Barnsley Central
Labour hold

Although there are no working coal mines left, the very landscape as well as the culture and political preferences of Barnsley are shaped by the history of the pits and associated industry. Barnsley is still regarded as a stereotype of gritty northern popular culture. There really are no leafy suburbs, no Conservative wards here. This seat, which includes most of the town after which Barnsley Metropolitan Borough is named, has a male unemployment rate, and percentage of people with limiting long-term illness, of about 50 per cent higher than the national average. With 58pc of those employed still manual workers it is scarcely surprising that Eric Illsley, a former NUM man in the tradition of long-term Barnsley MP Roy Mason, won by the sixth clearest margin of any of Labour's 418 MPs in 1997.

Eric Illsley is one of a dozen frontbenchers dropped by Tony Blair on forming his government in 1997, despite having previously been a Northern Ireland spokesman. He is also part of another dozen - the 12 MPs out of a PLP of 418, who were previously sponsored by the Miners Union, though he came from behind a desk rather than from a coal face. Born 1955, educated at Barnsley Holgate Grammar School, Barnsley Technical College, and Leeds University, he was elected in 1987, and now detached from his former leader Arthur Scargill, is inevitably involved in defence of what remains of the dying Yorkshire coalfield, as an orthodox Blairite loyalist.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 2.27% 14.99% 15.13 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.04% 2.49% 1.61 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.39% 4.43% 8.76 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 9.49% 7.27% 130.50 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.00% 2.56% 0.00 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.81% 3.94% 20.61 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 6.11% 13.04% 46.83 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 33.02% 12.70% 259.96 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 18.20% 8.14% 223.48 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 1.07% 4.02% 26.67 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 5.37% 3.19% 168.63 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 18.10% 11.31% 160.05 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 1.12% 3.06% 36.46 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 4.01% 2.52% 159.17 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 15.55% 9.41% 165.23 £5-10K 23.64% 16.63% 142.15 £10-15K 19.81% 16.58% 119.48 £15-20K 13.75% 13.58% 101.22 £20-25K 9.01% 10.39% 86.74 £25-30K 5.84% 7.77% 75.15 £30-35K 3.81% 5.79% 65.79 £35-40K 2.52% 4.33% 58.15 £40-45K 1.69% 3.27% 51.86 £45-50K 1.16% 2.48% 46.64 £50-55K 0.81% 1.90% 42.28 £55-60K 0.57% 1.47% 38.60 £60-65K 0.41% 1.15% 35.49 £65-70K 0.30% 0.91% 32.82 £70-75K 0.22% 0.72% 30.53 £75-80K 0.16% 0.57% 28.55 £80-85K 0.12% 0.46% 26.83 £85-90K 0.09% 0.37% 25.33 £90-95K 0.07% 0.31% 24.01 £95-100K 0.06% 0.25% 22.84 £100K + 0.25% 1.34% 18.29