Harrogate and Knaresborough | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | North Yorkshire |
Electorate | 76,777 (December 2019) [1] |
Major settlements | Harrogate and Knaresborough |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Andrew Jones ( Conservative) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Harrogate constituency |
Harrogate and Knaresborough ( /ˈhærəɡət ... ˈnɛərzbərə, -ɡeɪt -, -ɡɪt -/) [2] [3] is a parliamentary constituency in North Yorkshire which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Jones, an MP from the Conservative Party. The constituency was formed in the 1997 boundary changes, before which it was named Harrogate.
An area with little unemployment, a relatively large retired population and large neighbourhoods of high house prices [n 1] [4] the former Harrogate constituency was a safe Conservative seat. When former Chancellor Norman Lamont stood for the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat in the Labour landslide general election in 1997, Harrogate moved the way of other spa towns in England such as Bath, and more urban and less touristic Cheltenham, by returning a non-Conservative candidate. The Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis was elected, and served until Andrew Jones regained the seat for his party on Willis's retirement in the 2010 general election with a swing of 9.1% and a margin of 1,039 votes. [5]
1997–2010: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Duchy, East Central, Granby, Harlow, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough West, New Park, Pannal, Starbeck, Wedderburn, and West Central.
2010–present: The Borough of Harrogate wards of Bilton, Boroughbridge, Claro, Granby, Harlow Moor, High Harrogate, Hookstone, Killinghall, Knaresborough East, Knaresborough King James, Knaresborough Scriven Park, Low Harrogate, New Park, Pannal, Rossett, Saltergate, Starbeck, Stray, and Woodfield.
As its name suggests, the constituency is centred on the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, with no parts more than 10 miles (16 km) away from either.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Minor changes to align with revised ward boundaries.
With effect from 1 April 2023, the Borough of Harrogate was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of North Yorkshire. [7] The constituency will therefore now comprise the following electoral divisions of North Yorkshire from the next general election:
Before 1950 the two eponymous towns had been part of the Ripon constituency. The constituency was created as Harrogate and following boundary changes in 1997 the name was changed to 'Harrogate and Knaresborough'.
The current constituency embraces three former borough constituencies: Aldborough (now a suburb of Boroughbridge civil parish) and Boroughbridge, which were abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832, and Knaresborough, abolished in 1885.
Election | Member [9] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Phil Willis | Liberal Democrats | |
2010 | Andrew Jones | Conservative |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reform UK | Richard Brown [10] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Tom Gordon [11] | ||||
Conservative | Andrew Jones [12] | ||||
Green | Shan Oakes [13] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Andrew Jones | 29,962 | 52.6 | -2.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Judith Rogerson | 20,287 | 35.6 | +12.1 | |
Labour | Mark Sewards | 5,480 | 9.6 | -10.5 | |
Yorkshire | Kieron George | 1,208 | 2.1 | New | |
Majority | 9,675 | 17.0 | -15.0 | ||
Turnout | 56,937 | 73.1 | +0.1 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -7.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Andrew Jones | 31,477 | 55.5 | +2.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Helen Flynn | 13,309 | 23.5 | +1.4 | |
Labour | Mark Sewards | 11,395 | 20.1 | +10.0 | |
Independent | Donald Fraser | 559 | 1.0 | New | |
Majority | 18,168 | 32.0 | +1.4 | ||
Turnout | 56,907 | 73.0 | +4.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +0.67 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Andrew Jones | 28,153 | 52.7 | +7.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Helen Flynn | 11,782 | 22.1 | -21.7 | |
UKIP | David Simister | 5,681 | 10.6 | +8.6 | |
Labour | Jan Williams | 5,409 | 10.1 | +3.7 | |
Green | Shan Oakes | 2,351 | 4.4 | New | |
Majority | 16,371 | 30.6 | +28.7 | ||
Turnout | 53,376 | 69.0 | -1.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +14.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Andrew Jones | 24,305 | 45.7 | +9.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Claire Kelley | 23,266 | 43.8 | -8.4 | |
Labour | Kevin McNerney | 3,413 | 6.4 | -2.7 | |
BNP | Steve Gill | 1,094 | 2.1 | +1.1 | |
UKIP | John Upex | 1,056 | 2.0 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 1,039 | 1.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 53,134 | 70.6 | +3.9 | ||
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | +9.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Phil Willis | 24,113 | 56.3 | +0.7 | |
Conservative | Maggie Punyer | 13,684 | 31.9 | -2.7 | |
Labour | Lorraine Ferris | 3,627 | 8.5 | +1.1 | |
UKIP | Chris Royston | 845 | 2.0 | +0.2 | |
BNP | Colin Banner | 466 | 1.1 | New | |
Alliance For Change | John Allman | 123 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 10,429 | 24.4 | +3.4 | ||
Turnout | 42,858 | 65.3 | +0.7 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Phil Willis | 23,445 | 55.6 | +4.1 | |
Conservative | Andrew Jones | 14,600 | 34.6 | -3.9 | |
Labour | Alastair MacDonald | 3,101 | 7.4 | -1.3 | |
UKIP | Bill Brown | 761 | 1.8 | New | |
ProLife Alliance | John Cornforth | 272 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 8,845 | 21.0 | +8.0 | ||
Turnout | 42,179 | 64.6 | -8.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Phil Willis | 24,558 | 51.5 | +18.2 | |
Conservative | Norman Lamont | 18,322 | 38.5 | −13.3 | |
Labour | Barbara Boyce | 4,151 | 8.7 | −4.8 | |
Loyal Conservative | John Blackburn | 614 | 1.3 | New | |
Majority | 6,236 | 13.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 47,645 | 73.1 | |||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing |