Oldham West and Royton (UK Parliament constituency)

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.
County	Greater Manchester
Electorate	72,402 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Jim McMahon (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Oldham West and Oldham Central & Royton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

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 Party since 4 December 2015, after winning a by-election following the death of Michael Meacher on 21 October 2015.

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 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 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]

In the 2005 and 2010 general elections the BNP managed to retain 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 in 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 won by Jim McMahon for the Labour Party. ^[5]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[6]	Party
	1997	Michael Meacher	Labour
	2015 by-election	Jim McMahon	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Oldham West and Royton by-election, 2015^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	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 Democrat	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	N/A
Majority			10,722	38.7	+4.5
Turnout			27,706	40.3	−19.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General Election 2015: Oldham West and Royton^[8]^[9]
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 Democrat	Garth Harkness	1,589	3.7	−15.4
	Green	Simeon Hart	839	1.9	N/A
Majority			14,738	34.2
Turnout			43,137	59.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

General Election 2010: Oldham West and Royton^[10]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Michael Meacher	19,503	45.5	−2.9
	Conservative	Kamran Ghafoor	10,151	23.7	+2.6
	Liberal Democrat	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	N/A
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^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Michael Meacher	18,452	49.1	−2.1
	Conservative	Sean Moore	7,998	21.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Bodsworth	7,519	20.0	+7.6
	BNP	Anita Corbett	2,606	6.9	−9.5
	UKIP	David Short	987	2.6	+2.6
Majority			10,454	27.8
Turnout			37,562	53.3	−4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.8

General Election 2001: Oldham West and Royton^[13]
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	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Marc Ramsbottom	4,975	12.4	+0.6
	Green	David Roney	918	2.3	N/A
Majority			13,365	33.5
Turnout			39,962	57.6	−8.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Oldham West and Royton^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Michael Meacher	26,894	58.8	+9.7
	Conservative	Jonathan Lord	10,693	23.4	−14.7
	Liberal Democrat	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 hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ 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

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester, Boundary Commission for England, published July 19, 2006. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
↑ BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
↑ , Oldham Council Election Results 2008.
↑ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election".
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
↑ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election Results". Oldham Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Oldham West & Royton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ Guardian Online
↑ "Election Data 2005". 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 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Constituencies in North West England (75)

Labour (51)	Ashton-under-Lyne Barrow and Furness Birkenhead Blackburn Blackley and Broughton Blackpool South Bolton North East Bolton South East Bootle Burnley Bury South Chorley City of Chester Copeland Denton and Reddish Ellesmere Port and Neston Garston and Halewood Halton Heywood and Middleton Hyndburn Knowsley Lancaster and Fleetwood Leigh Liverpool Riverside Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool West Derby Makerfield Manchester Central Manchester Gorton Manchester Withington Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham West and Royton Preston Rochdale St Helens North St Helens South and Whiston Salford and Eccles Sefton Central Stalybridge and Hyde Stockport Stretford and Urmston Wallasey Warrington North West Lancashire Wigan Wirral South Wirral West Workington Worsley and Eccles South Wythenshawe and Sale East

Conservative (22)	Altrincham and Sale West Blackpool North and Cleveleys Bolton West Bury North Carlisle Cheadle Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Eddisbury Fylde Hazel Grove Macclesfield Morecambe and Lunesdale Pendle Penrith and The Border Ribble Valley Rossendale and Darwen South Ribble Tatton Warrington South Weaver Vale Wyre and Preston North

Liberal Democrats (2)	Southport Westmorland and Lonsdale

North West England European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (3) UKIP (3)

Coordinates: 53°36′N 2°06′W / 53.6°N 2.1°W / 53.6; -2.1

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