Barnsley West & Penistone
Labour hold

The least monolithically Labour of the three in the South Yorkshire Borough of Barnsley, though this is not saying much. There are at least some Conservative votes, and currently a few councillors, in the town of Penistone over towards the Pennines, which along with some stonewalled villages belongs to a different culture from the heavy industrial and mining traditions of Barnsley itself. The Liberal Democrats advanced in 1997, although still a distant third place, and, unusually, Labour barely increased their share of the vote in that year. Nevertheless, this is an utterly solid Labour hold.

Mick Clapham, an ex-miner , born 1943 and educated at Barnsley Technical College, Leeds Poly and Bradford University was elected in 1992. As a Campaign Grouper he is actively rebellious against the government, resigning as Alan Millburn's PPS over lone parent child benefit cuts, and voting against the Whips on military action against Iraq, the Prime Minister's right to nominate life peers, curbing jury trials, cutting disability benefit, restoring the link between pensions and average earnings, and air traffic control privatisation. An ex-Scargill ally who has since attacked his former patron's ‘Stalinist' excesses, his strikingly arched eyebrows give him a quizzical look, and for some he recalls a character out of ‘Sons and Lovers'.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 12.16% 14.99% 81.12 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.16% 2.13% 7.63 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.83% 2.49% 73.66 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 3.04% 4.43% 68.63 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 7.17% 7.27% 98.64 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.06% 2.56% 2.16 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 10.20% 13.04% 78.23 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 22.94% 12.70% 180.56 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 23.53% 8.14% 288.98 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.00% 4.02% 0.00 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 4.65% 3.19% 145.96 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 13.64% 11.31% 120.56 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.14% 3.06% 4.49 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.48% 2.52% 19.24 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 12.14% 9.41% 129.01 £5-10K 19.31% 16.63% 116.08 £10-15K 17.88% 16.58% 107.85 £15-20K 13.78% 13.58% 101.42 £20-25K 9.98% 10.39% 96.05 £25-30K 7.11% 7.77% 91.45 £30-35K 5.06% 5.79% 87.44 £35-40K 3.64% 4.33% 83.91 £40-45K 2.64% 3.27% 80.78 £45-50K 1.94% 2.48% 77.99 £50-55K 1.44% 1.90% 75.48 £55-60K 1.08% 1.47% 73.22 £60-65K 0.82% 1.15% 71.18 £65-70K 0.63% 0.91% 69.32 £70-75K 0.49% 0.72% 67.62 £75-80K 0.38% 0.57% 66.07 £80-85K 0.30% 0.46% 64.65 £85-90K 0.24% 0.37% 63.34 £90-95K 0.19% 0.31% 62.14 £95-100K 0.15% 0.25% 61.02 £100K + 0.75% 1.34% 55.70