High Peak (constituency)

High Peak is a rural constituency in Derbyshire, covering a large part of the Peak District National Park, and is coterminous with the local government district of the same name. Its largest town is Buxton, which has a population of around 20,000.^[2] Other towns in the constituency include Glossop, New Mills, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Whaley Bridge and Hadfield. Buxton is a historic spa town of Roman origins, and is popular with tourists.^[3] Glossop and New Mills are traditionally industrial, particularly in coal mining and textile manufacturing. The area is generally upland and has closer transport connections to nearby Manchester and Sheffield than with Derby and the rest of the East Midlands. The constituency has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in Buxton and Hadfield whilst the rural areas are more affluent.^[4] House prices across the constituency are below the national average but above the rest of the East Midlands.^[5]

Residents of High Peak are generally older and well-educated compared to the rest of the country. Household income is higher than the regional average and a high proportion of residents work in the manufacturing and tourism sectors.^[5][6] White people made up 97% of the population at the 2021 census.^[5] At the local council level, most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party, especially in the north around Glossop, particularly in the Manchester overspill Estate of Gamesley.Conservative councillors were elected in the areas surrounding Buxton. An estimated 51% of voters in High Peak supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, similar to the nationwide figure.^[5]

1885–1918: The Borough of Glossop, and the Sessional Divisions of Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and Glossop.

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the Urban District of New Mills, the Rural Districts of Glossop Dale and Hayfield, and parts of the Rural Districts of Bakewell and Chapel-en-le-Frith.

1950–1983: The Boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the Urban Districts of New Mills and Whaley Bridge, and the Rural District of Chapel-en-le-Frith.

1983–2010: The Borough of High Peak, and the District of West Derbyshire wards of Bradwell, Hathersage and Tideswell.

2010–present: The Borough of High Peak.

The boundaries were unchanged by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.^[7]

The constituency covers much of northern Derbyshire and represents most of the west of the Peak District which encircles Buxton and Glossop.^[8] Crowden, Tintwistle and Woodhead (formerly within the boundaries of Cheshire and in the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency) were brought into the seat in the boundary changes for the 1983 general election. The constituency boundaries became co-terminous with the local government district at the 2010 general election.

The seat was created in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Since 1910, the seat has returned mostly Conservative MPs apart from during three periods. A Labour MP was elected for the first time in 1966, but was unseated at the next general election. Labour gained the seat at the 1997 general election and retained it at the following two general elections during the Blair ministry, but it was regained by the Conservatives at the 2010 general election. It was regained by Labour at the 2017 general election when Ruth George gained the seat, the first time Labour had won the High Peak seat without winning the overall general election in its history.

North Derbyshire prior to 1885

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire