Wakefield
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 18014 (43.8%)
Conservative: 11477 (27.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 8221 (20%)
Other: 3436 (8.4%)
Majority: 6537 (15.9%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 13648 (31.5%)
Labour: 18802 (43.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 7063 (16.3%)
BNP: 1328 (3.1%)
Green: 1297 (3%)
UKIP: 467 (1.1%)
Other: 776 (1.8%)
Majority: 5154 (11.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 12638 (30.6%)
Labour: 20592 (49.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 5097 (12.4%)
UKIP: 677 (1.6%)
Green: 1075 (2.6%)
Other: 1175 (2.8%)
Majority: 7954 (19.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 14373 (28.5%)
Labour: 28977 (57.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 5656 (11.2%)
Referendum: 1480 (2.9%)
Majority: 14604 (28.9%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Outgoing MP: Mary Creagh(Labour) (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
Alex Story (Conservative) born 1974. Former Olympic rower, now a film and documentary producer. Contested Denton and Reddish in 2005.Mary Creagh(Labour) (more information at They work for you)
David Smith (Liberal Democrat) Born 1957, Paisley. Educated at Inverurie Academy and Glasgow University. Director of Leeds Voice, and former local government officer.Miriam Hawkins (Green)Keith Wells (UKIP)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 91157
Male: 48.5%
Female: 51.5%
Under 18: 22.4%
Over 60: 19.6%
Born outside UK: 3.7%
White: 95.9%
Black: 0.3%
Asian: 2.9%
Mixed: 0.7%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 74.4%
Muslim: 2.6%
Full time students: 3.6%
Graduates 16-74: 14.3%
No Qualifications 16-74: 34.9%
Owner-Occupied: 62.7%
Social Housing: 29.8% (Council: 27%, Housing Ass.: 2.7%)
Privately Rented: 5.7%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 8.6%
Sorry John it should have been “sent theirs back” with no apostrophe.
Is their no LD PPC here yet? I expect the BNP to hold their deposit here and could decide the outcome.
Strangely enough Lancs Observer, David smith has been selected as the LibDem candidate.
Whilst having no chance of victory he will take 6000 votes from the pot.
Just seen that there was a by-election last week in the Airedale & Ferry Fryston Ward. Quite a decent result for Labour who held the seat. The Labour & LD vote share were both up, the Tory & BNP vote share went down with Labour narrowly missing 50%.
Airedale’s in Normanton (now “Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford”) right?
It can only be a matter of time before Wakefield district becomes noc.
Labour only need to lose one councillor for it to become NOC, so rather than ‘only a matter of time’ I think it’s a pretty big certainty.
What is only a matter of time is untill the district (which includes wakefield, hemsworth, normanton pontefract & castleford and part of morley and outwood) becomes overall Tory controlled…..now that *is* something quite breathtaking!
Unless the Tories win enough seats in May for overall control (which is extremely unlikely) then, assuming they win the General Election, it’s likely to be a while yet before Wakey turns blue
A concerted campaign in the Airedale and Ferry Fryston by-election saw the Lib Dem voted go up considerably, to the surprise of the other main parties. I think there might be more surprises to come. There’s a real surge in activity by the Lib Dems here and a group of younger members determined to make a difference.
Many thanks for all the local campaign news and comments. Interesting to see the Tories putting a lot of effort into this seat.
This should be close but this is an area where BNP take more Tory votes. BNP could strangely determine winner.
Interesting article about Tory gains here over the past few years on ConHome:
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2010/02/time-for-change-in-wakefield.html
Going from one to twenty-seven seats on the district council in ten years is a remarkable achievement by any standard.
Interesting analysis.
Curiously, Wakefield North is a bit of an anomaly but we will win it in 2010. Labour only held it in 2008 by 37 votes. whereas three years earlier it was about 800.
My predictions for 2010 locals are:
Ossett – Tory Gain (Ian Bunney)
North – Tory Gain (Gareth Hunt)
Stanley & O.W. – Tory Gain (Richard Wakefield)
Wakefield East – Tory Gain (Anthony Bracewell)
Crofton – Tory Gain (Ian Sanders)
Ackworth – Tory Gain ( Don Marshall)
Pontefract Nth – Tory Gain (Don’t know the candidate)
Knottingley – Possible
I find the suggestion that Labour will target Horbury as absolutely laughable…..Well, they might target it but will get absolutely hammered.
Labour expect nothing but a kicking
We are vulnerable in no seats that we currently hold…..Wrenthorpe, Rural, West and Horbury will be absolute bloodbaths for Labour
General Election prediction: Alex Story by about 2000 votes.