Dewsbury

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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: 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)

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