Calder Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Calder Valley
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Calder Valley in West Yorkshire.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	76,041 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Craig Whittaker (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Sowerby
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Calder Valley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency covers most of the metropolitan district of Calderdale in West Yorkshire. The wards of Calderdale that are part of the constituency are:

• Hipperholme & Lightcliffe
• Brighouse
• Rastrick
• Elland
• Greetland and Stainland
• Ryburn
• Luddenden Foot
• Todmorden
• Calder

History

The constituency was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Sowerby. It is a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Sir Donald Thompson	Conservative
	1997	Christine McCafferty	Labour
	2010	Craig Whittaker	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Whittaker	20,397	39.4	+3.6
	Labour	Steph Booth	13,966	27.0	−11.5
	Liberal Democrat	Hilary Myers	13,037	25.2	+6.3
	BNP	John Gregory	1,823	3.5	−0.4
	UKIP	Greg Burrows	1,173	2.3	+2.3
	Green	Kate Sweeny	858	1.7	−1.2
	Independent	Tim Cole	194	0.4	+0.4
	Independent	Barry Greenwood	175	0.3	+0.3
	English Democrats	Paul Rogan	157	0.3	+0.3
Majority			6,431	12.4
Turnout			51,780	67.3	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	7.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine McCafferty	18,426	38.6	-4.1
	Conservative	Liz Truss	17,059	35.7	-0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Liz Ingleton	9,027	18.9	+2.9
	BNP	John Gregory	1,887	4.0	+4.0
	Green	Paul Palmer	1,371	2.9	+0.7
Majority			1,367	2.9	-3.6
Turnout			47,770	67.0	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

General Election 2001: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine McCafferty	20,244	42.7	-3.4
	Conservative	Sue Robson-Catling	17,150	36.2	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Taylor	7,596	16.0	+1.3
	Green	Steven Hutton	1,034	2.2	+1.3
	UKIP	John Nunn	729	1.5	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis	Philip Lockwood	672	1.4	N/A
Majority			3,094	6.5
Turnout			47,425	63.0	-12.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.3

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine McCafferty	26,050	46.10	+8.7
	Conservative	Sir Donald Thompson	19,795	35.10	-10.3
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Pearson	8,322	14.70	-1.4
	Referendum Party	Anthony Mellor	1,380	2.40	N/A
	Green	Vivienne Smith	488	0.90	-0.1
	BNP	Christian Jackson	431	0.80	N/A
Majority			6,255	11.0
Turnout			47,425	75.4	-6.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	9.5

General Election 1992: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Donald Thompson	27,753	45.4	+1.9
	Labour	David Chaytor	22,875	37.4	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	SJ Pearson	9,842	16.1	−7.0
	Green	Ms. VP Smith	622	1.0	+1.0
Majority			4,878	8.0	−2.2
Turnout			61,092	82.1	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Thompson	25,892	43.5
	Labour	David Chaytor	19,847	33.4
	Liberal	David Shutt	9,842	23.1
Majority			6,045	10.1
Turnout			59,946	81.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Calder Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Thompson	24,439	43.7	N/A
	Liberal	David Shutt	16,440	29.4	N/A
	Labour	A. Holmes	15,108	27.0	N/A
Majority			7,999	14.3	N/A
Turnout				78.5	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire

Sources

• Calder Valley Election Forum