Barnsley Central

Barnsley Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Barnsley Central in South Yorkshire.
Location of South Yorkshire within England.
County	South Yorkshire
Population	85,714 (2011 census)
Electorate	64,732 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Barnsley, Royston
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Dan Jarvis (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Barnsley, Wakefield
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Coordinates: 53°33′14″N 1°28′48″W / 53.554°N 1.480°W / 53.554; -1.480

Barnsley Central is a constituency in South Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Dan Jarvis of the Labour Party.

Barnsley Central is generally an urban seat and has a large majority of its population on middle or low incomes, with most of the large former mining towns social housing contained within it. It has been held by the Labour Party since 1983 on large majorities, like its main predecessor, making it a safe seat.

Created in 1983, Barnsley Central covers a similar area to that of the former Barnsley constituency. The seat was held by almost a year from May 2010 by Eric Illsley as an independent MP after he was suspended from the Labour party over the expenses row and he led to its becoming vacant on 8 February 2011.

On 12 January 2011 having admitted the crime of fraud over his expenses, Illsley announced the intention to stand down from Parliament, necessitating a by-election in early 2011. On 8 February 2011 Ilsley resigned his seat before he was due to be sentenced for fraudulently claiming parliamentary expenses. The by-election was held on 3 March 2011 and was won by Dan Jarvis for the Labour Party. The Labour majority and share of the vote rose to give an absolute majority, on a turnout 20% lower than in the General Election, meanwhile the Conservative share of the vote fell steeply to just 8.3%, less than UKIP on 12.2%.