1885–1918: 1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Altofts, Castleford, Featherstone, Methley, Normanton, and Whitwood. 1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Normanton, Rothwell, and Stanley, in the Rural District of Tadcaster the parishes of Great and Little Preston, and Swillington, and in the Rural District of Wakefield the parishes of Crofton, Sharlston, and Warmfield-cum-Heath. 1983–1997: The City of Wakefield wards of Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe, and the City of Leeds ward of Rothwell. 1997–2010: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury, Normanton and Sharlston, Ossett, Stanley and Altofts, and Stanley and Wrenthorpe. The West Yorkshire constituency includes the towns of Normanton and Ossett and several villages. The area has a tradition of being working-class, but it has now become almost entirely gentrified as nearby Leeds has expanded as a financial centre. Ossett is now actually the largest town in the area, due to its high growth in recent years. The Tory vote is very low in Normanton itself and in Ossett, but councillors have been elected for Horbury and for Wrenthorpe. Until recently the LibDems had all three councillors for the Ossett ward, but have never performed well in general elections, in this area. Stanley and Outwood East is a fairly safe Labour ward. The constituency is nicknamed the banana constituency on account of its unusual shape. The village of Altofts, located just to the north of Normanton, was included in the constituency, despite being part of a Castleford ward, and due to move into a proposed "Pontefract and Castleford" seat.
Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England had created a Normanton and Pontefract constituency. In late May 2006, the Commission published a revised recommendation changing the name of this constituency to Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. Local newspapers and the Labour Party opposed the initial change, but following a public consultation the Commission decided to create the seat conceding only a name change – from Pontefract and Castleford, to Normanton and Pontefract. This was extended to cover all three names. The wards of Wrenthorpe and Outwood West and Stanley and Outwood East – the most affluent parts of the constituency – were joined to the Conservative-leaning commuter town of Morley, which is in the Leeds district, as Morley and Outwood. At the time local groups and newspapers protested that this represented a takeover of the Wakefield district by the Leeds district. An early concern of the Labour Party was that Morley and Outwood would be won by the Conservatives, which ultimately did happen at the 2015 general election. Ossett and Horbury were moved to the Wakefield constituency.
General Election 1914/15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
General Election 1939/40 Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
