UK Explained

Wakefield and Rothwell

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

Your MP at a glance

Simon Lightwood, Labour. Open their full page →

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

How Wakefield and Rothwell 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 386 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £729£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 515 areas and lower than 133.

UK 3.9%This area 4.7%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
Wakefield and Rothwell£7294.7%
Knowsley£7304.7%
Eastbourne£7274.9%
Southampton Test£7404.6%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in Wakefield and Rothwell

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 people106,03159,597,740 in total
Aged under 1619%18%about the same
Aged 65 and over18%19%1 points lower
Adults with a degree or higher27%34%7 points lower
Households that own their home60%62%2 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association23%17%6 points higher
Households renting privately16%20%4 points lower

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
Simon Lightwood

Labour

MAJORITY
9,346

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
54%

of people who could vote did

Simon Lightwood won with 44% of the votes, and David Dews (Reform UK) came second with 21%.

Votes for each party

Labour44% · 17,773
Reform UK21% · 8,427
Conservative18% · 7,322
Liberal Democrat8% · 3,249
Green Party6% · 2,389
Workers Party of Britain2% · 705
Everyone else2% · 791
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Simon LightwoodLabour17,77343.7%
David DewsReform UK8,42720.7%
Arnold CravanConservative7,32218.0%
Stewart GoltonLiberal Democrat3,2498.0%
Ash RouthGreen Party2,3895.9%
Keith MasonWorkers Party of Britain7051.7%
Brent HawksleyThe Yorkshire Party6061.5%
Nicholas SandersSocial Democratic Party1850.5%

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
£729 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
4.7%
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