Following its review of parliamentary representation in
South Yorkshire the
Boundary Commission for England recommended substantial changes to the constituency boundaries in Sheffield, to add part of the
Sheffield Hillsborough to the whole of the
Sheffield Brightside constituency (other than a handful of houses in the corner of Walkley). The rest of the Sheffield Hillsborough constituency formed the southern half of the new
Penistone and Stocksbridge seat. Since its creation, the seat has elected members of the
Labour Party; the last instance of either of the two predecessor seats being held by an MP from a party other than Labour was, for both, the period prior to the
1935 general election. Majorities since
World War II have been substantial suggesting a
safe seat on historic voting preferences. The constituency's representative from 2010 to 2015 was
David Blunkett, who also represented the predecessor Sheffield Brightside constituency since 1987. Blunkett was a former
frontbench senior minister who was a Secretary of State from 1997 until 2005 in the
Blair ministry. He served the first four years of government as the
Secretary of State for Education and Employment, three years as the
Home Secretary and six months as
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Blunkett retired from Parliament at the 2015 general election after representing Brightside/Brightside and Hillsborough for 28 years, the longest of any MP for the seat. The constituency representative from 2015 was
Harry Harpham until he died on 4 February 2016. He was succeeded by his widow,
Gill Furniss, who won a
by-election on 5 May 2016. ==Boundaries==