Election 97

Batley and Spen

Current MP Elizabeth Peacock (a??)
Conservative 97 17,072
Labour 97 23,213
LibDem 97 4,133
Nationalist 97 0
Other 97 856
Elected party
Batley and Spen

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Batley and Spen
Conservative 92 22,676
Labour 92 21,831
LibDem 92 5,757
Nationalist 92 0
Other 92 520
Elected party Conservative

Elizabeth Peacock managed to hold on to Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire for the Tories with no swing at all against her in 1992 - a notable achievement for an active local MP. However, she will indeed be fortunate to repeat this performance in 1997.

The largest town in the constituency, Batley, has always been inclined to Labour and was, before 1983, part of the safe Labour Batley and Morley division. The smaller towns and communities in the Spen Valley are solidly white and possessed of conservative cultural values, but the numbers residing in that section have been reduced by over 12,000 by the removal of the town of Heckmondwike, now in the Dewsbury seat. This effectively halves Mrs Peacock's majority, which was only 1,400 last time, and unless she produces another aberrantly good result for the Conservatives, Labour will now start as favourites to win Batley and Spen at the forthcoming general election.


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