Sheffield Central
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 13978 (46.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 9171 (30.6%)
Conservative: 3165 (10.6%)
Other: 3662 (12.2%)
Majority: 4807 (16%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 3094 (10.3%)
Labour: 14950 (49.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 7895 (26.3%)
BNP: 539 (1.8%)
Green: 1808 (6%)
UKIP: 415 (1.4%)
Other: 1284 (4.3%)
Majority: 7055 (23.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 3289 (10.9%)
Labour: 18477 (61.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 5933 (19.7%)
UKIP: 257 (0.9%)
Green: 1008 (3.4%)
Other: 1105 (3.7%)
Majority: 12544 (41.7%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 4341 (11.9%)
Labour: 23179 (63.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 6273 (17.2%)
Referendum: 863 (2.4%)
Other: 1763 (4.8%)
Majority: 16906 (46.4%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Richard Caborn(Labour) He will stand down at the next election (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Paul Blomfield (Labour) Educated at York University. Qualified teacher, manager of University of Sheffield Student Union.
Paul Scriven (Liberal Democrat) born 1966, Huddersfield. Educated at Manchester University. Former hospital manager. Sheffield City councillor and Liberal Democrat group leader since 2002.
Jillian Creasy (Green) Part time GP. Sheffield councillor since 2004.
Jeffery Shaw (UKIP)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 90150
Male: 50.3%
Female: 49.7%
Under 18: 17.6%
Over 60: 15.9%
Born outside UK: 12.5%
White: 83.7%
Black: 3.7%
Asian: 7.9%
Mixed: 2.4%
Other: 2.2%
Christian: 55.1%
Hindu: 0.8%
Muslim: 8.4%
Full time students: 25.6%
Graduates 16-74: 26.8%
No Qualifications 16-74: 25.1%
Owner-Occupied: 42.8%
Social Housing: 34.3% (Council: 25.3%, Housing Ass.: 9%)
Privately Rented: 19.6%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 10.1%
Labour have bucked the trend somewhat in Manchester I have to agree and should Gerald Kaufman fight again in Gorton he should hold on but with a much reduced margin possibly 2500. If does stand down that would open up the seat to a photo finish
Yet at local level Labour have lost control in Sheffield on a couple of occasions in the past 5 years, something they haven’t done in Manchester, and are not the force they once were which is another reason I feel they are vunerable in Central
If Gerald Kaufman was retiring I would believe that Labour would lose Manchester Gorton, whereas his incumbancy will save them by around 2000.
Labour will find defending seats from the LD’s difficult as it will stretch their resources to the limit.
When you consider H & WG or Man With in 2005, Labour would need to cover 30 to 40 seats, of which the revised Sheffield Central will be a major target.
The fact that the LD’s leaders seat is a Sheffield seat will help the LD’s to possible success in other Sheffield seats like Penistone & Stockbridge or Sheffield Central.
I think local factors too will play a role here too.
The LD candiddate is leader of the Council and from what i see and what locals tell me , he and the Ld are proving to be quite popular. I think this backed by labours poor standing at a national level and their non existant candidate here this looks like a good bet for the LD’s to gain
Is there any evidence that the swing to minor parties reported in recent national opinion polls will benefit the Greens here, given that they already save their deposit?
I think this is now going to be a very close seat indeed looking at the Europe results I see that Labour was doen 9% in Sheffield.
I do think this could be a shock result as I have said it will come down to how well Scriven does as Leader of the Council. So far I get feed back on the whole people feel he is out there doing a good job batting for Sheffield.
If the Lib Dems are on 31% notionally then this is a very realistic possibility. They did it in Hallam in ‘97
I agree the Hallam seats that with a notional split like this , this could be a coup for the Lib Dems.
The fact that so many students now live in the seat in my view makes it an even better punt for the Lib Dems
It will be close but I think one to watch