Although the constituency of Selby contains the largest worked coal field in Britain, the late arrival of the industry means this seat is not a typical of its kind as the seat had a history of returning Conservative MPs.
As coal has played a comparatively small part in Selby's history. The constituency's mainstay industries are agriculture and brewing, with many mineworkers commuting into the seat from outside. The flat farm land south of the city of York that characterises this constituency is prone to some of the worst flooding in England, and is punctuated by huge and modern power stations such as Drax near the A1(M) trunk road.
Other than the seat's burgeoning power industry, there are other points of interest in the Selby seat. The town has a 900-year-old abbey, Samuel Smith's brewery in Tadcaster, the University of York in Heslington and the Archbishop of York's palace at Bishopthorpe.