Leeds North (UK Parliament constituency)

Leeds North
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire (now West Yorkshire)
1885–1955
Seats	One
Created from	Leeds
Replaced by	Leeds North East

Leeds North was a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leeds wards of Headingley and North West, and parts of the wards of Brunswick, North, and North East.

1918–1950: Parts of the County Borough of Leeds wards of Brunswick, Headingley, North, and North West.

1950–1951: The County Borough of Leeds wards of North, Roundhay, and Woodhouse.

1951–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Allerton, Moortown, Roundhay, and Woodhouse. ^[1]

History

The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was first used in the general election of that year. Leeds had previously been represented by two MPs (1832–1868) and three MPs (1868–1885). From 1885 it was represented by five single-member constituencies: Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North, Leeds South and Leeds West. The constituencies of Morley, Otley and Pudsey were also created in 1885.

The constituency was abolished in 1955. After the 1955 general election Leeds was represented by Leeds East (created 1885, abolished 1918, recreated 1955), Leeds North East (created 1918), Leeds North West (created 1950), Leeds South, and Leeds South East (created 1918). There were also constituencies of Batley and Morley (created 1918) and Pudsey (created 1885, replaced by Pudsey and Otley 1918–1950).

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1885	William Jackson	Conservative
	1902	Rowland Barran	Liberal
	1918	Alexander Farquharson	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Hugh Myddleton Butler	Unionist
	1923	Sir Gervase Beckett	Unionist
	1929	Osbert Peake	Unionist
1955		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Leeds North ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	4,494	51.5
	Liberal	Arthur Rucker	4,237	48.5
Majority			257	3.0
Turnout			8,731	86.2
Registered electors			10,128
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Leeds North ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	4,301	53.9	+2.4
	Liberal	Albert Osliff Rutson	3,682	46.1	−2.4
Majority			619	7.8	+4.8
Turnout			7,983	78.8	−7.4
Registered electors			10,128
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

Elections in the 1890s

1891 Leeds North by-election ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Jackson's appointment as Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Thomas Leuty

General election 1892: Leeds North ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	5,790	54.8	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Leuty	4,776	45.2	New
Majority			1,014	9.6	N/A
Turnout			10,566	85.9	N/A
Registered electors			12,294
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Leeds North ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	5,992	57.2	+2.4
	Liberal	Herbert Stanhope Baines	4,484	42.8	−2.4
Majority			1,508	14.4	+4.8
Turnout			10,476	77.2	−8.7
Registered electors			13,563
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Leeds North ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Jackson	7,512	60.1	+2.9
	Liberal	James Cullen Hamilton	4,995	39.9	−2.9
Majority			2,517	20.2	+5.8
Turnout			12,507	71.9	−5.3
Registered electors			17,387
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

Rowland Barran

1902 Leeds North by-election ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rowland Barran	7,539	52.6	+12.7
	Conservative	Arthur Tredgold Lawson	6,781	47.4	−12.7
Majority			758	5.2	N/A
Turnout			14,320	75.0	+3.1
Registered electors			19,094
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.7

General election 1906: Leeds North ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rowland Barran	9,593	57.4	+17.5
	Conservative	John Birchall	7,109	42.6	−17.5
Majority			2,484	14.8	N/A
Turnout			16,702	78.8	+6.9
Registered electors			21,196
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.5

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Leeds North ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rowland Barran	10,775	54.0	−3.4
	Conservative	John Birchall	9,164	46.0	+3.4
Majority			1,611	8.0	−6.8
Turnout			19,939	86.8	+8.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Rowland Barran

General election December 1910: Leeds North ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rowland Barran	9,324	50.7	−3.3
	Conservative	John Birchall	9,056	49.3	+3.3
Majority			268	1.4	−6.6
Turnout			18,380	80.0	−6.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	-3.3

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;

• Liberal: Rowland Barran
• Unionist: John Birchall

A.C. Farquharson

General election 1918: Leeds North ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Alexander Farquharson	13,863	74.7	+24.0
	Labour	George Hartley Thompson	3,423	18.4	New
	National	Harold Frazer Wyatt [13]	1,282	6.9	−42.4
Majority			10,440	56.3	+54.9
Turnout			18,568	49.0	−31.0
Registered electors			37,904
	Liberal hold		Swing
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Leeds North ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Hugh Myddleton Butler	13,771	51.4	+44.5
	Liberal	Edwin Oldroyd Dodgson	7,230	26.9	−47.8
	Labour	David Stewart	5,836	21.7	+3.3
Majority			6,541	24.5	N/A
Turnout			26,837	71.8	+22.8
Registered electors			37,383
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1923: Leeds North ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervase Beckett	14,066	54.0	+2.6
	Liberal	Edwin Oldroyd Dodgson	6,624	25.4	−1.5
	Labour	David Stewart	5,384	20.6	−1.1
Majority			7,442	28.6	+4.1
Turnout			26,074	67.1	−4.7
Registered electors			38,873
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 1924: Leeds North ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervase Beckett	18,502	70.0	+16.0
	Labour	Sam Crowther Moore	7,920	30.0	+9.4
Majority			10,582	40.0	+11.4
Turnout			26,422	67.1	0.0
Registered electors			39,373
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.3

General election 1929: Leeds North ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Osbert Peake	19,661	48.2	−21.8
	Labour	Thomas McCall	11,180	27.4	−2.6
	Liberal	Edmund Harvey	9,944	24.4	New
Majority			8,481	20.8	−19.2
Turnout			40,785	73.6	+6.5
Registered electors			55,429
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Leeds North ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Osbert Peake	34,964	78.8	+30.6
	Labour	L John Edwards	9,427	21.2	−6.2
Majority			25,537	57.6	+36.8
Turnout			44,391	74.0	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Leeds North ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Osbert Peake	30,636	69.0	−9.8
	Labour	L John Edwards	13,792	31.0	+9.8
Majority			16,844	38.0	−19.6
Turnout			44,428	66.8	−7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Osbert Peake
• Labour: Ronald Hodgson ^[20]
• Liberal: Howard B Tanner ^[21]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Leeds North ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Osbert Peake	22,848	42.0	−27.0
	Labour	Ronald Hodgson	22,720	41.8	+10.8
	Liberal	John Hutchison MacCallum Scott	8,824	16.2	New
Majority			128	0.2	−37.8
Turnout			54,392	72.0	+5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Leeds North ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Osbert Peake	27,766	58.8	+16.8
	Labour	Robert J Hurst	15,018	31.8	−10.0
	Liberal	Winifred Underhill	4,446	9.4	−6.8
Majority			12,748	27.0	+26.8
Turnout			47,230	84.2	+12.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Leeds North ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Osbert Peake	30,290	63.7	+4.9
	Labour	Philip Taylor	17,249	36.3	+4.5
Majority			13,041	27.4	+0.4
Turnout			47,539	81.7	−2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Order 1951. SI 1951/320". Statutory Instruments 1951. Vol. II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1952. pp. 410–412.
2. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
13. WYATT, Harold Frazer’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 September 2017
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
20. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
21. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
24. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)