Rotherham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2012 by Sarah Champion of the Labour Party.
History
This constituency was created in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
Rotherham has consistently returned Labour MPs since a by-election in 1933, following the earlier period before 1923 dominated by the Liberal and Conservative parties. The numerical Labour majority in every general election from 1935 onwards has been in five figures, with the exceptions of 2015, 2019 and 2024.
Boundaries
Historic
1918–1950: The County Borough of Rotherham, and the Urban Districts of Greasbrough and Rawmarsh.
1950–1983: The County Borough of Rotherham.
1983–2010: The Borough of Rotherham wards of: Boston, Broom, Central, Greasbrough, Herringthorpe, Kimberworth, Park and Thorpe Hesley.
2010–2024: The Rotherham borough electoral wards of: Boston Castle, Brinsworth and Catcliffe, Keppel, Rotherham East, Rotherham West, Valley, and Wingfield.
Current
Following the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency comprises the following:
- The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham wards of: Boston Castle; Brinsworth; Dalton & Thrybergh; Greasbrough; Keppel; Rother Vale; Rotherham East; Rotherham West; Wickersley North.
Seat expanded to bring its electorate within the permitted range primarily by adding parts of the abolished constituency of Wentworth and Dearne, including northern parts of Wickersley and the village of Thrybergh.
It borders Rother Valley, Sheffield South East, Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, Penistone and Stocksbridge, and Rawmarsh and Conisbrough.
Constituency profile
The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of one local government district: a working population whose income is on average slightly below the national average and close to average reliance upon social housing. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood at 7% and 9.6% male unemployment of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.7%. This was considerably higher also than the constituencies that share the borough.
The borough contributing to the seat has a relatively high 26.6% of its population without a car compared to 20.1% in Bassetlaw and 30.3% in Sheffield. In terms of extremes of education 29.8% of the population in 2011 were without qualifications, contrasted with 17.4% with level 4 qualifications or above.
In terms of tenure 65.2% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census across the borough. In the 10 years to the April 2011 Census the social rented sector saw a 4.9% reduction and the private rented sector a 5.3% increase; outright ownership saw a 3.8% increase.!!Party
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1885
| Arthur Dyke Acland
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1899 by-election
| William Holland
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1910 by-election
| Jack Pease
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1917 by-election
| Arthur Richardson
| Lib-Lab
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1918
| Frederic Kelley
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1923
| Fred Lindley
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1931
| George Herbert
| Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1933 by-election
| William Dobbie
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1950
| Jack Jones
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1963 by-election
| Brian O'Malley
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1976 by-election
| Stan Crowther
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1992
| Jimmy Boyce
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1994 by-election
|rowspan=3| Denis MacShane
|Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2010
| Independent
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2012
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2012 by-election
| Sarah Champion
| Labour
|}
Elections
thumb|right|216px|Rotherham election results
center|thumb|869x869px|Rotherham historical election results
Elections in the 2020s
Laila Cunningham was originally selected as the Conservative candidate for the seat, but withdrew shortly before the nominations deadline. As the party did not field a replacement, it is the only seat in Great Britain, aside from the Speaker's seat of Chorley, in which no Conservative candidate was nominated.
Elections in the 2010s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 17,699 ||align=right| 40.7
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 14,402 ||align=right| 33.1
|-
|
| Brexit Party ||align=right| 7,408 ||align=right| 17.0
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 2,717 ||align=right| 6.2
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 1,245 ||align=right| 2.9
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 50 ||align=right| 0.1
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|43,521
|align=right|57.8
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|75,345
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
thumb|120px|Thomas Casey
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
thumb|120px|JM Kenworthy
thumb|120px|Richardson
thumb|120px|Jack Pease
See also
- parliamentary constituencies in South Yorkshire
- List of parliamentary constituencies in the Yorkshire and the Humber (region)
Notes
References
Sources
- BBC News, Election 2005
- BBC News, Vote 2001
- Guardian Unlimited Politics
- http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
- F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949
- F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 – 1970
External links
- Rotherham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Rotherham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Rotherham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK