Denton & Reddish
Labour hold

This Greater Manchester constituency brings together two elements, both safely Labour, from different metropolitan boroughs. From Tameside come Denton, Dukinfield and Audenshaw, from Stockport, Reddish. There have been some Tory votes in west Denton and Audenshaw, enough to win in a good year on the local council, but this has not happened for some time and they did not come close to winning any here in the last local elections in May 2000. Although owner occupied, the housing here is far from opulent and this remains a majority working class seat, which in the industrial north west of England after the 1997 election translates into a very strongly Labour seat with a current majority of 20,000 and no clouds on the horizon.

Andrew Bennett entered the Commons in 1974 and has been MP here since 1983. With a greying full beard and a high-pitched voice, he is one of Labour’s geography teachers with the associated accoutrements of rambling and right-to-roaming. Before 1997 he was one of his party’s most rebellious backbenchers without actually being in the Campaign Group. Since 1997 he has rebelled on military action against Iraq, jury trial curbs, the Prime Minister’s right to nominate life peers, disability benefit cuts, and air traffic control sell-off. Born 1939, educated at Hulme Grammar School, Manchester and Birmingham University, he enjoyed thirteen years at the chalk face before reaching the Commons, where, it has been said, one can almost hear the sandals in his voice.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 0.12% 14.99% 0.83 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.00% 2.49% 0.00 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 2.01% 4.43% 45.50 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 12.03% 7.27% 165.41 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.18% 2.56% 7.15 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 13.66% 13.04% 104.74 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 35.87% 12.70% 282.37 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 13.18% 8.14% 161.90 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.13% 4.02% 3.27 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 7.59% 3.19% 238.14 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 10.25% 11.31% 90.66 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 3.08% 3.06% 100.54 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 1.89% 2.52% 74.95 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 9.63% 9.41% 102.33 £5-10K 18.96% 16.63% 114.01 £10-15K 19.21% 16.58% 115.87 £15-20K 15.27% 13.58% 112.42 £20-25K 11.05% 10.39% 106.34 £25-30K 7.71% 7.77% 99.18 £30-35K 5.32% 5.79% 91.81 £35-40K 3.67% 4.33% 84.67 £40-45K 2.55% 3.27% 77.98 £45-50K 1.78% 2.48% 71.82 £50-55K 1.26% 1.90% 66.22 £55-60K 0.90% 1.47% 61.15 £60-65K 0.65% 1.15% 56.58 £65-70K 0.48% 0.91% 52.46 £70-75K 0.35% 0.72% 48.75 £75-80K 0.26% 0.57% 45.41 £80-85K 0.20% 0.46% 42.39 £85-90K 0.15% 0.37% 39.66 £90-95K 0.11% 0.31% 37.18 £95-100K 0.09% 0.25% 34.94 £100K + 0.34% 1.34% 25.24