Bradford

It is the second largest city in the region with a total area of 400 square km and, in 2003, had a population estimated at 477,800, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The environment is varied, from moorlands in the north and west, to the valleys and floodplains formed by river systems flowing through the district. Surprisingly, two-thirds of the district is rural and the topography means that most of the industrial and residential development has taken place along the valley bottoms, with the majority of the population living in the urban centres of Bradford, Shipley, Bingley, Keighley and Ilkley.

There are a wide range of habitats, from lowland grassland and upland pastures to woodlands, moorlands, river valleys, other watercourses and wetlands, including many reservoirs. The Bradford Biodiversity Action Partnership (led by the Council, along with other environmental agencies and the local community) is currently developing a Local Biodiversity Action Plan to protect a number of nationally and locally important species and habitats which are under threat.

The district has a large number of interesting and architecturally important buildings, mostly constructed from local stone, with 5,500 listed buildings and 57 conservation areas. The model village of Saltaire has also been listed as a World Heritage Site.

The Bradford district has approximately 200,000 homes. More than two-thirds of households live in semi-detached or terraced homes, with the remainder living in flats or detached properties. In the inner city the number living in terraced houses alone rises to 59 per cent. There are around 5,000 back-to-back houses in the district, and 60 per cent of these are in the inner city. The vast majority of properties have two or three bedrooms, although 24 per cent of properties in Wharfedale and 22 per cent in the inner city have four or more bedrooms.

Bradford and district has the region's third largest economy, accounting for nine per cent of all employment in the area and holding 9.1 per cent of the regional business stock.

The Annual Business Inquiry of 2002 showed that there were 14,582 business units within Bradford and district, employing 195,000 people.

The largest ward is City in Bradford West with a population of 18,570. Due to the number of students living in this area, a large proportion of the population are young people with nearly a quarter of them under 15 years of age, which is similar to the district average. However, more than one third are aged between 16 and 24.

At the opposite end of the scale is Wharfedale, where the population is 11,124, making it the smallest, yet with an age profile older than that of the district as a whole. Here, more than 18 per cent of the population is over 65 years of age, compared to 14.4 per cent for the whole district.

Each local authority is reviewed around every ten years by the Boundary Commission, an independent body which reviews the electoral arrangements of every local authority.

Changes in the number of people in the district and where they live, as well as predicted changes, led to alterations by the Commission to boundaries in most of the district's ward two years ago.

Last year many residents found themselves voting in a different ward. For instance, the Odsal ward disappeared with voters moving into Little Horton, Royds, Wibsey and Wyke wards. University ward was replaced by the new City and Manningham wards, Shipley West was renamed Shipley ward and Shipley East became Windhill & Wrose.

Another ward which no longer exists is Rombalds, where most voters moved into the new Wharfedale ward and some into Bingley ward.

Virtually all wards were changed in some way,  apart from Craven and Ilkley.

Ilkley ward contains the town of Ilkley, neighbouring Ben Rhydding and most of Ilkley Moor. It is a scenic and prosperous area, with many of its inhabitants commuting to Bradford and Leeds.

Craven is a largely rural ward and consists of the communities of Silsden and Steeton with Eastburn in Airedale and Addingham in Wharfedale.