The placeConstituency · Yorkshire and The Humber · Electorate 74,618 · 2023 boundaries

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley.

Labour Party MP Yvette Cooper holds the seat on 47.5% of the vote.

Member of ParliamentYvette Cooper · Labour Party
CouncilWakefield
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001428
Electorate · 2024
74.6k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
47.5%
Labour Party · +18.4pp over Ref
Settlements
7
Largest: Castleford
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
28.1
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
2 Jun 2026

Yvette Cooper is one of the most prominent MPs in the current parliament -- she serves as Foreign Secretary, a role that has generated significant recent news coverage on both sides. She drew praise for publicly rebuking Donald Trump's threat to "wipe out Iranian civilisation" and for distancing the UK from US health aid cuts, declaring Britain "strongly disagrees" with Washington's approach. But she has also faced sharp criticism: one commentary accused her of misrepresenting the status of the Strait of Hormuz to prioritise shipping access over accountability for alleged Israeli violence, and her defence of a 40% foreign aid cut -- framed as necessary to fund increased defence spending -- has attracted criticism for the humanitarian consequences in sub-Saharan Africa. On the domestic side, she was credited with delivering Martyn's Law, the venue security legislation championed by the family of Manchester Arena bombing victim Martyn Hett.

Her voting participation rate of 30% -- well below the Commons average -- reflects the demands of a senior Cabinet role rather than disengagement; Foreign Secretaries routinely miss many divisions. When she does vote, she follows Labour's line without exception, backing the government on English devolution ping-pong and Crime and Policing Bill amendments in April. Her stance profile shows stronger-than-average Labour alignment on welfare reform and public services funding, and weaker alignment on welfare expansion and civil liberties.

Cooper has represented her West Yorkshire seat since 1997 and holds no select committee roles, consistent with Cabinet convention. Her 1,253 parliamentary contributions span crime, defence and immigration -- themes that map directly onto her ministerial brief. The mixed news sentiment (average score 0.09 across 92 articles) reflects a minister navigating genuinely difficult trade-offs between stated values and policy constraints. Voting data covers 153 recorded divisions.

47.5%
Lab vote · 2024 GE
1
Council overlapping the seat
6
Wards · 6 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.6 wards · 6 councillors

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Airedale Ferry Fryston Jackie Ferguson1,135Wakefield LabMay 2024
Altofts Whitwood Josie Pritchard1,684Wakefield LabMay 2024
Castleford Central Glasshoughton Richard Anthony Forster1,713Wakefield LabMay 2024
Knottingley Adele Hayes1,363Wakefield LabMay 2024
Pontefract North Helen Kirsty Antcliff1,717Wakefield LabMay 2024
Pontefract South Julie Craig1,925Wakefield LabMay 2024

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.7 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in Castleford (44,293), with Pontefract (32,973) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 100,301.

large-town 77,266town 14,337village 8,698

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Castleford44,293large town
Pontefract32,973large town
Knottingley8,410town
Normanton (Wakefield)5,927town
Holmfield4,430village
Rural & dispersed2,707village
Showing 6 of 7·All 7 settlements
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate57.2%57.1%0%
Owner-occupied62.7%63.1%-1%
Private rented14.0%20.0%-30%
Social rented23.2%16.8%+38%

Ethnicity.

White96.6%
Asian1.3%
Black0.7%
Mixed1.1%
Other0.3%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 48.9% Female 51.2% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£25,300
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£29,700
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
2,500
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
43
33 primary · 5 secondary
GCSE pass
62.9%
Attainment 8: 44.6

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£192m
Taxpayers54,000
Median per taxpayer£2,420
Mean per taxpayer£3,520

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by Wakefield. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
28.1
+36% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
9.4
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
43% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences12.0
Anti-social behaviour3.2
Shoplifting2.4
Criminal damage & arson1.9
Vehicle crime1.9
Public order1.6
Other theft1.6

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.1 contest · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Yvette CooperWONLab17,08947.5
John ThomasRef10,45929.1
Laura WeldonCon5,40615.0
Olli WatkinsGrn1,6514.6
Jamie NeedleLD1,2133.4
Trevor LakeInd1390.4

Turnout 35,957

Prior contests.

Created on the 2023 boundary review. 2024 General Election was the first contest on these boundaries.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission