805	16.4	+1.7
Turnout			59,542	74.2	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

General election 2015: Elmet and Rothwell^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	27,978	48.4	+5.8
	Labour	Veronica King	19,488	33.7	-0.8
	UKIP	Paul Spivey	6,430	11.1	+8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Golton	2,640	4.6	-11.7
	Green	Dave Brooks	1,261	2.2	New
Majority			8,490	14.7	+6.6
Turnout			57,797	73.0	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

This new constituency of Elmet and Rothwell was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election.

General election 2010: Elmet and Rothwell^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	23,778	42.6	+8.1
	Labour	James Lewis	19,257	34.5	-11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart Golton	9,109	16.3	-1.0
	BNP	Sam Clayton	1,802	3.2	+0.9
	UKIP	Darren Oddy	1,593	2.9	New
	Independent	Christopher Nolan	250	0.4	New
Majority			4,521	8.1	+6.6
Turnout			55,789	71.8	+2.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Notes[]

^ Like 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[]

^ "Elmet & Rothwell Parliamentary constituency". BBC. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
^ "Elmet and Rothwell Parliamentary Profile". 2011 Electorate Figures. BBC. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
^ Hanretty, Chris (18 August 2016). "Revised estimates of Leave vote share in Westminster constituencies". Medium.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
^ https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections/parliamentary-general-election/elmet-and-rothwell
^ "Elmet & Rothwell parliamentary constituency – Election 2017" – via www.bbc.com.
^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "Elmet & Rothwell". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Elmet & Rothwell". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

[2] Like all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

[1] "Elmet & Rothwell Parliamentary constituency". BBC. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.

[3] "Elmet and Rothwell Parliamentary Profile". 2011 Electorate Figures. BBC. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

[4] Hanretty, Chris (18 August 2016). "Revised estimates of Leave vote share in Westminster constituencies". Medium.

[rayment-5] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)

[Statement_of_persons_nominated-6] ttps://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections/parliamentary-general-election/elmet-and-rothwell

[7] "Elmet & Rothwell parliamentary constituency – Election 2017" – via www.bbc.com.

[electoralcalculus-8] "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[2015_result-9] "Elmet & Rothwell". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.

[electoralcalculus2010-10] "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[11] "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Elmet & Rothwell". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

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v t Leeds Constituencies
Current	Elmet and Rothwell Leeds Central Leeds East Leeds North East Leeds North West Leeds West Morley and Outwood Pudsey
Historic	Leeds (1832–1885) Leeds North (1885–1955) Leeds South (1885–1983) Pudsey and Otley (1918–1950) Batley and Morley (1918–1983) Leeds South East (1918–1983) Morley and Leeds South (1983–1997) Elmet (1983–2010) Morley and Rothwell (1997–2010)

v t Constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber (54)
Labour (28)	Barnsley Central Barnsley East Batley and Spen Bradford East Bradford South Bradford West Doncaster Central Doncaster North Halifax Hemsworth Huddersfield Kingston upon Hull East Kingston upon Hull North Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle Leeds Central Leeds East Leeds North East Leeds North West Leeds West Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford Rotherham Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield Central Sheffield Hallam Sheffield Heeley Sheffield South East Wentworth and Dearne York Central
Conservative (25)	Beverley and Holderness Brigg and Goole Calder Valley Cleethorpes Colne Valley Dewsbury Don Valley East Yorkshire Elmet and Rothwell Great Grimsby Haltemprice and Howden Harrogate and Knaresborough Keighley Morley and Outwood Penistone and Stocksbridge Pudsey Richmond (Yorks) Rother Valley Scarborough and Whitby Scunthorpe Selby and Ainsty Shipley Skipton and Ripon Thirsk and Malton York Outer
Independent (1)	Wakefield
East Midlands East of England London North East England North West England Northern Ireland Scotland South East England South West England Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber