Constituency profile

Wakefield and Rothwell

Yorkshire and The Humber · Borough constituency

Simon Lightwood MP
Sitting MP

Simon Lightwood

Labour (Co-op)

First elected June 2022

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
Yorkshire and The Humber
Borough constituency
Last 5 GE winners
LCCCL
Conservative 3/5, Labour 2/5
EU referendum 2016
59.8% Leave
UK average 51.9%; +7.9pp above mean
Current outlook
Reform UK +6.8pp
Vulnerability score 9/10 (Labour projected to lose)
NorthernLeave-leaningWorking-class profile

About the Wakefield and Rothwell constituency

Wakefield and Rothwell is a borough constituency in Yorkshire and The Humber. The sitting MP is Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op)), first elected in June 2022. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 43.7% to 20.7% for Reform UK, a majority of 9,346 votes on a 54.2% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has Reform UK on 34.9% and Labour on 28.1%, a margin of 6.8 points - a projected change of hands from Labour.

Who lives in Wakefield and Rothwell? Constituency demographics

From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.

Leave vote 2016
59.8%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
27.0%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
22.7%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
59.8%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
39.5%
UK average ~36%
Median age
40.3
UK median ~40
Age 65+
21.4%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
29.9%
UK average ~28%

How did Wakefield and Rothwell vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?

2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.

2024 general election

Lab gain from Con · majority 9,346 votes (23.0pp) · turnout 54.2%

Current projection

If a general election were held today, at current poll average

Map of Wakefield and Rothwell

Switch between GE2024 ward winners (modelled estimates, ~4pp average error) and a demographic view from the 2021 Census. Hover any area for detail. How the map is built ›

Council layer (not Westminster)

Wakefield and Rothwell within Wakefield and Leeds

Wakefield and Rothwell crosses council boundaries: Wakefield (78%), Leeds (22%). The figures below are from the 7 May 2026 council elections where held, otherwise the most recent available ward result. About this layer ›

Council overlap

CouncilShare of seatProjection
Wakefield
50 LSOAs
78%View projection ›
Leeds
14 LSOAs
22%View projection ›

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward - May 2026 results where the council voted, otherwise the most recent available result. How this table is sourced ›

Ward GE2024 winner Latest council winner Shift since GE2024 Turnout
RothwellLabour 40.3%vs Reform 22.4%May 2026 Lib Dem 52.5%vs Reform 26.9%
Labour→Lib Dem
+35.7pp
45.3%
Stanley and Outwood EastLabour 44.3%vs Reform 20.7%May 2026 Reform 42.9%vs Labour 32.6%
Labour→Reform
+16.9pp
-
Wakefield EastLabour 47.1%vs Reform 22.4%May 2026 Reform 28.6%vs Labour 26.1%
Labour→Reform
+13.6pp
-
Wakefield NorthLabour 45.6%vs Reform 19.8%May 2026 Reform 35.2%vs Green 34.3%
Labour→Reform
+20.4pp
-
Wakefield WestLabour 43.4%vs Reform 23.9%May 2026 Reform 44.3%vs Labour 23.5%
Labour→Reform
+20.1pp
-
Wrenthorpe and Outwood WestLabour 43.2%vs Conservative 23.5%May 2026 Reform 42.2%vs Labour 21.2%
Labour→Reform
+24.2pp
-

Projection trajectory

PollCheck's projection for Wakefield and Rothwell at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.

Who has won Wakefield and Rothwell at past general elections?

2024 and notional 2019 rows are on current boundaries; 2010-2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time. More on boundaries ›

Year Result MP Lab Con LD Right (Ref/UKIP) Green Other Majority Turnout
2010predecessorLab holdEd Balls Morley and Outwood MP37.6%35.3%16.8%3.1% UKIP-7.2%1,10165.2%
2015predecessorCon gain from Lab CoopAndrea Jenkyns Morley and Outwood MP38.0%38.9%3.0%16.5% UKIP2.6%1.0%42263.6%-1.6
2017predecessorCon holdAndrea Jenkyns Morley and Outwood MP46.7%50.7%2.6%---2,10468.4%+4.8
2019notionalConservative winnerAndrea Jenkyns Morley and Outwood MP, pre-review boundary39.5%44.9%10.9%-1.0%3.7%2,62666.4%
2024Lab gain from ConSimon Lightwood43.7%18.0%8.0%20.7% Ref5.9%3.7%9,34654.2%-12.2

Wakefield and Rothwell was created or substantially redrawn by the 2023 boundary review. Pre-2024 rows below are for the predecessor seat Morley and Outwood (the seat that covered most of this area), so vote shares and majorities aren’t directly comparable to the post-2024 figures.

Constituencies most like Wakefield and Rothwell

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Wakefield and Rothwell. Politics shown for context.

What would change this seat?

Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.

Related

Sources

Every figure on this page is computed from the sources below. Read the full methodology ›

Show full source list
  • 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
  • Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
  • Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
  • Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
  • May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
  • Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
  • Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
  • EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
  • MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
  • Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
  • Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.

If you spot a data issue, please let us know.