The area is in the rolling Pennines of West Yorkshire with considerable commerce, industry, retail and occupational trades carried out by most of its residents and a sizeable retired population, compared to city centres. A lower percentage of social housing is present than the regional average, however most of the larger settlements have some social housing. The population in the district is diverse. Cleckheaton and many of the towns in the Spen Valley have few residents from non-white heritage backgrounds, while Batley has a sizeable number of residents with South Asian backgrounds, namely Pakistani and Indian . Heckmondwike also has a well-established South Asian community with 16.9% residents having Pakistani heritage. The results of the last fifty years show marginal majorities for Labour and for the Conservatives.
Boundaries
1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and Spen. 1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, and Spen. 2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Batley East, Batley West, Birstall and Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and Liversedge and Gomersal. The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats of Batley and Morley, Brighouse and Spenborough and Dewsbury. This West Yorkshire constituency covers Batley, Birkenshaw, Birstall, Cleckheaton, East Bierley, Gomersal, Hunsworth, and Liversedge. Traditionally Batley and Heckmondwike have been inclined to vote Labour, while the other settlements have been more inclined to vote Conservative. The exception is Cleckheaton which has returned Liberal Democrat members for the local council. The seat swung in Labour's favour in the elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 though the Conservatives reduced the Labour majority in 2010 with a swing below the national average.
History
The seat did not exist in its present form prior to 1983. It has seen significant boundary changes since its creation – most notably those changes that took effect for the 1997 general election. The town of Heckmondwike was part of the seat from its creation in 1983 until 1997, when it was transferred to Dewsbury. Heckmondwike was returned to Batley and Spen for the 2010 general election. The electoral ward of Heckmondwike was considered part of the Spen Valley. Heckmondwike ward was for many years a Labour stronghold, but in the 2000s elected two BNP councillors. The BNP councillors were narrowly defeated by Labour in 2007 and 2008. A by-election in 2016 occurred as a result of the murder of Jo Cox, the sitting MP. Cox died on 16 June 2016, after being shot and stabbed multiple times by a man associated with far-right organisations. The Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, UK Independence Party and the Green Party all announced they would not contest the by-election as a mark of respect.
a. Swing is calculated from the 2015 election, not the 2016 by-election which was not contested by major parties. Aleks Lukic's vote change is in comparison to the 2015 election, when he stood as a UKIP candidate.
