The seat was created as
Barnsley East in 1983 and later abolished in 1997 to create
Barnsley East and Mexborough. It was recreated as Barnsley East at the
2010 general election. Eight candidates competed for the seat in the 2010 general election; however, the largest two opposition parties failed to gain more than 18.2% each and the winning candidate
Michael Dugher managed to obtain 47% of all votes despite the presence of a candidate from the
Socialist Labour Party. Although the percentage decline in the Labour vote was the largest in the country (at nearly 24%), they still won the seat safely. In 2017,
Stephanie Peacock succeeded Dugher as MP for Barnsley East. Both between 1983 and 1997, and at the 2010 general election, this constituency had been a
safe seat for the
Labour Party, as indeed was its temporary replacement, Barnsley East and Mexborough. After the 2019 general election however, this constituency became a marginal seat, with Labour's vote share dropping by 21.9% and their majority cut to just 8.4% after a strong challenge by the
Brexit Party. ==Boundaries==