Normanton
Labour hold

Normanton is not one of the better-known constituency names. It is doubtful that many people who live far from this part of West Yorkshire could identify where it might be. It is not on any major routes, so people tend not to pass by on the way to another destination. The population base is stable, with considerably fewer people than average changing their address within a tear of the Census being taken ("migrants"). Normanton may be relatively obscure, but it has every bit as much right to return a Member of Parliament as Hampstead and Highgate or the Cities of London and Westminster. The seat is wrappewd around the city of Wakefield like a kidney, from Normanton and Sharlston in the east, to Stanley north of Wakefield, Ossett to the west and finally Horbury to the south west. Essentially the Normantion constituency is safe for Labour without being overwhelmingly so. In 1992 the majority would have been around 7,000 on current boundaries. In the May 2000 local elections the Conservatives won Horbury and the Liberal Democrats Ossett.

Born 1929, Catholic-educated and (extramurally) at Leeds University, Bill O'Brien was a coal face worker for nearly 40 years before exchanging the pithead baths for a Commons seat. An anti-Scargill moderate, he served as a (Catholic) Northern Ireland spokesman in Opposition, and is in the tiny Labour minority which votes against homosexual sex at 16.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 5.94% 14.99% 39.62 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.03% 2.49% 1.31 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 3.71% 4.43% 83.93 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 23.42% 7.27% 321.98 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.22% 2.56% 8.66 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.16% 3.94% 4.16 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 15.32% 13.04% 117.53 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 22.91% 12.70% 180.34 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 13.22% 8.14% 162.38 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.82% 4.02% 20.29 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 5.27% 3.19% 165.32 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 7.31% 11.31% 64.65 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.68% 3.06% 22.19 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.98% 2.52% 38.82 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 7.96% 9.41% 84.61 £5-10K 16.01% 16.63% 96.27 £10-15K 17.20% 16.58% 103.74 £15-20K 14.63% 13.58% 107.68 £20-25K 11.32% 10.39% 108.96 £25-30K 8.43% 7.77% 108.41 £30-35K 6.18% 5.79% 106.68 £35-40K 4.52% 4.33% 104.23 £40-45K 3.31% 3.27% 101.37 £45-50K 2.44% 2.48% 98.32 £50-55K 1.81% 1.90% 95.21 £55-60K 1.36% 1.47% 92.14 £60-65K 1.03% 1.15% 89.15 £65-70K 0.78% 0.91% 86.28 £70-75K 0.60% 0.72% 83.54 £75-80K 0.47% 0.57% 80.93 £80-85K 0.36% 0.46% 78.47 £85-90K 0.29% 0.37% 76.14 £90-95K 0.23% 0.31% 73.94 £95-100K 0.18% 0.25% 71.87 £100K + 0.82% 1.34% 61.19