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Parliamentary constituency

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Current MP, latest election result, geographic context and official constituency information.

At a glance

Current MP
Yvette Cooper
Party
Labour
Latest election
4 July 2024
Electorate
74,618
Turnout
48.2%
Majority
6,630

Where is Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley?

The map shows this constituency alongside neighbouring parliamentary constituencies for geographic context.

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley Normanton and Hemsworth Leeds East Selby Doncaster North Wakefield and Rothwell Barnsley North Leeds South Ossett and Denby Dale Doncaster Central Leeds North East Wetherby and Easingwold Leeds Central and Headingley Leeds South West and Morley Dewsbury and Batley Leeds West and Pudsey Penistone and Stocksbridge Spen Valley Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme Bradford East Bradford South Huddersfield Goole and Pocklington England
Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Boundary data: ONS Open Geography Portal.

Local context

About this constituency

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley is a constituency in the Yorkshire and The Humber region of England. The seat has been held by Yvette Cooper (Labour) since July 2024.

Current MP

Yvette Cooper MP

Labour

Represents Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley in the House of Commons.

Latest election

2024 General Election

Held on 4 July 2024

Winning party
Labour
Majority
6,630
Turnout
48.2%
Full candidate result (6 candidates)
CandidatePartyVotesShareChange
Yvette CooperElectedLabour17,08947.5%9.3%
John ThomasReform UK10,45929.1%13.3%
Laura WeldonConservative5,40615.0%-20.5%
Olli WatkinsGreen Party1,6514.6%
Jamie NeedleLiberal Democrat1,2133.4%-3.4%
Trevor LakeSocial Democratic Party1390.4%

Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.

People and place

A population and household snapshot for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.

Estimated population105,210
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationYorkshire and The Humber

Age profile

0 to 1721.3% · 22,459 people
18 to 246.5% · 6,846 people
25 to 3414.8% · 15,601 people
35 to 4919.3% · 20,256 people
50 to 6419.9% · 20,965 people
65 and over18.1% · 19,083 people

Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗

Home ownership and renting

Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.

44,132 householdsCensus 2021
Home owners62.7% · 27,686 households
Private renters13.9% · 6,115 households
Social renters22.5% · 9,938 households
Other tenure0.9% · 393 households

“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.

Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗

Household composition

A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.

44,132 householdsCensus 2021
One-person households30.1% · 13,262 households
Families with dependent children28.2% · 12,434 households
Other single-family households39.1% · 17,260 households
Other household types2.7% · 1,176 households

Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗

Disability and day-to-day activities

The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

100,909 people in the source baseCensus 2021Source comparison: England & Wales
Day-to-day activities limited a lot9.7% · 9,813 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little11.2% · 11,298 people
Not disabled under the Equality Act79.1% · 79,798 people

Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.

Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗

Petitions

Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.

Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.

Open petitionCloses 24 September 2026

Legislate to ban FPNs and prosecutions related to school attendance

Signatures in this constituency483
Signatures nationally129,565

Government response published · 100,000-signature debate threshold reached

Open petitionCloses 6 September 2026

Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office

Signatures in this constituency390
Signatures nationally206,593

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 6 July 2026

Open petitionCloses 12 September 2026

Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership

Signatures in this constituency377
Signatures nationally244,689

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 29 June 2026

Open petitionCloses 10 October 2026

Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth

Signatures in this constituency272
Signatures nationally112,993

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 7 September 2026

Open petitionCloses 1 October 2026

Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership

Signatures in this constituency217
Signatures nationally196,369

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 14 September 2026

View 74 more petitions
Open petitionCloses 17 October 2026

Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills

Signatures in this constituency116
Signatures nationally110,856

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 6 July 2026

Open petitionCloses 21 October 2026

Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases

Signatures in this constituency69
Signatures nationally105,312

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 19 October 2026

Open petitionCloses 20 November 2026

Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks

Signatures in this constituency50
Signatures nationally118,715

Government response published · 100,000-signature debate threshold reached

Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗

Funding and local projects

National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.

The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.

Grants recorded43
Total awarded£1,853,818

Most recent awards

National Lottery grantAwarded 28 May 2026

Help Towards costs

Airedale Baby and Children's Bank

£6,000

The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment

About this award

Airedale Baby and Children's Bank - Children & Young People - National Lottery Awards for All England

National Lottery grantAwarded 27 May 2026

From Cloud to Green – Rainwater Recycling for Sustainability

Glasshoughton Bowling Club

£11,500

Sport England · Sport

About this award

A project to supply and install a pop-up sprinkler water irrigation system that will use collected rainwater to water and maintain the green. Costs include facility alteration with ground works to lay pipes from existing supply tanks to the green.

National Lottery grantAwarded 30 April 2026

Tigers Youth Club

Tigers Trust

£50,000

The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment

About this award

Tigers Trust - Community - Million Hours Fund Phase 3

National Lottery grantAwarded 23 April 2026

Expanding Access to Scuba Diving

Pontefract Scuba Club - Bsac190

£10,536

Sport England · Sport

About this award

This project will replace old, outdated equipment and purchase new female-specific equipment. 8 sets of equipment will be purchased. Funding is also requested to train 6 new instructors (including travel and accommodation).

National Lottery grantAwarded 15 April 2026

Floodlights

Pontefract Rugby Football Club Limited

£15,000

Sport England · Sport

About this award

This project will purchase and install LED floodlights to the club's main training pitch. The floodlights will increase their winter training capacity, allowing parallel sessions across age groups. Funding will cover purchase and contractor installation.

38 more awards are available.

Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗

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