1997

G Pope
Labour
26,831
55.58%
P Britcliffe
Conservative
15,383
31.87%
L Jones
Lib Dem
4,141
8.58%
P Congdon
Referendum
1,627
3.37%
J Brown
Ind
290
0.60%
Electorate: 66,931; Turnout: 72.12%; Lab majority 11,448 (23.72%); Swing from Con to Lab of 10%
2001
Greg Pope
Labour
20,900
54.7%
Peter Britcliffe
Conservative
12,681
33.2%
Bill Greene
Lib Dem
3,680
9.6%
John Tomlin
UKIP
982
2.6%
Electorate 66,533; Turnout 57.5%; Majority 8,219 (21.5%); Swing from Con from Lab of 1.1%