UK Explained

Rochdale

Represented in Parliament by Paul Waugh (Labour (Co-op)). Here is who won the last general election here, and a few numbers about the area.

Your MP at a glance

Paul Waugh, Labour. Open their full page →

These describe the record. They do not say why an MP voted or claimed as they did.

How Rochdale compares

Every dot is one of the 631 areas that have figures. The large red dot is this area; green dots are areas like it.

TYPICAL FULL-TIME PAY, A WEEK

This area is 517 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £689£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 614 areas and lower than 34.

UK 3.9%This area 6.8%0.0%12.0%

Areas like this one

The three areas with the closest pay and claimant rate. This says nothing about politics or geography.

AreaWeekly payClaimants
Rochdale£6896.8%
Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough£6896.6%
Leeds East£6946.6%
Wolverhampton South East£6737.0%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in Rochdale

From the 2021 Census, next to the figure for England and Wales as a whole. Census day was 21 March 2021, so some things will have changed.

About the areaThis areaEngland and WalesCompared
Number of people102,89859,597,740 in total
Aged under 1623%18%4 points higher
Aged 65 and over15%19%4 points lower
Adults with a degree or higher26%34%8 points lower
Households that own their home58%62%4 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association22%17%5 points higher
Households renting privately20%20%about the same

Source: ONS, Census 2021 (England and Wales), via the UK Data Service statistics portal. Fetched 2026-10-04. These describe who lives here. They do not explain how anyone votes.

WINNER, 2024
Paul Waugh

Labour

MAJORITY
1,440

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
55%

of people who could vote did

Paul Waugh won with 33% of the votes, and George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain) came second with 29%.

Votes for each party

Labour33% · 13,027
Workers Party of Britain29% · 11,587
Reform UK17% · 6,773
Conservative11% · 4,273
Liberal Democrat7% · 2,816
Green Party3% · 1,212
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Paul WaughLabour13,02732.8%
George GallowayWorkers Party of Britain11,58729.2%
Michael HowardReform UK6,77317.1%
Paul EllisonConservative4,27310.8%
Andy KellyLiberal Democrat2,8167.1%
Martyn SavinGreen Party1,2123.1%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£689 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
6.8%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Updated 4 Oct 2026