Oldham West and Royton (UK Parliament constituency)

Oldham West and Royton is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament[n 2]. It has been represented by Jim McMahon of the Labour Co-op party since 4 December 2015, after winning a by-election following the death of Michael Meacher on 21 October 2015.

Oldham West and Royton
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Oldham West and Royton in Greater Manchester
Location of Greater Manchester within England
CountyGreater Manchester
Electorate72,402 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentJim McMahon (Labour Co-op)
Number of membersOne
Created fromOldham West and Oldham Central & Royton

Boundaries

1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Alexandra, Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Coldhurst, Royton North, Royton South, St Paul's, and Werneth.

2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham wards of Chadderton Central, Chadderton North, Chadderton South, Coldhurst, Hollinwood, Medlock Vale, Royton North, Royton South, and Werneth.

The constituency is one of three covering the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It covers most of the western part of the borough, including Chadderton and Royton but not Failsworth which is in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

Name

In July 2006 fourteen representations were received by the Boundary Commission for England, which called for the inclusion of Chadderton in the name of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency. Many of these objectors pointed out that Chadderton was much larger and more populous than Royton. The commission rejected the proposed alternative name (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) because it was too long and they did not believe that there was a significant amount of support for a name change.[2]

History

The present constituency was formed in 1997 from parts of the former Oldham Central and Royton and Oldham West constituencies and has to date been a safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by Michael Meacher since the 1997 general election. Meacher had previously been the MP for the successor seat of Oldham West since 1970.

Despite no part of the constituency, nor Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council ever having had a BNP councillor, the constituency gained a level of notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate. Griffin received 6,552 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place and 524 votes behind the Conservative Duncan Reed in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the serious race riots that had occurred in Oldham (and other northern towns) a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth".[3]

In local elections following the 2001 race riots, the BNP also received considerable support: specifically in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, from 2008 the BNP share of the vote has been markedly lower, with BNP and former BNP candidates coming in third or fourth in Royton North and other Oldham West and Royton Wards.[4]

At the 2005 and 2010 general elections the BNP managed to retain their deposits (polling around 7% on both occasions) but have only achieved fourth place, with the Conservative Party second behind veteran politician Michael Meacher of the Labour Party, who stood at the 2015 general election. Meacher's death in October 2015 triggered a by-election, the first of the new Parliament, which was held on 3 December 2015 and was won by Jim McMahon of the Labour Party.[5]

Members of Parliament
Election Member[6] Party
1997 Michael Meacher Labour
2015 by-election Jim McMahon Labour Co-op

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Oldham West and Royton[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Jim McMahon 24,579 55.3 -9.9
Conservative Kirsty Finlayson 13,452 30.3 +2.7
Brexit Party Helen Formby 3,316 7.5 New
Liberal Democrats Garth Harkness 1,484 3.3 +1.2
Green Dan Jerrome 681 1.5 +0.5
Proud of Oldham & Saddleworth Debbie Cole 533 1.2 New
UKIP Anthony Prince 389 0.9 -3.3
Majority 11,127 25.0 -12.6
Turnout 44,434 60.8 -2.4
Labour Co-op hold Swing -6.3
General election 2017: Oldham West and Royton[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Jim McMahon 29,846 65.2 +10.4
Conservative Christopher Glenny 12,648 27.6 +8.6
UKIP Ruth Keating 1,899 4.1 -16.5
Liberal Democrats Garth Harkness 956 2.1 -1.6
Green Adam King 439 1.0 -0.9
Majority 17,198 37.6 +3.4
Turnout 45,788 63.2 +3.6
Labour Co-op hold Swing +0.9
By-election, 2015: Oldham West and Royton[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Co-op Jim McMahon 17,209 62.1 +7.3
UKIP John Bickley 6,487 23.4 +2.8
Conservative James Daly 2,596 9.4 −9.6
Liberal Democrats Jane Brophy 1,024 3.7 0.0
Green Simeon Hart 249 0.9 −1.0
Monster Raving Loony Sir Oink A-Lot 141 0.5 New
Majority 10,722 38.7 +4.5
Turnout 27,706 40.3 −19.3
Labour Co-op hold Swing +2.3
General election 2015: Oldham West and Royton[10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Meacher 23,630 54.8 +9.3
UKIP Francis Arbour 8,892 20.6 +17.4
Conservative Kamran Ghafoor 8,187 19.0 −4.7
Liberal Democrats Garth Harkness 1,589 3.7 −15.4
Green Simeon Hart 839 1.9 New
Majority 14,738 34.2 +12.4
Turnout 43,137 59.6 +0.5
Labour hold Swing −4.0
General election 2010: Oldham West and Royton[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Meacher 19,503 45.5 −2.9
Conservative Kamran Ghafoor 10,151 23.7 +2.6
Liberal Democrats Mark Alcock 8,193 19.1 −2.1
BNP Dave Jones 3,049 7.1 +0.3
UKIP Helen Roberts 1,387 3.2 +0.7
Respect Shahid Miah 627 1.5 New
Majority 9,352 21.8 −5.3
Turnout 42,910 59.1 +5.1
Labour hold Swing −2.7

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Oldham West and Royton[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Meacher 18,452 49.1 −2.1
Conservative Sean Moore 7,998 21.3 +3.6
Liberal Democrats Stuart Bodsworth 7,519 20.0 +7.6
BNP Anita Corbett 2,606 6.9 −9.5
UKIP David Short 987 2.6 New
Majority 10,454 27.8 -5.7
Turnout 37,562 53.3 −4.3
Labour hold Swing −2.8
General election 2001: Oldham West and Royton[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Meacher 20,441 51.2 −7.6
Conservative Duncan Reed 7,076 17.7 −5.7
BNP Nick Griffin 6,552 16.4 New
Liberal Democrats Marc Ramsbottom 4,975 12.4 +0.6
Green David Roney 918 2.3 New
Majority 13,365 33.5 -1.9
Turnout 39,962 57.6 −8.5
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Oldham West and Royton[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Michael Meacher 26,894 58.8 +9.7
Conservative Jonathan Lord 10,693 23.4 −14.7
Liberal Democrats Howard Cohen 5,434 11.9 +0.4
Socialist Labour Gias Choudhury 1,311 2.9 N/A
Referendum Peter Etherden 1,157 2.5 N/A
Natural Law Sheila Dalling 249 0.5 N/A
Majority 16,201 35.4
Turnout 45,738 66.1
Labour win (new seat)
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See also

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
  1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, Boundary Commission for England, published July 19, 2006. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
  3. BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
  4. , Oldham Council Election Results 2008.
  5. "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election". Archived from the original on 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
  7. Sansome, Jessica; Otter, Saffron (2019-11-14). "All the Greater Manchester General Election 2019 candidates". men. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  8. "Oldham West & Royton parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  9. "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election Results". Oldham Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. "Oldham West & Royton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. Guardian Online
  14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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