Barnsley East

The parliamentary constituency of Barnsley East in South Yorkshire was originally created in 1983.  The seat was abolished to make way for the newly-named Barnsely East and Mexbrorough in 1997, but will be recreated as Barnsley East at the 2010 general election. 

The new seat extends southward to include wards from the old Barnsley West and Penistone constituency and Cudworth returns from Barnsley Central.

Surrounding the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley's eastern outskirts, the constituency is made up of a group of small towns originally built for the coal industry.

Former miner Terry Patchett was the Member of Parliament from 1983 until his death in 1996 and Jeff Ennis won the subsequent by-election for Labour in December 1996.

Boundary Review

The 2013 Review of Parliamentary constituency boundaries will introduce substantial changes, reducing the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 502.   The Boundary Commission has released its proposals for the new boundaries in South Yorkshire.  Click here to see the proposed new constituency maps for Barnsley and the whole of South Yorkshire.