Dewsbury
2010 Results:
Conservative: 18898 (34.99%)
Labour: 17372 (32.17%)
Liberal Democrat: 9150 (16.94%)
BNP: 3265 (6.05%)
Green: 849 (1.57%)
English Democrat: 661 (1.22%)
Independent: 3813 (7.06%)
Majority: 1526 (2.82%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19202 (42.1%)
Conservative: 14279 (31.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 6104 (13.4%)
Other: 6060 (13.3%)
Majority: 4924 (10.8%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 11192 (29%)
Labour: 15807 (41%)
Liberal Democrat: 5624 (14.6%)
BNP: 5066 (13.1%)
Green: 593 (1.5%)
Other: 313 (0.8%)
Majority: 4615 (12%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 11075 (30.2%)
Labour: 18524 (50.5%)
Liberal Democrat: 4382 (12%)
UKIP: 478 (1.3%)
Green: 560 (1.5%)
BNP: 1632 (4.5%)
Majority: 7449 (20.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 12963 (30.1%)
Labour: 21286 (49.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 4422 (10.3%)
Referendum: 1019 (2.4%)
Other: 3385 (7.9%)
Majority: 8323 (19.3%)
Boundary changes: Major. The old Dewsbury constituency was relatively tightly drawn around Dewsbury and was almost entirely urban. The new seat loses the town of Heckmondwike to Batley and Spen, while gaining the large rural wards of Kirkburton and Denby Dale to the South from Wakefield.
Profile: Dewsbury is an industrial former textile town in West Yorkshire. It has a significant Asian population which is largely concentrated in the old textile areas like Savile Town which is overwhelmingly Muslim and home to the Markazi Mosque, run by Tablighi Jamaat and one of the largest in Europe. The Asian community in Dewsbury has historically been largely Pakistani and Indian, but there have in recent years been some strife between the existing Pakistani community and the rising Kurdish population. Other areas, like the Chickenley council estate to the east, are largely white and have been fertile ground for the BNP, who secured one of their highest shares of the vote here at the 2005 general election and presently have 1 councillor in Dewsbury East, though they lose their strongest area to Batley and Spen on the new boundaries.
The seat has been Labour since the 1920s, with the exception of the Conservative landslide of 1983. However, Malik`s predecessor Ann Taylor won by only small majorities in 1987 and 1992 and this is not the short of industrial stronghold that would vote Labour regardless. The boundary changes, most notably the addition of the villages in Kirkburton and Denby Dale wards, make the seat slightly more winnable for the Conservatives.
Current MP: Simon Reevell (Conservative) Born Yorkshire. Barrister, specialising in criminal law. First elected as MP for Dewsbury in 2010.
Simon Reevell (Conservative) Born Yorkshire. Barrister, specialising in criminal law. 
Shahid Malik(Labour) born 1967, Burnley. Educated at London South Bank University. Former chief exectuive of Haringey Regeneration Agency. First elected as MP for Dewsbury in 2005, then one of only two British-born Muslims to be elected to Parliament. Parliamentary Under-secretary of State in the Department of International Development since 2007 (more information at They work for you)
Andrew Hutcheson (Liberal Democrat)
Adrian Cruden (Green) Personnel manager. Contested Bury South 1992.Roger Roberts (BNP) Michael Felse (English Democrat)
Khizar Iqbal (Independent) Formerly ran a dairy business. Kirklees councillor, originally elected as a Conservative in 1998.2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 102510
Male: 48.7%
Female: 51.3%
Under 18: 25.5%
Over 60: 18.3%
Born outside UK: 7.5%
White: 85.3%
Black: 0.3%
Asian: 13.3%
Mixed: 0.9%
Other: 0.2%
Christian: 67.6%
Muslim: 12.1%
Full time students: 4.8%
Graduates 16-74: 16.2%
No Qualifications 16-74: 34.3%
Owner-Occupied: 70.9%
Social Housing: 18.5% (Council: 16.3%, Housing Ass.: 2.1%)
Privately Rented: 6.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 23.1%
Just had a look on the Wikipedia page for Shahid Malik and someone has written:
“He lost his seat in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election following severe boundary changes which brought 26 new Conservative villages into his constituency in 2010.”
Although there’s some truth to this the tone isn’t exactly objective.
The defeat of Shahid Malik was one of the highlights of the election for me.
As I think I posted earlier on this thread, one of his cousins used to be a neighbour of mine in South London, and he told me all about how Malik stoked up the race riots in Burnley to further his political profile in the Labour party.
Labour will surely regain Dewsbury at some point; I just hope they conclude that Malik was a divisive liability and prevent him from standing here (or anywhere else winnable) again.
There aren’t many defeats for tiresome identity politics these days, so this was one to relish.
I agree with HH
On Any’s point, almost certainly boundary changes did do for Malik here. Though the notional results quoted above suggest the partisan impact of the boundary changes were fairly minor, I would reckon that the Conservatives were ahead of Labour by around 3,500 in Denby Dale and Kirkburton wards (added from Wakefield) while Labour would have been ahead by around 1,000 in Heckmondwicke (which was moved back from this seat to Batley & Spen). So he would almost certainly have held on with the existing boundaries. Even so the boundaries now are almost identical to those between 1983-97 and Labour won the seat then in 1987 in a year of Conservative landslide, so the result here is still poor for Labour and Malik, especially comparing with next door Batley & Spen which of course Labour did not win in that period.