General election 2010: Pudsey brings good news for Tories in need
By Sasjkia Otto
Conservative Stuart Andrew has won Pudsey, number 98 on the party’s target list.
The Tories won 39% of the vote with a 1,659 majority and an eight per cent swing from Labour.
With 35% of the vote, Labour’s Jamie Hanley dropped ten percentage points from 2005 and lost the seat for the first time since 1997.
Before Labour won this seat, Pudsey had been in Tory hands since 1950 when it was recreated. The Conservatives thus saw Pudsey as somewhere they could expect to make headway.
The Liberal party had a relatively strong presence in this area during the 1980s but recently the Liberal Democrats have struggled in Pudsey and not challenged either the Conservatives or Labour.
The constituency boasts some fame including the original Harry Ramsden Fish Restaurant in Guiseley and Horsforth, the largest village in the UK.
