From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oldham West and Royton Borough constituency
Oldham West and Royton shown within Greater Manchester, and Greater Manchester shown within England
Created:	1997
MP:	Michael Meacher
Party:	Labour
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Greater Manchester
EP constituency:	North West England

Oldham West and Royton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The constituency is one of three covering the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It covers most of the western part of the borough, including Chadderton and Royton, but not Failsworth which is in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

In July 2006 fourteen representations were received by the Boundary Commission for England, which called for the inclusion of Chadderton in the name of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency. Many of the objectors pointed out that Chadderton was much larger and more populous than Royton.

However the commission rejected the proposed alternative name (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) because it was too long and they did not believe that there was a significant amount of support for a name change.^[1]

The present constituency was formed in 1997, from parts of the former Oldham Central and Royton and Oldham West constituencies. It is a safe seat for the Labour Party, having been held by Michael Meacher since the 1997 general election. Meacher had previously been the MP for Oldham West since 1970.

The constituency gained a level of notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate. Griffin received over 6,500 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place, and finishing narrowly behind the Conservatives in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the serious race riots that had occurred in Oldham (and other northern towns) a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth".^[2]

Since the riots in Oldham the BNP have received considerable support in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, the BNP has consistently finished in second place behind the Labour Party in all the local council elections since 2002 ^[3] beating the more established Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

At the 2005 election, the BNP's share of the vote declined (although they still retained their deposit), and Labour's Michael Meacher still won comfortably.

• 1997 – present: Michael Meacher, Labour

1. ^ Final Recommendations for Parliamentary Counstituency Boundaries in Greater Manchester, Boundary Commission for England, published July 19, 2006. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
2. ^ BNP: Under the Skin, BBC News. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
3. ^ Election Results Oldham Council Website.

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester