High Peak
2010 Results:
Conservative: 20587 (40.9%)
Labour: 15910 (31.61%)
Liberal Democrat: 10993 (21.84%)
UKIP: 1690 (3.36%)
Green: 922 (1.83%)
Independent: 161 (0.32%)
Others: 74 (0.15%)
Majority: 4677 (9.29%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 19104 (41.4%)
Conservative: 16772 (36.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 9288 (20.1%)
Other: 1029 (2.2%)
Majority: 2332 (5%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 19074 (38.2%)
Labour: 19809 (39.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 10000 (20%)
UKIP: 1106 (2.2%)
Majority: 735 (1.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 17941 (37.3%)
Labour: 22430 (46.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 7743 (16.1%)
Majority: 4489 (9.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 20261 (35.5%)
Labour: 29052 (50.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 6420 (11.2%)
Referendum: 1420 (2.5%)
Majority: 8791 (15.4%)
Boundary changes: becomes co-terminous with High Peak district council, losing the wards in the old seat that fell under Derbyshire Dales Council to the new Derbyshire Dales seat – Bradwell, Hathersage & Eyam, Litton & Longstone and Tideswell. These wards are all made up of rural villages and their loss is likely to benefit Labour.
Profile: As the name might suggest High Peak largely consists of the Peak District at the northern end of Derbyshire. By area is mostly consists of the higher, wilder parts of the Peak District, mostly uninhabited moorland. Hills and moors have no votes though, and the majority of the electorate live in the towns to the west of the seat that look towards Greater Manchester, places like Glossop, Hadfield, Tintwistle and New Mills.
To the south is the spa town of Buxton and to the east of the constituency there are still a few villages of the Hope valley that haven`t been removed by the boundary changes, including Hope itself, Castleton and Bamford. Despite being a large rural seat, the Tory voting villages are balanced out by Labour support in the towns, particularly the council estate of Gamesley in Glossop.
Tourism is of major importance to the area but there is also industry in the towns to the west. Notably the sweet manufacturer Swizzels Matlow are based in New Mills and Chapel-en-le-Frith, the administrative HQ of High Peak District Council, is also the site of a brake lining manufacturing factory owned by Ferodo, a subsidiary of Turner and Newall, now owned by Federal Mogul. The collapse of the T&N pension fund is a major local concern.
Between 1992 and 1997 the seat was represented by Charles Hendry, now Conservative MP for Wealden.
Current MP: Andrew Bingham (Conservative) born 1962, Buxton. High Peak councillor since 1999. Contested High Peak in 2005.
Andrew Bingham (Conservative) born 1962, Buxton. High Peak councillor since 1999. Contested High Peak in 2005.
Caitlin Bisknell (Labour) High Peak councillor since 1999.
Alistair Stevens (Liberal Democrat) Cricket coach and former professional cricketer.
Peter Allen (Green) Advice worker.
Sylvia Hall (UKIP) Tony Alves (Independent)Lance Dowson (Independent)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 89433
Male: 49.4%
Female: 50.6%
Under 18: 23.2%
Over 60: 20.5%
Born outside UK: 2.9%
White: 98.7%
Black: 0.2%
Asian: 0.2%
Mixed: 0.6%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 76.5%
Full time students: 2.2%
Graduates 16-74: 21.9%
No Qualifications 16-74: 27.1%
Owner-Occupied: 77.1%
Social Housing: 13.4% (Council: 11%, Housing Ass.: 2.4%)
Privately Rented: 6.4%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 6.6%
The LDs can hold their Whaley Bridge council seat next year (even if they are indeed reduced to 3 seats in Derbyshire) but will do very badly across the rest of the constituency.
It will be interesting to see how many votes they manage to get in the Cumbria constituencies traditionally bad places for them- Particularly Copeland and Workington.
Prediction for Derbyshire county council:
Lab 41
Con 20
LD 3