Labour majorities from 1935 until 2019 were substantial, making it one of the party's safe seats. In 2010, the closest runner-up was the Liberal Democrat candidate. In 2015, UKIP came second, with nearly 22% of the vote, beating both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats (the Liberal Democrat vote declining by 18%). In 2019, a collapse in the Labour vote reduced the party's majority to a little over 4,000 votes, making it a marginal seat between them and the Conservative Party.
In statistics
The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of local government districts with a working population whose income is close to or slightly below the national average, and close to average reliance upon social housing.[3] At the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 4.4% of the population claiming jobseekers' allowance (see table).[4]
The district contributing to the seat has a medium 33% of its population without a car.[n 5] A medium 24.3% of the city's population are without qualifications, a high 15.8% of the population with level 3 qualifications and a medium 25.7% with level 4 qualifications or above. In terms of tenure a relatively low 58.3% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage by occupants as at the 2011 census across the district.[5]