Wakefield (UK Parliament constituency)

Wakefield
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
2010–2024 boundary of Wakefield in West Yorkshire
Location of West Yorkshire within England
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	70,509 (December 2019) [1]
Major settlements	Wakefield, Ossett
1885–2024
Seats	One
Replaced by	Ossett and Denby Dale, Wakefield and Rothwell
1832–1885
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Yorkshire

Wakefield was a constituency in West Yorkshire, England. It was created as a borough constituency in 1832 and reformed as a county constituency in 1885.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Its area was split between the new seats of Wakefield and Rothwell and Ossett and Denby Dale , first contested at the 4 July 2024 general election. ^[2]

Boundaries

Map of 2010-2024 boundaries 2010-2024

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.

2010–2024: The City of Wakefield wards of Horbury and South Ossett, Ossett, Wakefield East, Wakefield North, Wakefield Rural, and Wakefield West.

2010 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 2010 the seat comprised three-quarters of the City of Wakefield along with Ossett, Horbury and small outlying settlements.

The far eastern suburbs of the city and its southern part fell within the Wakefield South ward, which was in the Hemsworth seat. Its largest towns were, 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]}

2024 boundary changes

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which dissolved this constituency for the 2024 general election. The constituency was split between newly created Ossett and Denby Dale and Wakefield and Rothwell constituencies, with latter receiving wards of Wakefield.

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]

Abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished prior to the 2024 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

Constituency profile

The constituency contained 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 was 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.

Turnout

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

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [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
	2024	Constituency abolished

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	N/A
	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	N/A
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	N/A
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	+1.3
	SDP	Lutfe Kamal	6,350	12.1	−7.2
Majority			2,789	5.3	+4.9
Turnout			52,579	75.6	+6.3
	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	+0.8
	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
Cindicates 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;

• Liberal: Arthur Marshall
• Unionist: Edward Brotherton

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

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

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

• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire

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. "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. 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.
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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.
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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. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
38. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
39. "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36725. London. 26 March 1902. p. 10.
40. "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36697. London. 21 February 1902. p. 8.
41. 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. 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.

External links

• Wakefield UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Wakefield UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK