Rotherham is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since 2012 by

Sarah Champion Sarah Deborah Champion (born 10 July 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham since 2012. Champion studied Psychology at Sheffield University. Before entering Parliament, she ran ...

, a member of the Labour Party.

History

This constituency was created in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. Rotherham has consistently returned

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MPs since a by-election in 1933, following the earlier period before 1923 dominated by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

parties. The numerical Labour majority in every general election from 1935 onwards has been in five figures, with the exceptions of

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and 2019.

Boundaries

1918–1949: The County Borough of Rotherham, and the Urban Districts of Greasbrough and Rawmarsh. 1950–1983: The County Borough of Rotherham. Rotherham constituency is one of three

borough constituencies In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

in the borough. The current boundary configuration was confirmed in 2005. It is formed with the Rotherham borough electoral wards: *Boston Castle,

Brinsworth Brinsworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated close to the River Rother between Rotherham (to the north-east) and Sheffield (to the south-west). At the time of ...

and

Catcliffe Catcliffe is a village and civil parish on the north-west bank of the River Rother in South Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,108. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, approximately sout ...

, Keppel, Rotherham East, Rotherham West, Valley, and Wingfield ''in the

Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, South Yorkshire, Maltby, Swinton, South Yorkshire, Swinton, ...

'' It borders Rother Valley, Sheffield South East,

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament by Gi ...

Penistone and Stocksbridge Penistone and Stocksbridge is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament represented since 2019 by Miriam Cates, a Conservative. As with all constituencies, adults qualifying to vote in the seat (its electorate) elect one Mem ...

, and Wentworth and Dearne.

Constituency profile

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of one local government district: a working population whose income is on average slightly below the national average and close to average reliance upon

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood at 7% and 9.6%

male unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.7%. This was considerably higher also than the constituencies that share the borough.Unemployment claimants by constituency
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' The borough contributing to the seat has a relatively high 26.6% of its population without a car compared to 20.1% in Bassetlaw and 30.3% in Sheffield. In terms of extremes of education 29.8% of the population in 2011 were without qualifications, contrasted with 17.4% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure 65.2% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census across the borough. In the 10 years to the April 2011 Census the social rented sector saw a 4.9% reduction and the

private rented sector The private rented sector (PRS) is a classification of United Kingdom housing tenure as described by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, a UK government department that monitors the national housing supply. Other classifica ...

a 5.3% increase; outright ownership saw a 3.8% increase.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

* Caused by Acland's resignation. * Caused by Acland's appointment as Vice President of the Committee of the Council on Education

Elections in the 1880s

Notes

References

Sources

BBC News, Election 2005BBC News, Vote 2001
*http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present) *

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949'' *

, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 – 1970'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotherham (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of Rotherham Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885