On top of things

My old constituency of Morley and Rothwell was built on shifting electoral sands, which is to say the Boundary Commission was always changing it, more so than any other Leeds seat. Despite the heart of it—Morley—having been pretty solid Labour since the 1930s, significant bits were always being added on and taken off at each boundary review. My claim to have represented Hugh Gaitskell’s old seat rested on one ward, Middleton, which was removed in 2010. Still the loss of that one ward shouldn't have led to the wholescale collapse in the Labour vote in the new seat of Morley and Outwood in 2010, and then defeat in 2015. As they say, candidates lose elections (and agents supposedly win them). Anyway, the Boundary Commission has moved the boundaries yet again, and the seat is now called Leeds South West and Morley. It could just as easily be called the M62. Electoral Calculus suggests the new seat will be taken by Labour with just over 50% of the vote. Andrea Jenkyns, the Tory Boris-loving MP will be out on her ear. Her replacement will be Leeds councillor and maths teacher Mark Sewards, who was chosen from a shortlist of two. I wish him all the best, in the hopes that he is not a Starmeroid. Big fingers crossed on that one. After all, when searching for the current Morley Labour Party on Google, this search result came up. That’s encouraging.