Harrogate and Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Harrogate and Knaresborough
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Harrogate and Knaresborough in North Yorkshire for the 2010 general election.
Location of North Yorkshire within England.
County	North Yorkshire
Electorate	75,044 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Harrogate and Knaresborough
Current constituency
Created	1950 (1950)
Member of Parliament	Andrew Jones (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Harrogate and Knaresborough 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

As its name suggests, the constituency includes the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough. An affluent seat which was once considered a safe Conservative area, Harrogate moved the way of other famous spa towns in England (Bath, Cheltenham) by returning the Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis until Andrew Jones regained the seat for the Conservatives on Willis's retirement in the 2010 General Election with a swing of 9.1% and a margin of just over 1,000 votes.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in York and North Yorkshire in the 2000s, the Boundary Commission for England recommended alterations to the existing Harrogate and Knaresborough seat.

The newly drawn constituency is formed from the following electoral wards:

• Bilton, Boroughbridge, Claro, Granby, Harlow Moor, High Harrogate, Hookstone, Killinghall, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough King James, Knaresborough Scriven Park, Low Harrogate, New Park, Pannal, Rosett, Saltergate, Starbeck, Stray and Woodfield.

History

The constituency was created in 1950 as 'Harrogate'. Following boundary changes in 1997 the name was changed to 'Harrogate and Knaresborough'. Prior to 1950, the two eponymous towns had been part of the Ripon constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Christopher York	Conservative
	1954 by-election	James Ramsden	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Robert Banks	Conservative
	1997	Phil Willis	Liberal Democrat
	2010	Andrew Jones	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Harrogate and Knaresborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Jones	24,305	45.7	+9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Claire Kelley	23,266	43.8	-8.4
	Labour	Kevin McNerney	3,413	6.4	-2.7
	BNP	Steve Gill	1,094	2.1	+1.1
	UKIP	John Upex	1,056	2.0	+0.3
Majority			1,039	2.0
Turnout			53,134	70.6	+3.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	9.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Harrogate and Knaresborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Willis	24,113	56.3	+0.7
	Conservative	Maggie Punyer	13,684	31.9	-2.7
	Labour	Lorraine Ferris	3,627	8.5	+1.1
	UKIP	Chris Royston	845	2.0	+0.2
	BNP	Colin Banner	466	1.1	N/A
	Alliance for Change	John Allman	123	0.3	N/A
Majority			10,429	24.3
Turnout			42,858	65.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

As per the Electoral Commission the candidate John Allmann was coded as an "Independent" candidate because his chosen party label - Alliance For Change Human Rights First - did not match a registered political party name.

General Election 2001: Harrogate and Knaresborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Willis	23,445	55.6	+4.0
	Conservative	Andrew Jones	14,600	34.6	-3.8
	Labour	Alastair MacDonald	3,101	7.4	-1.4
	UKIP	Bill Brown	761	1.8	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	John Cornforth	272	0.6	N/A
Majority			8,845	21.0
Turnout			42,179	64.6	-8.2
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Harrogate and Knaresborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Phil Willis	24,558	51.5	N/A
	Conservative	Norman Lamont	18,322	38.5	N/A
	Labour	Barbara Boyce	4,151	8.7	N/A
	Loyal Conservative	J. Blackburn	614	1.3	N/A
Majority			6,236	13.0	N/A
Turnout			47,645	73.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in North Yorkshire