East Yorkshire
2010 Results:
Conservative: 24328 (47.47%)
Labour: 10401 (20.29%)
Liberal Democrat: 10842 (21.15%)
BNP: 1865 (3.64%)
UKIP: 2142 (4.18%)
Green: 762 (1.49%)
Others: 914 (1.78%)
Majority: 13486 (26.32%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 21410 (45.3%)
Labour: 15130 (32%)
Liberal Democrat: 9007 (19.1%)
Other: 1720 (3.6%)
Majority: 6280 (13.3%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 21215 (45.2%)
Labour: 14932 (31.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 9075 (19.3%)
UKIP: 1703 (3.6%)
Majority: 6283 (13.4%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 19861 (45.9%)
Labour: 15179 (35%)
Liberal Democrat: 6300 (14.5%)
UKIP: 1661 (3.8%)
Other: 313 (0.7%)
Majority: 4682 (10.8%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 20904 (42.7%)
Labour: 17567 (35.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 9070 (18.5%)
Other: 1430 (2.9%)
Majority: 3337 (6.8%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Greg Knight(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)
Greg Knight(Conservative) (more information at They work for you)Paul Rounding (Labour) former mayor of Driffield.Robert Adamson (Liberal Democrat) Mike Jackson (Green)Chris Daniels (UKIP) Gary Pudsey (BNP) Ray Allerston (Social Democrat)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 92676
Male: 48.7%
Female: 51.3%
Under 18: 20.9%
Over 60: 26.1%
Born outside UK: 2.7%
White: 98.9%
Asian: 0.4%
Mixed: 0.4%
Other: 0.2%
Christian: 79.3%
Full time students: 2%
Graduates 16-74: 15.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 33.1%
Owner-Occupied: 74.9%
Social Housing: 10.7% (Council: 9%, Housing Ass.: 1.7%)
Privately Rented: 10.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 9.6%
This seat should have remained Bridlington in 1997.
The name East Yorkshire is very confusing as it only covers a third of the landmass and population of the respective council area.
Peter Crerar is correct. Bridlington should have remained the name.
As I understand it, the seat was named ‘East Yorkshire’ after a district in the former Humberside County Council, which was coterminous with the parliamentary seat. I agree that it causes confusion with the current East Riding, but retaining the name ‘Bridlington’ in 1997 might equally have caused confusion, given that the seat was changed quite radically.
The Labour vote has been surprisingly resiliant here recently, a bit like in Beverley, although they’ve no chance of winning.
bring back John Townend!
Labour did incredibly well in Beverley and Holderness, although they’ve probably missed their chance now.
Bridlington is quite a fine town actually, although somewhat faded. Labour has done well in E Yorks but the Tory vote also held rather better than in Beverley and Holderness.
Very interesting photos of Holderness/coast –
http://www.stacey.peak-media.co.uk/Holderness/Holderness.htm
It was slightly odd how relatively well Labour did in this general area in 2001 and 2005, because the population is almost entirely white, and the area is rather isolated and removed from metropolitan influences. Elsewhere in the country, Labour didn’t do particularly well in such areas – such as Newark, for example.
Newark had special circumstances in 2001, though, owing to the difficulties encountered by the late Fiona Jones. In 2005 the Labour vote there only fell by 3.6%, much of it already having drained away in 2001.
I’m getting rather tired of Harry Scott-Parker’s comments, in which he cheers on right-wingers he approves of and makes some, frankly, distinctly racist comments which add nothing to what is supposed to be a psephological discussion. Others have avoided it, why can’t you? Put a sock in it sir.
The Conservatives had a bit of a fright in 1997 although the majority was still comforatble enugh in the circumstances. I suppoe the twon of Bridlington does not dominate this seat in quite the way that some other seaside towns do and whose constituencies did fall to Labour then.
In any case the Tories have recovered here. They now have 19 of 20 councillors in this constituency. The sole exception is also now I think the only SDP councillor left in the entire country.
Barnaby, I agree with your comments about psephological discussion being the aim, and strongly dislike racism, and have frequently taken people up on it.
But linked to my dislike of it is a belief in free speech, and the right of people to say things.
Harry has provided us with some interesting and useful details in the Sheffield seats in particular.
Pete’s point about the number of Tory councillors in the seat were part of the reason the Tories gained overall control of East Riding this May.
If I may add, East Riding Council includes David Davis’s seat of Haltemprice and Howden (aswell as Beverley and Holderness, and the Goole part of Brigg and Goole).
The Tories gained many seats, and appropriately decapitated the Lib Dem leader.
Returning to psephology, Bridlington remains the main source of Labour votes here, though it cannot, as recent results have shown, be categorised as a Labour stronghold in any way. The Tories are much stronger in the other towns of Driffield and Market Weighton, and in most of the villages.
I’ve seen that SDP councillor Pete mentioned – I spent much of my childhood in Bridlington.
His name is Ray Allerston, councillor in Bridlington Old Town who stood as a Social Democrat against John Townend in 1997, polling over 1,000 votes. I think Allerston’s wife Christine is or was an SDP councillor too.
Is anything left of the SDP nationally atall then? I recall a John Martin from Kensington who looked a bit like a hitman and was a computer millionaire who wanted to keep it going when Dr Owen wound it up?
There were a couple of people in Plymouth till fairly recently – but the trouble is when the national operation goes, there is very little to sustain corporate action.
The other place where the SDP survived was in Aberavon, where they won all three seats in Aberavon ward (Neath and Port Talbot CBC) in 2004. They are still a Social Democratic group on the council, so there is something left of the SDP.
Quite odd that the last two bits of the SDP are in the alpha and omega of British Parliamentary constituencies (Aberavon and Yorkshire East).
There was Harold Luscombe (SDP) in Plymouth who continued to fly the flag for a bit, and thought Dr Owen was a bit of a coward for not standing again and going down fighting.
Going back to the earlier posts, I think it is a great shame this seat is not called Bridlington.
“Quite odd that the last two bits of the SDP are in the alpha and omega of British Parliamentary constituencies (Aberavon and Yorkshire East).”
Yes, it’s an odd shopping list of places. But they are quite far flung, so they could still just claim to be a national party.
“I think it is a great shame this seat is not called Bridlington.”
I’m inclined to agree – it’s probably because the town of Bridlington is very cut off from other towns and is extremely rural – the nearest city is Hull which is about 30 miles away.
But it implies the seat covers the whole county of East Yorkshire which is not the case.
Yes. I’m pleased the East Riding of Yorkshire has been restored, but it doesn’t make sense to have a seat named implying it might include all of it.
Indeed the name is unfortunate. When a county like Yorkshire has over 50 constituencies its hardly appropriate to use a compass point name like this. Bridlington ofcourse would be the obvious choice but another name is available, namely Buckrose which was the name for a constituency that covered a very simlar area between 1885 and 1950. That seat ended it’s days as a Liberal seat (Labour didnt contest it in 1945)
They abolished the Bucklow seat as well as the Buckrose one in 1950. There is still a Bucklow ward on Trafford Council I think but I’m not sure if the name Buckrose is still used for any purpose today. Maybe a local could tell us?
Yes funny that Bucklow was a very safe Conservative seat while Bucklow ward is one of the safest for Labour in Trafford. I think that Bucklow seat contained most of what subsequently became Knutsford and is now largely in Tatton and probably included Hale aand Bowdon as well as the area now contained in Bucklow ward (which is basically PArtington)
Buckrose is/was a Wapentake and is, I think, mostly in the soon-to-be-former Ryedale constituency.
Filey and Norton which are in the soon-to-be-former Ryedale constituency, and the rural areas in between were part of the East Riding prior to 1973 so would also have formed part of the former Buckrose constituency
I was given to understand Elizabeth Shields, former Liberal MP for Ryedale, was not long ago still a local councillor in Norton. Is she still?
I don’t know.
She contested Howden in 1979 (different boundaries),
and Ryedale again in 1992.
She is still councillor for Norton East
I think the Howden seat would have included Norton in 1979
Howden itself is small – just one councillor.
I was delighted the 2005 Lib Dem candidate (who flopped with his Decapitation Strategy) gave up his seat in Dec 2005, which was gained by the Tories, and it gave the Tories 58% in May 2007.
Although Elizabeth Shields’ base is in Norton she would have derived greatest support in her byelection victory in areas like Huntington, News Earswick and Haxby which are going into York Outer. Infact over half the electorate in that new seat are in areas which were in Ryedale at the time she held it. Its come a bit late for her though as she’ll be 80 next year.
Greg Knight was Cons MP for Derby North from ’83 to ’97 and was a good constituency MP (he worked as an MP ‘full-time’)I assume he brings the same qualities to East Yorks been on his web site, seems quite an active MP.
Pete, I think the Howden seat did include Norton upuntil 83 as it was in the East Riding. The Howden seat also included Driffied, Pocklington and at some stage in its life the outer York suburbs (University area) which are at the moment in the present Selby seat, not sure exactly when this was. Even though Howden was the name of the seat I know the Consvatives had there association office in Pocklington, as that was as about as central as you could get in this seat. Following the 83 boundary changes the successor seat Boothferry lost the Driffield area (to Bridlington), Norton (and the other bits that were now in North Yorkshire) and in turn gained Goole and a chunk of North Lincolnshire.
Lib Dems have selected Robert Adamson here.
I wish this seat could be renamed Bridlington,
or at least Bridlington & Yorkshire East.
It’s quite possible that the shares of the three main parties at the next general election could match the 1992 notionals. That would give a Tory majority of around 24% (about 11-12,000 votes if turnout stays at similar levels).
I currently predict a Tory share of 49-50%, and a majority of 10-12,000.
I think this is the type of seat where the Lib Dems would need to overtake Labour into second place if they are to create the ‘Liberal Movement’ that Nick Clegg says should start with this coming election.
I think the Lib Dems could pull level with Labour and maybe over take them into second with a good campaign. But this is a safe Tory hold this time round.
Brid probably should get a mention, JJB, but I’d prefer “Driffield & Wetwang” personally
This seat (in its previous incarnation of Buckrose, which included Bridlington until 1950) was one of very few Liberal gains in 1945 (the overall seat result for them was just 12). (In that election their then-leader Sir Archibald Sinclair was defeated in Caithness)
Cons Hold= 10,000 maj
Con Hold
Maj 10 300
BNP have selected Gary Pudsey here
Con maj 12,000
CON HOLD
Have Driffield and Pocklington followed the same boundary pattern as Bridlington ie Buckrose to 1950, Bridlington to 1997, this seat since then?
Driffield was in Bridlington I think but Pocklington was certainly in Boothferry from 1983-97 and I think probably in Howdenshire before that
Yorkshire East (or East Yorkshire) – not the greatest choice of names since it could easily be taken to mean the whole of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
I know the local council uses the name but an alternative could surely have been found.
Most of this seat will be the new Bridlington seat.
I’d still prefer Driffield & Wetwang (though Brid is, of course, the major population centre. I could, however, see a campaign for Driffield to be recognised in the name)
Actually scrub that, Driffield’s in the new Beverley seat, it could maybe merit a mention there.