Elmet (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983–2010

Elmet
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Elmet in West Yorkshire for the 2005 general election
Location of West Yorkshire within England
County	West Yorkshire
Major settlements	Garforth, Wetherby
1983–2010
Seats	One
Created from	Barkston Ash, Leeds East and Normanton
Replaced by	Elmet and Rothwell

Elmet was a county constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

From 1997 the MP was Colin Burgon of Labour, who did not stand in the 2010 general election.

Boundaries

The City of Leeds wards of Barwick and Kippax, Garforth and Swillington, Wetherby, and Whinmoor.

The constituency was created in 1983 to cover the far eastern wards of Leeds and neighbouring areas, notably Wetherby, Barwick-in-Elmet, Kippax, Garforth and Swillington. It also includes the Whinmoor area of east Leeds. Initially the Boundary Commission for England proposed calling the constituency Leeds East, with the existing Leeds East constituency being renamed Leeds East Central. This was opposed during local enquiries where the seat was instead named for the ancient kingdom of Elmet although it covers a significantly smaller area. Wetherby and Garforth were the largest settlements in the constituency.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representations in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England created a new seat, Elmet and Rothwell, reducing the number of seats in the region by one.

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Barkston Ash, Leeds East, and Normanton. Elmet was historically always a marginal seat due to the demographic makeup of the region, in contrast to Barkston Ash which was traditionally Tory.

After the 1983 general election the metropolitan district of the City of Leeds was represented by the constituencies of Elmet, Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North East, Leeds North West, Leeds West, Morley and Leeds South and Pudsey.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1983	Spencer Batiste	Conservative
1997	Colin Burgon	Labour
2010	constituency abolished: see Elmet and Rothwell

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Spencer Batiste	23,909	47.3
	Labour	Roy Wilson	16,053	31.7
	Liberal	Gillian Paterson	10,589	21.0
Majority			7,856	15.6
Turnout			50,551	75.4
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1987: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Batiste	25,658	46.9	−0.4
	Labour	Colin Burgon	20,302	37.1	+5.4
	SDP	John Macarthur	8,755	16.0	−5.0
Majority			5,356	9.8	−5.8
Turnout			54,715	79.3	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Batiste	27,677	47.5	+0.6
	Labour	Colin Burgon	24,416	41.9	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Beck	6,144	10.5	−5.5
Majority			3,261	5.6	−4.2
Turnout			58,237	82.4	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

General election 1997: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Burgon	28,348	52.4	+10.5
	Conservative	Spencer Batiste	19,569	36.2	−11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Jennings	4,691	8.7	−1.8
	Referendum	Christopher Zawadski	1,487	2.7	New
Majority			8,779	16.2	N/A
Turnout			54,185	76.8	−5.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Burgon	22,038	48.0	−4.4
	Conservative	Andrew Millard	17,867	38.9	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Madeleine Kirk	5,001	10.9	+2.2
	UKIP	Andrew Spence	1,031	2.2	New
Majority			4,171	9.1	−7.1
Turnout			45,937	65.6	−11.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2005: Elmet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Colin Burgon	22,260	47.2	−0.8
	Conservative	Andrew Millard	17,732	37.6	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Madeleine Kirk	5,923	12.6	+1.7
	BNP	Tracy Andrews	1,231	2.6	New
Majority			4,528	9.6	+0.5
Turnout			47,146	68.8	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Notes and references

"'Elmet', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
Marsh, David (24 April 2009). "Leeds MP Burgon is quitting - with blast at leaders". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
Boundary Commission for England, Third Periodic Report, 1983
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Elmet UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK

v t e Constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber (54)
Labour (41)	Barnsley North Barnsley South Bradford South Bradford West Calder Valley Colne Valley Doncaster Central Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme Doncaster North Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes Halifax Huddersfield Kingston upon Hull East Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice Leeds Central and Headingley Leeds North East Leeds North West Leeds South Leeds South West and Morley Leeds West and Pudsey Normanton and Hemsworth Ossett and Denby Dale Penistone and Stocksbridge Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley Rawmarsh and Conisbrough Rother Valley Rotherham Scarborough and Whitby Scunthorpe Selby Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield Central Sheffield Hallam Sheffield Heeley Sheffield South East Shipley Spen Valley Wakefield and Rothwell York Central York Outer
Conservative (9)	Beverley and Holderness Bridlington and The Wolds Brigg and Immingham Goole and Pocklington Keighley and Ilkley Richmond and Northallerton Skipton and Ripon Thirsk and Malton Wetherby and Easingwold
Independent (3)	Bradford East Dewsbury and Batley Leeds East
Liberal Democrats (1)	Harrogate and Knaresborough

v t e Leeds constituencies
Current	Leeds Central and Headingley Leeds East Leeds North East Leeds North West Leeds South Leeds West and Pudsey Leeds South West and Morley Wetherby and Easingwold
Historic	Leeds (1832–1885) Pudsey (1885-2024) Leeds Central (1885-1955, and 1983-2024) Leeds North (1885–1955) Leeds South (1885–1983) Leeds West (1885–2024) Pudsey and Otley (1918–1950) Batley and Morley (1918–1983) Leeds South East (1918–1983) Morley and Leeds South (1983–1997) Elmet (1983–2010) Morley and Rothwell (1997–2010) Elmet and Rothwell (2010-2024) Morley and Outwood (2010-2024)

Leeds constituencies

Current