Rochdale
Labour hold

Incumbency effects can cut a number of ways, and the departure of Liz Lynne (now a Euro MP) means that after two strong MPs (the first was Cyril Smith), the Liberal Democrats will fight Rochdale next time without a sitting member for the first time for very nearly thirty years. This will make life very much easier for Labour's Lorna Fitzsimons, and Liberal Democrats will probably concentrate more on the nearby Oldham East and Saddleworth division, where they fight to regain the seat from Labour's Phil Woolas. It is to be noted that there really are bitter Labour - Lib Dem contests here at local level, despite Mr Blair and Mr Ashdown's dreams of a co-operative project around the time of the last election.

Lorna Fitzsimons, a loud, locally-accented, fast-talking, pint-sized (5 feet no inches) ex-student leader who claims to "embody New Labour" and was once dubbed by Trotskyite Labour Briefing as "a power-mad parasite", ousted the Liberal Democrats here in 1997 at the age of 29. Born 1967, she was educated at Wardle High School and Rochdale College of Art, and Loughborough College of Art & Design. Rigorously on-message, defending first lone parent benefit cuts as one of the "hard choices", and then endorsing student grant abolition, she slowed down any career that might have beckoned by a somewhat raunchy tabloid interview.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 6.81% 14.99% 45.43 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.01% 2.13% 0.63 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.27% 2.49% 10.77 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 4.59% 4.43% 103.66 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 8.65% 7.27% 118.91 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.00% 2.56% 0.12 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.06% 3.94% 1.53 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 5.27% 13.04% 40.42 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 19.81% 12.70% 155.94 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 6.58% 8.14% 80.82 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.89% 4.02% 22.24 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 5.69% 3.19% 178.72 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 20.12% 11.31% 177.91 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 4.73% 3.06% 154.47 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 7.76% 2.52% 308.11 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 8.75% 2.10% 416.46 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 13.38% 9.41% 142.19 £5-10K 20.68% 16.63% 124.34 £10-15K 18.29% 16.58% 110.29 £15-20K 13.58% 13.58% 99.97 £20-25K 9.58% 10.39% 92.17 £25-30K 6.69% 7.77% 86.02 £30-35K 4.69% 5.79% 81.00 £35-40K 3.33% 4.33% 76.77 £40-45K 2.39% 3.27% 73.11 £45-50K 1.74% 2.48% 69.90 £50-55K 1.28% 1.90% 67.04 £55-60K 0.95% 1.47% 64.46 £60-65K 0.72% 1.15% 62.12 £65-70K 0.54% 0.91% 59.98 £70-75K 0.42% 0.72% 58.01 £75-80K 0.32% 0.57% 56.20 £80-85K 0.25% 0.46% 54.52 £85-90K 0.20% 0.37% 52.96 £90-95K 0.16% 0.31% 51.50 £95-100K 0.13% 0.25% 50.14 £100K + 0.58% 1.34% 43.23