Morley and Outwood was a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

. Further to the completion of the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary changes - losing the

City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...

wards, incorporating the district of Outwood and gaining the

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

ward of Farnley and Wortley - it was reformed as Leeds South West and Morley and first contested at the 2024 general election.

History

Forerunners and boundaries

The Morley and Outwood constituency was first contested in 2010. It consisted of the town of Morley, in the

metropolitan district, and around Outwood in the

district. It was largely a successor to the previous Morley and Rothwell seat, which existed from 1997 until 2010; Rothwell was transferred to a new Elmet and Rothwell seat, while Outwood was previously part of the abolished Normanton constituency. At the same time, the Leeds suburb of Middleton was transferred to

Leeds Central Leeds Central was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency first existed from 1885 until it was abolished in 1955. It was recreated in 1983. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Revie ...

. The remainder of the former Normanton constituency was divided between the

Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford was a constituency in West Yorkshire of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented by Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party for the whole of its creation. Cooper served under the governments o ...

constituency and the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

constituency.

Political history

At the 2010 general election, Morley and Outwood was won by

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British former politician, broadcaster and economist. He served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to ...

of the Labour Party, who had been MP for Normanton since 2005, and served as Labour's

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer The shadow chancellor of the exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer, chancellor of ...

from 2011 to 2015. Balls narrowly lost the seat at the 2015 general election to the Conservative Party candidate Andrea Jenkyns which was described by Larry Elliott of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as a "

Portillo moment The Portillo moment was the declaration of the result for the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 United Kingdom general election, at 3:01 a.m. on 2 May 1997. The Labour Party (UK), Labour Party candidate, Stephen Twigg, defeated the ...

". The 2015 general election result gave the Conservatives that year their sixth-most marginal majority of their 331 seats won, by percentage of majority. Third parties have not polled strongly in the seat to date — the combined votes of the two largest UK parties' candidates exceeded 72.9% of the total in 2010 and 2015, 97.4% in 2017, and 91.7% in 2019.

Boundaries

Parliament approved the recommendation of the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies to create this new ("cross-border") constituency as a consequence of

losing one parliamentary seat following more rapid population increase in other regions. The constituency contained the following electoral wards: * From the City of Leeds: Ardsley and Robin Hood; Morley North; Morley South. * From the City of Wakefield: Stanley and Outwood East; Wrenthorpe and Outwood West.2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England
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Members of Parliament

Official portrait of Mrs Andrea Jenkyns MP crop 3

Election results 2010–2024

Elections in the 2010s

Notes

References

External links

Morley and Outwood UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Authority control Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2010 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024 Politics of Leeds