Constituency view

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Yorkshire and The Humber, England

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Yvette Cooper

Labour

Female

Majority6,630

Turnout48.2%

Electorate74,618

Valid votes35,957

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour17,089 - 47.5%

Reform10,459 - 29.1%

Conservative5,406 - 15.0%

Green1,651 - 4.6%

Lib Dem1,213 - 3.4%

Other139 - 0.4%

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Benefits bill · 2025/26

£289,328,377

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£2,750 total benefits bill per resident · 22% above average

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley: £2,750
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 147 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£289,328,377	161/575
Change over 2 years	+20.2%
Median local wage (2025)	£35,995

Universal Credit£159,015,531
£1,511 per resident · 13,614 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 6,035 · 1 in 11 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£70,273,507
£668 per resident · 9,698 claimants (+16.2% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,519 · 36% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 4,653
Disability Living Allowance£19,505,608
£185 per resident · 3,214 claimants
Housing Benefit£17,068,789
£162 per resident · 2,462 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£13,003,768
£124 per resident · 2,087 claimants
Carer's Allowance£10,461,174
£99 per resident · 2,412 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 96.5%White British 92.6%Asian 1.3%Black, African or Caribbean 0.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.1%Other 0.3%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 97.7%White British 96.0%Asian 1.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.5%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.7%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 98.9%White British 98.0%Asian 0.6%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.4%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 99.3%White British N/AAsian 0.5%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (2021)

UK 94.2%Other EU 3.8%Other countries 2.0%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (2011)

UK 96.7%Other EU 1.6%Other countries 1.7%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (2001)

UK 98.3%Other EU 0.5%Other countries 1.2%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (1991)

UK 98.5%Other EU 0.7%Other countries 0.7%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley	National	Difference	Rank
% White	96.5%	83.0%	+13.4pp	141/650
% White British	92.6%	74.4%	+18.2pp	131/632
% Asian	1.3%	8.6%	-7.3pp	515/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	0.8%	3.7%	-2.9pp	387/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	1.1%	2.7%	-1.6pp	528/650
% Other ethnic group	0.3%	2.0%	-1.6pp	584/650
% UK-born	94.2%	84.0%	+10.2pp	143/650
% Non-UK-born	5.8%	16.0%	-10.2pp	508/650
% Other EU-born	3.8%	6.0%	-2.1pp	383/650
% Other countries-born	2.0%	10.1%	-8.1pp	608/650
% Christian	50.2%	46.7%	+3.5pp	197/575
% Muslim	0.6%	6.3%	-5.8pp	451/575
% Hindu	0.2%	1.6%	-1.4pp	471/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	366/575
% Jewish	0.0%	0.5%	-0.4pp	509/575
% Buddhist	0.2%	0.4%	-0.2pp	478/575
% Other religion	0.4%	0.6%	-0.2pp	471/575
% No religion	42.8%	37.0%	+5.8pp	141/575
% Religion not stated	5.5%	6.0%	-0.5pp	403/575
% Has any religion	51.6%	57.0%	-5.4pp	410/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.