Wakefield (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°40′59″N 1°29′56″W / 53.683°N 1.499°W

Wakefield
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	71,531 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Mary Creagh (Labour)
Number of members	One
1832–1997
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Yorkshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Wakefield is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Mary Creagh, a member of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Wakefield.

1950-1983: The County Borough of Wakefield, the Urban District of Horbury, and part of the Rural District of Wakefield.

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 wards from Kirklees that reached far to the south-west^{[n 3]} 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.^[2][3]

History

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 4]} 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. 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.^[4]

Political history

Wakefield has returned Labour MPs since 1932 and since 1983^{[n 5]} has witnessed medium to large majorities, presenting a safe seat for the party, but as of the 2010 general election the majority has moved into the bounds of marginality at 3.6% of the vote. In all general elections since 1923 the runner-up candidate has been a Conservative.

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 1929-1931 the Minister of State (present equivalent: Secretary of State) for Health under 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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, since October 2010 has been the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, succeeding Rt Hon Hilary Benn.

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, the Wildcats and its own Cathedral. Wakefield Europort employs approximately 3,000 people, a major rail-motorway hub for Northern England imports and exports with other 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%.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[9]	Party	Notes
	1832	Daniel Gaskell	Liberal
	1837	William Saunders Sebright Lascelles	Conservative
	1841	Joseph Holdsworth	Liberal
	1842	William Saunders Sebright Lascelles	Conservative
	1847	George Sandars	Conservative
	1857	John Charlesworth Dodgson-Charlesworth	Conservative
	1859	William Henry Leatham	Liberal Party (UK)
	July 1859	Both candidates disqualified for bribery, and borough went unrepresented until new writ issued
	1862 by-election	John Charles Dalrymple Hay	Conservative
	1865	William Henry Leatham	Liberal
	1868	Somerset Archibald Beaumont	Liberal
	1874	Edward Green	Conservative	Election declared void on petition
	1874 by-election	Thomas Kemp Sanderson	Conservative
	1880	Robert Bownas Mackie	Liberal	Died in office
	1885 by-election	Edward Green	Conservative
	1892	Albany Hawkes Charlesworth	Conservative
	1895	Viscount Milton	Conservative	Succeeded his grandfather in 1902 as the 7th Earl FitzWilliam
	1902 by-election	Edward Allen Brotherton	Conservative
	1910 (December)	Arthur Harold Marshall	Liberal
	1918	Edward Allen Brotherton	Conservative
	1922	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	Conservative
	1923	George Henry Sherwood	Labour
	1924	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	Conservative
	1929	George Henry Sherwood	Labour
	1931	George Brown Hillman	Conservative	Died in office
	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

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Wakefield[10][11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Creagh	17,301	40.3	+1.0
	Conservative	Antony Calvert	14,688	34.2	−1.5
	UKIP	Alan Hazelhurst	7,862	18.3	+18.3
	Liberal Democrat	Finbarr Cronin	1,483	3.5	−12.9
	Green	Rebecca Thackray	1,069	2.5	+0.5
	TUSC	Mick Griffiths	287	0.7	+0.7
	CISTA	Elliot Barr	283	0.7	+0.7
Majority			2,613	6.1
Turnout			42,973	60.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.3

General Election 2010: Wakefield[12][13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Creagh	17,454	39.3	−4.8
	Conservative	Alex Story	15,841	35.6	+9.1
	Liberal Democrat	David Stewart 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	+1.0
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[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Creagh	18,802	43.3	−6.6
	Conservative	Alec Shelbrooke	13,648	31.5	+0.9
	Liberal Democrat	David Ridgway	7,063	16.3	+3.9
	BNP	Grant Rowe	1,328	3.1	N/A
	Green	Derek Hardcastle	1,297	3.0	+0.4
	UKIP	John Upex	467	1.1	−0.5
	English Democrats	Adrian McEnhill	356	0.8	N/A
	Socialist Alternative	Mick Griffiths	319	0.7	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Linda Sheridan	101	0.2	−1.3
Majority			5,154	11.9	−7.6
Turnout			43,381	59.3	+4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.7

General Election 2001: Wakefield[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hinchliffe	20,592	49.9	−7.5
	Conservative	Thelma Karran	12,638	30.6	+2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Dale Douglas	5,097	12.4	+1.2
	Green	Sarah Greenwood	1,075	2.6	N/A
	UKIP	Janice Cannon	677	1.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Abdul Aziz	634	1.5	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Mick Griffiths	541	1.3	N/A
Majority			7,954	19.3	−9.6
Turnout			41,254	54.5	−14.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wakefield[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hinchliffe	28,977	57.4	+6.8
	Conservative	Jonathan Peacock	14,373	28.5	−9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Douglas Dale	5,656	11.2	+0.1
	Referendum	Simon Shires	1,480	2.9	N/A
Majority			14,604	28.9	+16.6
Turnout			50,486	68.9	−7.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Wakefield[17][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hinchliffe	26,964	50.6	+4.0
	Conservative	David P. Fanthorpe	20,374	38.3	−3.0
	Liberal Democrat	Tim J. Wright	5,900	11.1	−1.0
Majority			6,590	12.4	+7.1
Turnout			53,238	76.2	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Wakefield[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hinchliffe	24,509	46.61
	Conservative	NJ Hazell	21,720	41.31
	Social Democratic	L Kamal	6,350	12.08
Majority			2,789	5.30
Turnout				75.57
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Wakefield[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Harrison	19,166	40.41
	Conservative	NJ Hazell	18,806	39.65
	Social Democratic	D Carlton	9,166	19.32
	BNP	V Parker	295	0.62
Majority			360	0.76
Turnout				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
Majority			7,553	14.17
Turnout				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	27.40
Turnout				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	21.68
Turnout				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	Beatrice Nancy Seear	4,071	8.64
Majority			11,684	24.81
Turnout				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				73.38
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Wakefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Harrison	26,315	55.45
	Conservative	John Deane Spence	14,385	30.31
	Liberal	John M. Collins	6,753	14.23
Majority			11,930	25.14
Turnout				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	Thomas Michael Jopling	20,114	40.37
Majority			9,591	19.25
Turnout				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	20.91
Turnout				77.92
	Labour hold		Swing

By-election 21 October 1954: Wakefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Creech Jones	21,822
	Conservative	Maurice Victor Macmillan	15,714
Majority			6,108
Turnout
	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				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 Jack Berwin	5,022	10.70
Majority			10,071	21.45
Turnout				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
Majority			6,110	23.27
Turnout				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	12.07
Turnout				84.91
	Labour hold		Swing

Wakefield by-election, 1932
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Greenwood	13,586	50.6
	Conservative	A. E. Greaves	13,242	49.4
Majority			344
Turnout				83.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1931: Wakefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Brown Hillman	15,881	57.43
	Labour	George Henry Sherwood	11,774	42.57
Majority			4,107	14.85
Turnout				85.53
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Wakefield [21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Henry Sherwood	13,393	48.8	+0.9
	Unionist	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	10,180	37.1	-15.0
	Liberal	Leonard Parish	3,875	14.1	n/a
Majority			3,213	11.7	15.9
Turnout				85.6	+5.8
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+7.9

General Election 1924: Wakefield[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	11,086	52.1	+15.3
	Labour	George Henry Sherwood	10,192	47.9	+8.0
Majority			894	4.2	7.3
Turnout				84.8	+3.9
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+3.6

General Election 1923: Wakefield [23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Henry Sherwood	7,966	39.9	-8.6
	Unionist	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	7,345	36.8	-14.7
	Liberal	Eric John Lassen	4,640	23.3	n/a
Majority			621	3.1	6.1
Turnout				80.9	-3.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+3.0

General Election 1922: Wakefield[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert Geoffrey Ellis	10,416	51.5	-0.8
	Labour	Albert Bellamy	9,798	48.5	+14.8
Majority			618	3.0	-15.6
Turnout				84.4	+12.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	-7.8

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Wakefield[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Edward Allen Brotherton	9,128	52.3
	Labour	Albert Bellamy	5,882	33.7
	Liberal	Sir Arthur Harold Marshall	2,448	14.0
Majority			3,246	18.6
Turnout				72.1
	Unionist hold		Swing

• endorsed by 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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Arthur Harold Marshall
• Unionist: Edward Allen Brotherton

Arthur Marshall

General Election December 1910: Wakefield[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	2,837	51.7	n/a
	Conservative	Edward Allen 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[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Allen Brotherton	3,121	54.5	+13.7
	Labour	Stanton George Coit	2,602	45.5	+8.6
Majority			519	9.0	+5.1
Turnout				90.5	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906: Wakefield[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Allen Brotherton	2,285	40.8
	Labour	Stanton George Coit	2,068	36.9
	Liberal	Thomas Snape	1,247	22.3	n/a
Majority			217	3.9
Turnout				88.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wakefield by-election, 1902[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Allen Brotherton	2,960	59.9
	Ind. Labour Party	Philip Snowden	1,979	40.1
Majority			981	19,8
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

Lord Milton was re-elected unopposed in the 1900 General election.^[30]

General election 1895:Wakefield[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Milton	2,884	56.9
	Liberal	H. S. L. Wilson	2,185	43.1
Majority			699	13,8
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1892:Wakefield[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albany Hawkes Charlesworth	2,582	54.2
	Liberal	T. Y. Strachan	2,178	45.8
Majority			404	8,4.4
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886:Wakefield[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Edward Green	2,253	53.7
	Liberal	J. J. Cousins	1,946	46.3
Majority			307	7.4
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wakefield by-election, 1885[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Green	2,374	53.7
	Liberal	W. C. Beaumont	2,049	46.3
Majority			325	7.4
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. The wards of: Denby Dale and large parts of Almondbury, and Kirkburton
4. This Cornish seat was a 19th century byword for corruption, Grampound.
5. The majority in 1983 was the narrowest since 1932, at only 360 votes, see Walter Harrison.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. 2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England
3. Grid Reference Finder distance tools
4. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Schedule 5. Contents and Boundaries of Boroughs with altered Boundaries
5. Jenkins, Roy, Churchill: A Biography (London, Macmillan, 2001), page 601
6. Marr, Andrew: A History of Modern Britain (2009 paperback), page xvii
7. "Parliament", The Times, 18 June 1936.
8. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Wakefield". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Wakefield". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
24. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
25. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
26. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
27. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
28. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
29. "Election intelligence" The Times (London). Wednesday, 26 March 1902. (36725), p. 10.
30. "Election intelligence" The Times (London). Friday, 21 February 1902. (36697), p. 8.