Normanton was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries 1885–1918:

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Altofts, Castleford, Featherstone, Methley, Normanton, and Whitwood.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Normanton, Rothwell, and Stanley, in the Rural District of Tadcaster the parishes of Great and Little Preston, and Swillington, and in the Rural District of Wakefield the parishes of Crofton, Sharlston, and Warmfield-cum-Heath.

1983–1997: The City of Wakefield wards of Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe, and the City of Leeds ward of Rothwell.

1997–2010: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury, Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe.

The West Yorkshire constituency included the towns of Normanton and Ossett and several villages. The area had a tradition of being working-class, but it had now become almost entirely gentrified as nearby Leeds has expanded as a financial centre.

Ossett was now actually the largest town in the area, due to its high growth in recent years.

The constituency was nicknamed the banana constituency on account of its unusual shape.

The village of Altofts, located just to the north of Normanton, was included in the constituency, despite being part of a Castleford ward, and due to move into a proposed "Pontefract and Castleford" seat which happened in 2010.

Boundary review Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England had created a Normanton and Pontefract constituency. In late May 2006, the Commission published a revised recommendation changing the name of this constituency to Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

Local newspapers and the Labour Party opposed the initial change, but following a public consultation the Commission decided to create the seat conceding only a name change – from Pontefract and Castleford, to Normanton and Pontefract. This was extended to cover all three names. The wards of Wrenthorpe and Outwood West and Stanley and Outwood East – the most affluent parts of the constituency – were joined to the Conservative-leaning commuter town of Morley, which is in the Leeds district, as Morley and Outwood. Ossett and Horbury were moved to the Wakefield constituency. At the time local groups and newspapers protested that this represented a takeover of the Wakefield district by the Leeds district. An early concern of the Labour Party was that Morley and Outwood would be won by the Conservatives in 2010. Ed Balls held the seat for Labour by just 1,101 votes, and ultimately lost the seat at the 2015 general election to the Conservatives' Andrea Jenkyns.

Members of Parliament The constituency elected only Labour MPs since 1905, the longest run (with Gower and Makerfield) of any UK constituency. From 1885 to 1906, it had returned Liberal-Labour MPs.

Ed Balls, the former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, represented the seat from the 2005 general election until 2010 when it was abolished.

ElectionMemberParty 1885 Benjamin Pickard Lib-Lab 1904 by-election William Parrott Lib-Lab 1905 by-election Frederick Hall Lib-Lab 1909 Labour 1933 by-election Tom Smith Labour 1947 by-election George Sylvester Labour 1950 Thomas Brooks Labour 1951 Albert Roberts Labour 1983 Bill O'Brien Labour 2005 Ed Balls Labour Co-op2010 constituency abolished : see Normanton, Pontefract and Castlefordand Morley and Outwood

Election results Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Lib-Lab: Frederick Hall Unionist:

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1939–40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Labour: Tom SmithReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939 Conservative: T.T. Heywood Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 22 March 1939

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 2000s

See also Altofts Horbury Normanton Ossett Outwood Sharlston South Ossett Stanley Wrenthorpe

Notes and references

Sources The Independent Labour Party and the Yorkshire Miners: The Barnsley By-Election of 1897: details on the Liberal-Labour movement in the area in the late 19th century

External links Normanton UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK