Keighley and Ilkley

Keighley and Ilkley is a constituency in West Yorkshire created in 1885 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Robbie Moore of the Conservative Party.

Although the constituency had contained the town of Ilkley since 1983, it was formally known as Keighley until the 2024 general election. Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, there were no changes to the constituency boundaries, but the Boundary Commission for England recommended that it be renamed Keighley and Ilkley.

Constituency profile

Keighley and Ilkley is a constituency in West Yorkshire. It lies within the boundaries of the City of Bradford, although the two main towns are located around from the centre of Bradford and are not contiguous with it. Keighley is the constituency's largest town with a population of around 50,000. Other settlements include the towns of Ilkley and Silsden and the villages of Haworth, Oakworth, Steeton and Addingham. The constituency lies on the edge of the Pennines, and Keighley and Ilkley are separated by the high moorland of Rombalds Moor. Keighley has a history of brewing and textile manufacturing, and Ilkley is a spa town and popular with tourists. Haworth is also a tourist destination due to its association with the Brontë sisters. The constituency is very divided in terms of wealth; Keighley is highly deprived with most of the town falling within the top 10% most-deprived areas in England, whilst Ilkley is highly affluent. On average, house prices in the constituency are higher than the rest of Yorkshire and the Humber but lower than the national average.

In general, residents of the constituency are older and have average levels of education and income compared to the rest of the country. They are likely to be homeowners and a high proportion work in the healthcare and manufacturing industries. White people made up 80% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, mostly Pakistanis, were the largest ethnic minority group at 17% and were concentrated in central Keighley where they made up around half the population. At the local council, Keighley is represented by the Labour Party, Ilkley and the villages south of Keighley elected Conservatives, and Silsden and Addingham elected Green Party councillors. An estimated 53% of voters in the constituency supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, almost identical to the nationwide figure of 52%. indeed its boundaries have remained unchanged since the 1983 redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Since the 1950s, Keighley has been a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives. The MP from 1997 was Labour's Ann Cryer, widow of Bob Cryer who was MP for the same seat from 1974 to 1983 (and then for Bradford South, 1987–1994). She retired at the 2010 general election.

thumb|120px|John Brigg

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