Prior to 1997 all the county seats were held by the Conservatives. Northampton North was seen as the swing seat in that election. If the swing had been uniform (which it never is) – winning Northampton North would have given Labour a majority in the House of Commons. It was therefore a centre of attention for Labour; the Conservatives – and the media. In fact five of the six seats fell to Labour. Kettering and Wellingborough were retaken by the Tories in 2005.Northampton South was the real surprise of 1997. Tony Clarke became the Labour MP for the following two parliaments. He has subsequently broken with the Labour Party and has been an independent Councillor in Northampton. He could play a decisive role in the outcome of the 2010 election. The seat loses important affluent areas to the new constituency of Northamptonshire South. It will be treated as a notional Labour seat with a majority of 1,445 (3.78%). The current Conservative MP, Brian Binley faces Labour’s Clyde Loakes and the Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Varnsverry. Binley is a self-made businessman of Northamptonshire working class origin. The seat covers the centre and south of the older parts of Northampton as well as new estates in Ecton Brook and the Hunsburys.
Sally Keeble has represented the North Division since 1997 and had a majority of 3,960 in 2005. With boundary changes she is defending a notional majority of 3,340. It is the 80th most vulnerable Labour seat and 84 on the Tories target list. If this were the worst Labour loss, there would be a hung parliament with Labour and the Tories having almost exactly the same number of seats. The Tory candidate is Michael Ellis and the Liberal Democrat is Andrew Simpson.
Northampton North contains the wards of Abington; Boughton Green; Eastfield; Headlands; Kingsley; Kingsthorpe; Lumbertubs; Parklands; St David; & Thorplands.
