Oldham West and Royton (UK Parliament constituency)
| Oldham West and Royton | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for the House of Commons |
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Boundary of Oldham West and Royton in Greater Manchester.
|
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Location of Greater Manchester within England.
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| County | Greater Manchester |
| Electorate | 72,402 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of parliament | Seat vacant following the death of Michael Meacher |
| Number of members | One |
| Created from | Oldham West and Oldham Central & Royton |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | North West England |
Oldham West and Royton is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament[n 2]. The seat is currently vacant, pending a by-election. It was represented by Michael Meacher, of the Labour Party, from 1970 until his death on 20 October 2015.
Contents
Boundaries[edit]
The constituency is one of three covering the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It covers most of the western part of the borough, including Chadderton and Royton but not Failsworth which is in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.
Name[edit]
In July 2006 fourteen representations were received by the Boundary Commission for England, which called for the inclusion of Chadderton in the name of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency. Many of these objectors pointed out that Chadderton was much larger and more populous than Royton. The commission rejected the proposed alternative name (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) because it was too long and they did not believe that there was a significant amount of support for a name change.[2]
History[edit]
The present constituency was formed in 1997 from parts of the former Oldham Central and Royton and Oldham West constituencies and has to date been a safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by Michael Meacher since the 1997 general election. Meacher had previously been the MP for Oldham West since 1970.
Despite no part of the constituency, nor Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council ever having had a BNP councillor, the constituency gained a level of notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate. Griffin received 6,552 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place and 524 votes behind the Conservative Duncan Reed in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the serious race riots that had occurred in Oldham (and other northern towns) a few months earlier.[citation needed] Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth".[3]
In local elections following the 2001 riots the BNP also received considerable support: specifically in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, from 2008 the BNP share of the vote has been markedly lower, with BNP and former BNP candidates coming in third or fourth in Royton North and other Oldham West and Royton Wards.[4]
In the 2005 and 2010 general elections the BNP managed to retain deposits (polling around 7% on both occasions) but have only achieved fourth place, with the Conservative Party second behind veteran politician Michael Meacher of the Labour Party.
Members of Parliament[edit]
| Election | Member[5] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Michael Meacher | Labour | |
| 2015 (b) | Seat vacant | ||
Elections[edit]
Elections in the 2010s[edit]
| General Election 2015: Oldham West and Royton[6] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Meacher | 23,630 | 54.8 | +9.3 | |
| UKIP | Francis Arbour | 8,892 | 20.6 | +17.4 | |
| Conservative | Kamran Ghafoor | 8,187 | 19.0 | -4.7 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Garth Harkness | 1,589 | 3.7 | -15.4 | |
| Green | Simeon Hart | 839 | 1.9 | +1.9 | |
| Majority | 14,738 | 34.2 | |||
| Turnout | 43,137 | 59.6 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2010: Oldham West and Royton[7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Meacher | 19,503 | 45.5 | -2.9 | |
| Conservative | Kamran Ghafoor | 10,151 | 23.7 | +2.6 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Mark Alcock | 8,193 | 19.1 | -2.1 | |
| BNP | Dave Jones | 3,049 | 7.1 | +0.3 | |
| UKIP | Helen Roberts | 1,387 | 3.2 | +0.7 | |
| Respect | Shahid Miah | 627 | 1.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 9,352 | 21.8 | -5.3 | ||
| Turnout | 42,910 | 59.1 | +5.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -2.7 | |||
Elections in the 2000s[edit]
| General Election 2005: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Meacher | 18,452 | 49.1 | -2.1 | |
| Conservative | Sean Moore | 7,998 | 21.3 | +3.6 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Stuart Bodsworth | 7,519 | 20.0 | +7.6 | |
| BNP | Anita Corbett | 2,606 | 6.9 | -9.5 | |
| UKIP | David Short | 987 | 2.6 | +2.6 | |
| Majority | 10,454 | 27.8 | |||
| Turnout | 37,562 | 53.3 | -4.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -2.8 | |||
| General Election 2001: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Meacher | 20,441 | 51.2 | -7.6 | |
| Conservative | Duncan Reed | 7,076 | 17.7 | -5.7 | |
| BNP | Nick Griffin | 6,552 | 16.4 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrat | Marc Ramsbottom | 4,975 | 12.4 | +0.6 | |
| Green | David Roney | 918 | 2.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,365 | 33.5 | |||
| Turnout | 39,962 | 57.6 | -8.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1990s[edit]
| General Election 1997: Oldham West and Royton[citation needed] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Michael Meacher | 26,894 | 58.8 | +9.7 | |
| Conservative | Jonathan Lord | 10,693 | 23.4 | -14.7 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Howard Cohen | 5,434 | 11.9 | +0.4 | |
| Socialist Labour | Gias Choudhury | 1,311 | 2.9 | N/A | |
| Referendum Party | Peter Etherden | 1,157 | 2.5 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | Sheila Dalling | 249 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 16,201 | 35.4 | |||
| Turnout | 66.1 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- Notes
- ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ^ As with 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
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester, Boundary Commission for England, published July 19, 2006. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
- ^ BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
- ^ [1], Oldham Council Election Results 2008.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O" [self-published source][better source needed]
- ^ "Oldham West & Royton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ Guardian Online