Wakefield
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Wakefield in West Yorkshire
Outline map
Location of West Yorkshire within England
CountyWest Yorkshire
Electorate70,509 (December 2019)[1]
Major settlementsWakefield, Ossett
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentSimon Lightwood (Labour)
SeatsOne
1832–1997
SeatsOne
Type of constituencyBorough constituency
Created fromYorkshire

Wakefield is a constituency created in 1832, represented by Simon Lightwood of the Labour Party since 2022.

The seat is due to be abolished for the next general election.[2]

Boundaries

1885-1918: The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the parish of Sandal Magna as lies to the north-east of the Great Northern and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, being the portion known as Belle Vue.[3]

1918–1950: The County Borough of Wakefield.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Wakefield, the Urban District of Horbury, and part of the Rural District of Wakefield.[4]

1955–1983: The County Borough of Wakefield, the Urban Districts of Horbury and Royston, and part of the Rural District of Wakefield.[5]

1983–1997: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury, Wakefield Central, Wakefield East, Wakefield North, Wakefield Rural, and Wakefield South.

1997–2010: The City of Wakefield wards of Wakefield Central, Wakefield East, Wakefield North, and Wakefield Rural, and the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Denby Dale and Kirkburton.

2010–present: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury and South Ossett, Ossett, Wakefield East, Wakefield North, Wakefield Rural, and Wakefield West.

Latest boundary changes

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which altered this constituency for the 2010 general election, removing all three rural wards from the neighbouring borough of Kirklees that reached far to the south-west[n 1] and instead adding wards from the abolished Normanton constituency to the immediate west, since which time the seat has comprised three-quarters of the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield along with Ossett, Horbury and small outlying settlements.

The far eastern suburbs of the city and its southern part falls within the Wakefield South ward and this is in the Hemsworth seat, the largest towns of which are, by a small margin, the towns of South Elmsall and South Kirkby, which form a contiguous settlement 7 miles (11 km) to the east.[6][7]

Proposed abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be abolished for the next general election, with its contents split in two:[2]

  • The urban areas of Wakefield itself (Wakefield East, Wakefield North and Wakefield West wards) to be included in the newly created constituency of Wakefield and Rothwell
  • The majority of the electorate, comprising the outlying towns and rural areas (Horbury and South Ossett, Ossett and Wakefield Rural wards) will be part of the new constituency of Ossett and Denby Dale

History

Predecessor seats

Electors of the area, since five years before the Model Parliament of 1295 until 1826 had entitlement to vote for the two representatives for Yorkshire, the largest county in the country. Parliament legislated for, from an unusual disfranchisement in 1826 of a Cornish rotten borough, two additional MPs.[n 2] From April 1784 until September 1812, one of the two members elected was William Wilberforce, internationally recognised as a leading figure in abolitionism (the anti-slavery movement). The large county was given far greater representation by the Reform Act 1832: Belle Vue's electors until 1885, alongside other Forty Shilling Freeholders non-resident in the Parliamentary Borough of Wakefield itself but owning such property in any part of the county division could elect the two members for that division: this became the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1832 until 1865 (which had its polling place in this city), after which, the relevant county subdivision became the Southern West Riding until 1885.

Creation

Wakefield became a county division under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, drawing in, as an extension, the Belle Vue area of the parish of Sandal Magna.[8]

Summary of results

Wakefield returned Labour MPs from 1932 to 2017. The size of majority had fluctuated between absolute and marginal.[n 3] The 2015 result gave the seat the 27th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[9] In 2019, Wakefield lost the Labour majority and returned the first Conservative MP in 87 years.

The seat was represented from 2019 to 2022 by Imran Ahmad Khan, who was elected as a member of the Conservative Party. Ahmad Khan was found guilty in 2022 of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008 serving an 18 month jail term[10] resulting in his resignation as an MP. This triggered a by-election. His resignation became effective on 3 May 2022, when he was appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.[11] A by-election was held on 23 June to replace him. Looked on as a key "Red Wall" seat, Labour regained the constituency with a substantial 12.7% swing.

Opposition parties

From 1923 until 2019 the runner-up candidate was a Conservative. Six non-Labour candidates stood in 2015 of whom two, those which were Conservative and from UKIP won more than 5% of the vote, keeping their deposits.

Prominent frontbenchers

Rt Hon Arthur Greenwood was succeeded by Clement Attlee as leader of the Opposition in 1945, a few months before the party's landslide election victory. He had been from 1929 to 1931 the Minister of Health in the Second MacDonald ministry. In this role he successfully steered the Housing Act 1930 through both Houses of Parliament under the minority government, which expended more significant subsidies for slum clearance, allowing more affordable, spacious housing to be built for residents of slums. When the wartime coalition government was formed, Winston Churchill appointed him to the British War Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in 1940. He was generally seen in such a role as of little wartime legislative effect, but in May 1940 he emerged as Churchill's strongest and most vocal supporter in the lengthy War Cabinet debates on whether to accept or reject a peace offer from Germany.[12] Without the vote in favour of fighting on by Greenwood and Clement Attlee, Churchill would not have had the slim majority he needed to do so.[13]

Rt Hon Arthur Creech Jones was Secretary of State for the Colonies from October 1946 until February 1950, appropriately given that in June 1936 he pressed the Government, who were encouraging Colonies to set up memorials to King George V, to follow the example of Uganda and set up a technical educational institution.[14] The Labour Party nominated him to the Colonial Office's Educational Advisory Committee in 1936, on which he served for nine years. In 1937, he was a founding member of the Trades Union Congress Colonial Affairs Committee, and in 1940 he founded the Fabian Colonial Bureau.

Mary Creagh held various shadow cabinet posts between 2010 and 2015.[15] She resigned her post following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour party leader.[16]

Turnout

Turnout in general elections since 1918 has ranged between 54.5% in 2001 and 87.3% in 1950.

Constituency profile

The constituency has a rolling landscape with villages surrounding the city of Wakefield which is well connected to West Yorkshire in particular Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield, however also via two junctions of the M1 to the west, to South Yorkshire such as Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield. The small city itself has a large central trading and industrial estate, a central park, Clarence Park which includes a national athletics training squad, a Rugby League major team, Wakefield Trinity and its own Cathedral. Wakefield Europort employs approximately 3,000 people, a major rail-motorway hub for Northern England imports and exports with EU countries. Horbury and Ossett and towns in the low foothills of the Pennines. In the far west of the constituency, there is the National Coal Mining Museum for England, on the site of the old Caphouse Colliery.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 slightly higher than the regional average of 4.9%, at 5.3% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, which is also higher than the national average of 3.8%.[17]

Of the council wards, the Wakefield East and Wakefield North areas regularly return Labour councillors, whereas the others are marginal. The Ossett ward is particularly unpredictable, and has elected Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and UKIP councillors since 2005. The other wards are contested between Labour and Conservative. Between 1997 and 2010 the constituency included the wards of Denby Dale and Kirkburton, generally Conservative-voting suburbs of Huddersfield in the neighbouring Kirklees borough. These joined Dewsbury, in the same borough, in 2010.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[18]Party
1832 Daniel Gaskell Radical[19]
1837 William Lascelles Conservative[19]
1841 Joseph Holdsworth Whig[19][20][21]
1842 by-election William Lascelles Conservative[19]
1847 George Sandars Conservative
1857 John Charlesworth Conservative
1859 William Henry Leatham Liberal
1862 by-election John Dalrymple-Hay Conservative
1865 William Henry Leatham Liberal
1868 Somerset Beaumont Liberal
1874 Edward Green Conservative
1874 by-election Thomas Kemp Sanderson Conservative
1880 Robert Bownas Mackie Liberal
1885 by-election Edward Green Conservative
1892 Albany Charlesworth Conservative
1895 William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam Conservative
1902 by-election Edward Brotherton Conservative
1910 (December) Arthur Marshall Liberal
1918 Edward Brotherton Conservative
1922 Robert Ellis Conservative
1923 George Sherwood Labour
1924 Geoffrey Ellis Conservative
1929 George Sherwood Labour
1931 George Hillman Conservative
1932 by-election Arthur Greenwood Labour
1954 by-election Arthur Creech Jones Labour
1964 Walter Harrison Labour
1987 David Hinchliffe Labour
2005 Mary Creagh Labour
2019 Imran Ahmad Khan Conservative
June 2021[22] Independent
2022 by-election Simon Lightwood Labour

Elections

Results over time

Elections in the 2020s

2022 Wakefield by-election[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Simon Lightwood 13,166 47.9 +8.1
Conservative Nadeem Ahmed 8,241 30.0 −17.3
Independent Akef Akbar 2,090 7.6 New
Yorkshire David Herdson 1,182 4.3 +2.4
Green Ashley Routh 587 2.1 New
Reform UK Chris Walsh 513 1.9 New
Liberal Democrats Jamie Needle 508 1.8 −2.1
Britain First Ashlea Simon 311 1.1 New
Freedom Alliance Mick Dodgson 187 0.7 New
Monster Raving Loony Sir Archibald Stanton Earl 'Eaton 171 0.6 New
CPA Paul Bickerdike 144 0.5 New
English Democrat Therese Hirst 135 0.5 New
UKIP Jordan Gaskell 124 0.5 New
NIP Christopher Jones 84 0.3 New
Independent Jayda Fransen 23 0.1 New
Majority 4,925 17.9 N/A
Turnout 27,466 39.5 −24.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +12.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Wakefield[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Imran Ahmad Khan 21,283 47.3 +2.3
Labour Mary Creagh 17,925 39.8 −9.9
Brexit Party Peter Wiltshire 2,725 6.1 New
Liberal Democrats Jamie Needle 1,772 3.9 +1.9
Yorkshire Ryan Kett 868 1.9 −0.6
Independent Stephen Whyte 454 1.0 New
Majority 3,358 7.5 N/A
Turnout 45,027 64.1 −1.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +6.1
General election 2017: Wakefield[25][26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary Creagh 22,987 49.7 +9.4
Conservative Antony Calvert 20,811 45.0 +10.8
Yorkshire Lucy Brown 1,176 2.5 New
Liberal Democrats Finbarr Cronin 943 2.0 −1.5
Independent Wajid Ali 367 0.8 New
Majority 2,176 4.7 −1.4
Turnout 46,284 65.8 +4.9
Labour hold Swing −0.7
General election 2015: Wakefield[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary Creagh 17,301 40.3 +1.0
Conservative Antony Calvert 14,688 34.2 −1.4
UKIP Alan Hazelhurst 7,862 18.3 New
Liberal Democrats Finbarr Cronin 1,483 3.5 −12.8
Green Rebecca Thackray 1,069 2.5 +0.5
TUSC Mick Griffiths 287 0.7 New
CISTA Elliot Barr 283 0.7 New
Majority 2,613 6.1 +2.4
Turnout 42,973 60.9 −1.8
Labour hold Swing +1.3
General election 2010: Wakefield[28][29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary Creagh 17,454 39.3 −4.8
Conservative Alex Story 15,841 35.6 +9.1
Liberal Democrats David Smith 7,256 16.3 −2.5
BNP Ian Senior 2,581 5.8 +2.7
Green Miriam Hawkins 873 2.0 −1.0
Independent Mark Harrop 439 1.0 New
Majority 1,613 3.7 −8.6
Turnout 44,444 62.7 +1.3
Labour hold Swing −6.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Wakefield[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary Creagh 18,802 43.3 −6.6
Conservative Alec Shelbrooke 13,648 31.5 +0.9
Liberal Democrats David Ridgway 7,063 16.3 +3.9
BNP Grant Rowe 1,328 3.1 New
Green Derek Hardcastle 1,297 3.0 +0.4
UKIP John Upex 467 1.1 −0.5
English Democrat Adrian McEnhill 356 0.8 New
Socialist Alternative Mick Griffiths 319 0.7 New
Socialist Labour Linda Sheridan 101 0.2 −1.3
Majority 5,154 11.8 −7.5
Turnout 43,381 59.3 +4.8
Labour hold Swing −3.7
General election 2001: Wakefield[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Hinchliffe 20,592 49.9 −7.5
Conservative Thelma Karran 12,638 30.6 +2.1
Liberal Democrats Dale Douglas 5,097 12.4 +1.2
Green Sarah Greenwood 1,075 2.6 New
UKIP Janice Cannon 677 1.6 New
Socialist Labour Abdul Aziz 634 1.5 New
Socialist Alliance Mick Griffiths 541 1.3 New
Majority 7,954 19.3 −9.6
Turnout 41,254 54.5 −14.6
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Wakefield[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Hinchliffe 28,977 57.4 +6.8
Conservative Jonathan Peacock 14,373 28.5 −9.8
Liberal Democrats Douglas Dale 5,656 11.2 +0.1
Referendum Simon Shires 1,480 2.9 New
Majority 14,604 28.9 +16.6
Turnout 50,486 68.9 −7.3
Labour hold Swing
General election 1992: Wakefield[33][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Hinchliffe 26,964 50.6 +4.0
Conservative David P. Fanthorpe 20,374 38.3 −3.0
Liberal Democrats Tim J. Wright 5,900 11.1 −1.0
Majority 6,590 12.3 +7.0
Turnout 53,238 76.2 +0.6
Labour hold Swing +3.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Wakefield[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Hinchliffe 24,509 46.6 +4.2
Conservative Norman Hazell 21,720 41.3 +1.7
SDP Lutfe Kamal 6,350 12.1 −7.2
Majority 2,789 5.3
Turnout 52,579 75.6
Labour hold Swing
General election 1983: Wakefield[36]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 19,166 40.4
Conservative Norman Hazell 18,806 40.0
SDP David Carlton 9,166 19.3
BNP V Parker 295 0.6 New
Majority 360 0.4
Turnout 47,433 69.33
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 27,124 50.90
Conservative J Sheard 19,571 36.73
Liberal N Collins-Tooth 6,059 11.37
National Front A Cooper 530 0.99 New
Majority 7,553 14.17
Turnout 53,284 75.57
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 25,616 54.82
Conservative EJL Koops 12,810 27.41
Liberal A Fussey 8,304 17.77
Majority 12,806 27.41
Turnout 46,730 70.23
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 27,032 51.34
Conservative EJL Koops 15,614 29.65
Liberal A Fussey 10,009 19.01
Majority 11,418 21.69
Turnout 52,655 79.87
Labour hold Swing
General election 1970: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 27,352 58.08
Conservative Dale Smith 15,668 33.27
Liberal Nancy Seear 4,071 8.64 New
Majority 11,684 24.81
Turnout 47,081 72.65
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 28,907 65.39
Conservative Ron Benson 15,299 34.61
Majority 13,608 30.78
Turnout 44,206 73.38
Labour hold Swing
General election 1964: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Walter Harrison 26,315 55.45
Conservative John Spence 14,385 30.31
Liberal John M. Collins 6,753 14.23 New
Majority 11,930 25.14
Turnout 47,453 77.97
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Creech Jones 29,705 59.63
Conservative Michael Jopling 20,114 40.37
Majority 9,591 19.26
Turnout 49,819 81.95
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Creech Jones 28,180 60.45
Conservative Denton Hinchcliffe 18,435 39.55
Majority 9,745 20.90
Turnout 46,615 77.92
Labour hold Swing
By-election 21 October 1954: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Creech Jones 21,822 58.14 −0.14
Conservative Maurice Macmillan 15,714 41.86 +0.14
Majority 6,108 16.28 −0.28
Turnout 37,536
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Greenwood 27,100 58.28
Conservative Maurice Grant 19,398 41.72
Majority 7,702 16.56
Turnout 46,498 85.27
Labour hold Swing
General election 1950: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Greenwood 25,996 55.38
Conservative Harry Watson 15,925 33.92
Liberal Stanley Berwin 5,022 10.70
Majority 10,071 21.46
Turnout 46,943 87.31
Labour hold Swing

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Greenwood 14,378 54.75
Conservative Harry Watson 8,268 31.49
Liberal George Leonard Jack Oliver 3,613 13.76 New
Majority 6,110 23.26
Turnout 26,259 80.37
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Greenwood 15,804 56.03
Conservative AE Greaves 12,400 43.97
Majority 3,404 12.06
Turnout 28,204 84.91
Labour hold Swing
1932 Wakefield by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Greenwood 13,586 50.6 +8.0
Conservative A. E. Greaves 13,242 49.4 −8.0
Majority 344 1.2 N/A
Turnout 26,828 83.0 −2.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1931: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Hillman 15,881 57.43
Labour George Sherwood 11,774 42.57
Majority 4,107 14.86 N/A
Turnout 27,655 85.53
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Wakefield [37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Sherwood 13,393 48.8 +0.9
Unionist Geoffrey Ellis 10,180 37.1 −15.0
Liberal Leonard Parish 3,875 14.1 New
Majority 3,213 11.7 N/A
Turnout 27,448 85.6 +5.8
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +7.9
General election 1924: Wakefield[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Geoffrey Ellis 11,086 52.1 +15.3
Labour George Sherwood 10,192 47.9 +8.0
Majority 894 4.2 N/A
Turnout 21,278 84.8 +3.9
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +3.6
General election 1923: Wakefield [37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Sherwood 7,966 39.9 −8.6
Unionist Geoffrey Ellis 7,345 36.8 −14.7
Liberal Eric John Lassen 4,640 23.3 New
Majority 621 3.1 N/A
Turnout 19,951 80.9 −3.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +3.0
General election 1922: Wakefield[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Geoffrey Ellis 10,416 51.5 −0.8
Labour Albert Bellamy 9,798 48.5 +14.8
Majority 618 3.0 −15.6
Turnout 20,214 84.4 +12.3
Unionist hold Swing −7.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Wakefield[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Edward Brotherton 9,128 52.3
Labour Albert Bellamy 5,882 33.7 New
Liberal Arthur Marshall 2,448 14.0
Majority 3,246 18.6 N/A
Turnout 17,458 72.1
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Arthur Marshall
General election December 1910: Wakefield[38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Arthur Marshall 2,837 51.7 New
Conservative Edward Brotherton 2,651 48.3 -6.2
Majority 186 3.4 N/A
Turnout 5,488
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A
General election January 1910: Wakefield[38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Brotherton 3,121 54.5 +13.7
Labour Stanton Coit 2,602 45.5 +8.6
Majority 519 9.0 +5.1
Turnout 5,723 90.5 +2.0
Conservative hold Swing +2.5

Elections in the 1900s

Coit
General election 1906: Wakefield[38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Brotherton 2,285 40.8 N/A
Labour Repr. Cmte. Stanton Coit 2,068 36.9 N/A
Liberal Thomas Snape 1,247 22.3 New
Majority 217 3.9 N/A
Turnout 5,600 88.5 N/A
Registered electors 6,326
Conservative hold Swing N/A
1902 Wakefield by-election[39][38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Brotherton 2,960 59.9 N/A
Labour Repr. Cmte. Philip Snowden 1,979 40.1 New
Majority 981 19.8 N/A
Turnout 4,939 80.9 N/A
Registered electors 6,103
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1900: Wakefield[38][40]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Wakefield[40][41]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam 2,864 56.9 +2.7
Liberal Henry Smithson Lee Wilson 2,165 43.1 −2.7
Majority 699 13.8 +5.4
Turnout 5,029 87.5 −2.8
Registered electors 5,748
Conservative hold Swing +2.7
General election 1892: Wakefield[40][41]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Albany Charlesworth 2,582 54.2 +0.5
Liberal Thomas Young Strachan[42] 2,178 45.8 −0.5
Majority 404 8.4 +1.0
Turnout 4,199 90.3 +2.8
Registered electors 5,274
Conservative hold Swing +0.5

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Wakefield[40][41]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Green 2,253 53.7 0.0
Liberal John James Cousins[43] 1,946 46.3 0.0
Majority 307 7.4 0.0
Turnout 4,199 87.5 −4.6
Registered electors 4,801
Conservative hold Swing 0.0
General election 1885: Wakefield[40][41]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Green 2,374 53.7 +8.7
Liberal Wentworth Beaumont[44] 2,049 46.3 −8.7
Majority 325 7.4 N/A
Turnout 4,423 92.1 +2.0
Registered electors 4,801
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +8.7
By-election, 4 July 1885: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Green 1,918 53.6 +8.6
Liberal William Hartley Lee[46] 1,661 46.4 −8.6
Majority 257 7.2 N/A
Turnout 3,579 88.9 −1.2
Registered electors 4,026
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +8.6
  • Caused by Mackie's death.
General election 1880: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Bownas Mackie 2,194 55.0 +7.6
Conservative Thomas Kemp Sanderson 1,796 45.0 −7.6
Majority 398 10.0 N/A
Turnout 3,990 90.1 +3.2
Registered electors 4,430
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +7.6

Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 6 May 1874: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Kemp Sanderson 1,814 52.7 +0.1
Liberal Robert Bownas Mackie 1,627 47.3 −0.1
Majority 187 5.4 +0.2
Turnout 3,441 88.5 +1.6
Registered electors 3,889
Conservative hold Swing +0.1
  • Caused by the previous election being declared void on petition, on account of corruption.[47]
General election 1874: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Green 1,779 52.6 +3.3
Liberal Robert Bownas Mackie 1,600 47.4 −3.3
Majority 179 5.2 N/A
Turnout 3,379 86.9 +2.3
Registered electors 3,889
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +3.3

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Somerset Beaumont 1,557 50.7 −1.9
Conservative Thomas Kemp Sanderson 1,512 49.3 +1.9
Majority 45 1.4 −3.8
Turnout 3,069 84.6 −4.2
Registered electors 3,627
Liberal hold Swing −1.9
General election 1865: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Henry Leatham 507 52.6 +2.4
Conservative John Dalrymple-Hay 457 47.4 −2.4
Majority 50 5.2 +4.8
Turnout 964 88.8 −2.9
Registered electors 1,086
Liberal hold Swing +2.4
By-election, 28 February 1862: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Dalrymple-Hay 455 51.6 +1.8
Liberal Richard Smethurst[48] 426 48.4 −1.8
Majority 29 3.2 N/A
Turnout 881 85.5 −6.2
Registered electors 1,086
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +1.8
  • The writ, which had been suspended on 27 July 1859 with Leatham unseated due to being guilty of bribery via his agents,[49] was restored and a by-election was called.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Henry Leatham 406 50.2 New
Conservative John Charlesworth 403 49.8 N/A
Majority 3 0.4 N/A
Turnout 809 91.7 N/A
Registered electors 882
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A
General election 1857: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Charlesworth Unopposed
Registered electors 906
Conservative hold
General election 1852: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Sandars 359 52.4 −7.9
Whig William Henry Leatham[50] 326 47.6 +7.9
Majority 33 4.8 −15.8
Turnout 685 89.4 −5.9
Registered electors 766
Conservative hold Swing −7.9

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Sandars 392 60.3 +12.5
Radical George William Alexander[51][52] 258 39.7 −12.5
Majority 134 20.6 N/A
Turnout 650 95.3 +11.6
Registered electors 682
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +12.5

On petition, Holdsworth was disqualified due to also being the returning officer at the election, and Lascelles was declared elected on 21 April 1842.[53]

General election 1841: Wakefield [45]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Joseph Holdsworth 328 52.2 N/A
Conservative William Lascelles 300 47.8 −4.4
Majority 28 4.4 N/A
Turnout 628 83.7 −0.1
Registered electors 750
Whig gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Wakefield [45][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Lascelles 307 52.2 +7.9
Radical Daniel Gaskell 281 47.8 −7.9
Majority 26 4.4 N/A
Turnout 588 83.8 +3.2
Registered electors 702
Conservative gain from Radical Swing +7.9
General election 1835: Wakefield [45][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Radical Daniel Gaskell 277 55.7
Conservative William Lascelles 220 44.3
Majority 57 11.4
Turnout 497 80.6
Registered electors 617
Radical hold
General election 1832: Wakefield [45][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Radical Daniel Gaskell Unopposed
Registered electors 726
Radical win (new seat)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The wards of: Denby Dale and large parts of Almondbury, and Kirkburton
  2. ↑ This Cornish seat was a 19th-century byword for corruption, Grampound.
  3. ↑ The Labour majority in 1966 was the greatest at 30.8% of the vote; that in 1983 was the narrowest since 1932, at 360 votes, see incumbent MP Walter Harrison (Lab) who did not stand for re-election in 1987.

References

  1. ↑ "Constituency data: electorates – House of Commons Library". Parliament UK. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – Yorkshire and the Humber | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
  4. ↑ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
  5. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Wakefield and Hemsworth) Order 1955. SI 1955/175". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2177–2178.
  6. ↑ 2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England
  7. ↑ Grid Reference Finder distance tools
  8. ↑ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Schedule 5. Contents and Boundaries of Boroughs with altered Boundaries
  9. ↑ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Imran Ahmad Khan: MP guilty of sex assault on 15-year-old boy". BBC News. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  11. ↑ Hughes, David; Blewett, Sam; Prest, Victoria (3 May 2022). "Disgraced Imran Ahmad Khan formally quits as Wakefield MP". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Jenkins, Roy, Churchill: A Biography (London, Macmillan, 2001), page 601
  13. ↑ Marr, Andrew: A History of Modern Britain (2009 paperback), page xvii
  14. ↑ "Parliament", The Times, 18 June 1936.
  15. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Mary Creagh". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Andy Burnham and John McDonnell get top jobs in Corbyn's shadow cabinet". The Daily Telegraph. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  17. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  18. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 171. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via Google Books.
  20. ↑ "The General Election". The Spectator. 26 June 1841. p. 6. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  21. ↑ "Election Prospects". Morning Post. 16 June 1841. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ↑ "Tory MP faces trial over alleged 2008 assault on 15-year-old boy". The Guardian. 18 June 2021.
  23. ↑ "Wakefield Constituency Parliamentary by Election – Thursday, 23 June 2022". Wakefield Council. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  24. ↑ "Wakefield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  25. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Wakefield". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  27. ↑ "Wakefield parliamentary constituency – Election 2017 – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  28. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Wakefield". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  30. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  31. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  32. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  34. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  35. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  36. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  39. ↑ "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36725. London. 26 March 1902. p. 10.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36697. London. 21 February 1902. p. 8.
  41. 1 2 3 4 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  42. ↑ "Strachan, Thomas Young". The Times. 1 July 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  43. ↑ "Yesterday's Nominations". London Evening Standard. 2 July 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  44. ↑ "Liberal Meeting at Wakefield. Adoption of Candidate". Barnsley Chronicle. 31 October 1885. p. 8. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  46. ↑ "Summary of News". Sheffield Independent. 3 July 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 14 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  47. ↑ "Wakefield Election Petition". Londonderry Sentinel. 25 April 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  48. ↑ "Wakefield Election". Nottinghamshire Guardian. 28 February 1862. p. 8. Retrieved 21 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  49. ↑ "Imperial Parliament". North Wales Chronicle. 30 July 1859. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 21 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  50. ↑ "The Elections". Leeds Intelligencer. 10 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  51. ↑ "English Cities and Boroughs". Globe. 20 August 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  52. ↑ "Leeds Intelligencer". 31 July 1847. p. 5. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  53. ↑ "Election Committees". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 29 April 1842. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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