Halifax (UK Parliament constituency)

Halifax
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Halifax in West Yorkshire.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	1832–1974: West Riding of Yorkshire 1974–present: West Yorkshire
Electorate	69,126 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Halifax, Sowerby Bridge
Current constituency
Created	1832
Member of parliament	Holly Lynch (Labour)
Number of members	1832–1918: Two 1918–present: One
Created from	Yorkshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Halifax is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Holly Lynch of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1918-1983: The County Borough of Halifax.

1983-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale wards of Illingworth, Mixenden, Northowram and Shelf, Ovenden, St John's, Skircoat, Sowerby Bridge, Town, and Warley.

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale wards of Illingworth and Mixenden, Northowram and Shelf, Ovenden, Park, Skircoat, Sowerby Bridge, Town, and Warley.

This constituency covers the large town of Halifax in West Yorkshire and includes the smaller town of Sowerby Bridge which adjoins Halifax but until 1974 was a separate Urban District.

History

The parliamentary borough was granted in the Great Reform Act 1832 and returned from that year until 1918 two members. A county borough recognized the density of the developed area in 1888 which provided most functions for inhabitants, retaining the West Yorkshire ceremonial county. The municipal or county borough was under a mayor, 5 aldermen and 45 councillors and had an area of 13,967 acres (56.52 km²).^[2]

At the time of the Norman Conquest, Halifax formed part of the extensive manor of Wakefield, which belonged to the king, but in the 13th century was in the hands of John Earl de Warrenne aka. Earl of Surrey (1231-1304).^{[n 3]} The prosperity of the town began with the first woollen products workshop established here in 1414, when there are said to have been only thirteen houses, which before the end of the 16th century had increased to 520.^[2] Camden, about the end of the 17th century, wrote that the people are very industrious, so that though the soil about it be barren and improfitable, not fit to live on, they have so flourished ... by the clothing trade that they are very rich and have gained a reputation for it above their neighbours. The manufacturing standards and trade were improved by the arrival of certain merchants and clothworkers driven from the Spanish Netherlands by the persecution of the Duke of Alva.

Halifax was a borough by prescription^{[n 4]} rather than a medieval parliamentary borough, its privileges^{[n 5]} growing up with the increased prosperity brought by the cloth trade, but it was not incorporated until 1848. From 1832 until 1918 the town's property-qualifying residents paying scot and lot returned two members to parliament.^{[n 6]}

Constituency profile

The town in the Pennines is relatively affluent, not afflicted by the high levels of unemployment, underemployment and crime seen in a few wards of the Yorkshire and Humber region but most constituents have modest incomes and there is some social housing dependency in certain wards.^[3] Since 1987 the MP has been in the Labour Party, before that date for four years it was held by a Conservative MP, but generally since the Second World War it has been a Labour seat.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1918

Election	1st Member[4]		1st Party	2nd Member[4]		2nd Party
1832		Rawdon Briggs	Liberal		Sir Charles Wood	Liberal
1835		James Archibald Stuart-Wortley	Conservative
1837		Edward Davis Protheroe	Liberal
1847		Henry Edwards	Conservative
1852		Sir Francis Crossley	Liberal
1859		Sir James Stansfeld	Liberal
1865					Edward Akroyd	Liberal
1874					John Crossley	Liberal
1877 by-election					John Dyson Hutchinson	Liberal
1882 by-election					Thomas Shaw	Liberal
1893 by-election					William Rawson Shaw	Liberal
1895		Alfred Arnold	Conservative
1897 by-election					Alfred Billson	Liberal
1900		Sir Savile Crossley	Liberal Unionist		John Henry Whitley	Liberal
1906		James Parker	Labour

MPs since 1918

Representation reduced to one member, 1918

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1918	John Henry Whitley	Liberal
	1921		Speaker
	1928 by-election	Arthur Longbottom	Labour
	1931	Gilbert Gledhill	Conservative
	1945	Dryden Brook	Labour
	1955	Maurice Macmillan	Conservative
	1964	Shirley Summerskill	Labour
	1983	Roy Galley	Conservative
	1987	Alice Mahon	Labour
	2005	Linda Riordan	Labour
	2015	Holly Lynch	Labour

Elections

1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Halifax^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Holly Lynch	17,506	40.0	+2.6
	Conservative	Philip Allott	17,078	39.0	+5.0
	UKIP	Liz Phillips	5,621	12.8	+11.3
	Liberal Democrat	Mohammad Ilyas	1,629	3.7	-15.4
	Green	Gary Scott	1,142	2.6	N/A
	Respect	Asama Javed	465	1.1	N/A
	Christian	Trevor Bendrien	312	0.7	N/A
Majority			428	1.0	-2.4
Turnout			43,753	62.1	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Halifax^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Linda Riordan	16,278	37.4	-4.4
	Conservative	Philip Allott	14,806	34.0	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Elisabeth Wilson	8,335	19.1	+1.2
	BNP	Tom Bates	2,760	6.3	-0.3
	Independent Voice for Halifax	Diane Park	722	1.7	N/A
	UKIP	Jay Sangha	654	1.5	N/A
Majority			1,472	3.4	-5.4
Turnout			43,555	61.9	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Halifax^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Linda Riordan	16,579	41.8	−7.2
	Conservative	Kris Hopkins	13,162	33.2	−0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Taylor	7,100	17.9	+3.3
	BNP	Geoff Wallace	2,627	6.6	N/A
	National Front	Thomas Holmes	191	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,417	8.6
Turnout			39,659	61.1	+3.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−3.3

General Election 2001: Halifax^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alice Mahon	19,800	49.0	−5.3
	Conservative	James Walsh	13,671	33.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrat	John Durkin	5,878	14.6	+2.6
	UKIP	Helen Martinek	1,041	2.6	+1.0
Majority			6,129	15.2
Turnout			40,390	57.8	−12.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Halifax^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alice Mahon	27,465	54.3
	Conservative	Robert Light	16,253	32.1
	Liberal Democrat	Edgar Waller	6,059	12.0
	Independent	Constance Whittaker	779	1.5
Majority			11,212	22.2
Turnout			50,556	70.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Halifax^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alice Mahon	25,115	43.5	+0.1
	Conservative	TR Martin	24,637	42.7	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Ian R. Howell	7,364	12.7	−2.6
	Independent Nationalist	Ron Pearson	649	1.1	+1.1
Majority			478	0.8	−1.3
Turnout			57,765	78.7	+1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Halifax^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alice Mahon	24,741	43.38
	Conservative	Roy Galley	23,529	41.26
	Social Democratic	Laurence Cockcroft	8,758	15.36
Majority			1,212	2.13
Turnout				77.70
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1983: Halifax^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Roy Galley	22,321	40.85
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	20,452	37.43
	Social Democratic	F. Cockroft	11,868	21.72
Majority			1,869	3.42
Turnout				75.11
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	21,416	43.79
	Conservative	J. Ford	20,182	41.27
	Liberal	Allen Clegg	6,853	14.01
	National Front	B. Wadsworth	455	0.93
Majority			1,234	2.52
Turnout				76.69
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	20,976	44.27
	Conservative	S.R. Lyons	16,798	35.45
	Liberal	Allen Clegg	8,693	18.35
	Powellite	R.S. Pearson	919	1.94
Majority			4,178	8.82
Turnout				74.55
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	20,970	40.93
	Conservative	S.R. Lyons	17,967	35.07
	Liberal	Allen Clegg	12,300	24.01
Majority			3,003	5.86
Turnout				81.27
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	24,026	49.33
	Conservative	G Anthony Turner	23,828	48.93
	Ind. Labour Party	Alistair Graham	847	1.74
Majority			198	0.41
Turnout				73.51
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	25,391	50.28
	Conservative	G Anthony Turner	19,689	38.99
	Liberal	Derek Arthur Carlin	5,423	10.74
Majority			5,702	11.29
Turnout				80.48
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill	23,143	43.76
	Conservative	Maurice Victor Macmillan	22,085	41.75
	Liberal	James Crossley	7,664	14.49
Majority			1,058	2.00
Turnout				82.06
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Maurice Victor Macmillan	29,212	52.25
	Labour	Peter David Shore	26,697	47.75
Majority			2,515	4.50
Turnout				83.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Maurice Victor Macmillan	28,306	51.39
	Labour	Dryden Brook	26,771	48.61
Majority			1,535	2.79
Turnout				80.15
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1951: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dryden Brook	30,433	50.63
	Conservative	Charles Henry Lucas	29,670	49.37
Majority			763	1.27
Turnout				84.25
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dryden Brook	28,800	47.70
	Conservative	Charles Henry Lucas	20,456	33.88
	Liberal	Arthur Pickles	9,573	15.85
	National Liberal	R.H. Blackburn	1,551	2.57
Majority			8,344	13.82
Turnout				85.09
	Labour hold		Swing

• Blackburn was a vice-president of the Bradford Conservative Association. He was nominated after the Conservative and Liberal associations in the division had failed to reach agreement on the proposal for a joint anti-Labour candidate.^[16]

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dryden Brook	25,605	46.5	+7.0
	Conservative	Gilbert Gledhill	14,824	26.9	-17.5
	Liberal	Arnold Gelder	14,631	26.6	+10.5
Majority			10,781	19.6	+14.7
Turnout			55,060	77.4	+0.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.3

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Gledhill	24,103	44.4	−21.3
	Labour	Arthur William Longbottom	21,471	39.5	+9.8
	Liberal	Ashley Mitchell	8,736	16.1	N/A
Majority			2,632	4.9	−31.1
Turnout			54,310	76.9	−3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.6

General Election 1931: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Gledhill	36,731	65.7	+36.0
	Labour	Arthur William Longbottom	16,601	29.7	−12.5
	Independent Liberal	Frank Sykes[17]	2,578	4.6	N/A
Majority			20,130	36.0	+23.5
Turnout				80.5	−0.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+24.2

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Arthur William Longbottom	22,776	42.2	−0.6
	Unionist	Gilbert Gledhill	16,713	29.7	+3.3
	Liberal	George Elliott Dodds	15,823	28.1	−2.8
Majority			7,063	12.5	+0.5
Turnout			55,312	81.3	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Harry Barnes

Halifax by-election, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Arthur William Longbottom	17,536	42.8
	Liberal	Harry Barnes	12,585	30.8
	Unionist	Francis Crossley	10,804	26.4
Majority			4,951	12.0
Turnout			40,925	78.7	+24.3
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1924: Halifax

John Henry Whitley (Speaker) returned unopposed

General Election 1923: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Speaker	John Henry Whitley	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Speaker hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922: Halifax

John Henry Whitley (Speaker) returned unopposed

Elections in the 1910s

J.H. Whitley

General Election 1918: Halifax

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Henry Whitley	22,136	84.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour Party	Arthur McManus	4,046	15.4	N/A
Majority			18,100	69.2	N/A
Turnout			16,172	53.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election December 1910 : Halifax^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Henry Whitley	8,778	33.4
	Labour	James Parker	8,511
	Conservative	John Herbert Lacy Baldwin	4,602
	Conservative	James Francis Wallace Galbraith	4,420
Majority
Turnout				87.0
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election January 1910 : Halifax^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Henry Whitley	9,504
	Labour	James Parker	9,093
	Conservative	James Francis Wallace Galbraith	4,754
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Crossley, Whitley and Parker

General Election 1906 : Halifax^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Henry Whitley	9,354
	Labour	James Parker	8,937
	Liberal Unionist	Savile Brinton Crossley	5,041
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

James Parker

General Election 1900 : Halifax^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Savile Brinton Crossley	5,931	29.6
	Liberal	John Henry Whitley	5,543
	Liberal	Alfred Billson	5,325
	Ind. Labour Party	James Parker	3,276
Majority
Turnout				86.7
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough 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. See Sandal Castle and Wakefield Castle
4. Legally, the doctrine of prescription (law), as opposed to "by grant", means obtained by long use
5. Among the curious customs of Halifax was the Gibbet Law, which was probably established by a prescriptive right to protect the wool trade, and gave the inhabitants the power of executing any one taken within their liberty, who, when tried by a jury of sixteen of the frith-burgesses, was found guilty of the theft of any goods of the value of more than 13d. The executions took place on market days on a hill outside the town, the gibbet somewhat resembling a guillotine. The first execution recorded under this law took place in 1541, and the right was exercised in Halifax longer than in any other town, the last execution taking place in 1650. In 1635 the king granted the inhabitants of Halifax licence to found a workhouse in a large house given to them for that purpose by Nathaniel Waterhouse, and incorporated them under the name of the master and governors. Nathaniel Waterhouse was appointed the first master, his successors being elected every year by the twelve governors from among themselves.
6. In 1607 David Waterhouse, lord of the manor of Halifax, obtained a grant of two markets there every week on Friday and Saturday and two fairs every year, each lasting three days, one beginning on 24 June, the other on 11 November. Later these fairs and markets were confirmed with the addition of an extra market on Thursday to Sir William Ayloffe, baronet, who had succeeded David Waterhouse as lord of the manor. The market rights were sold to the Markets Company in 1810 and purchased from them by the corporation in 1853.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Lewis, Samuel (1848). "Halifax". A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
3. 2001 Census
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
5. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. "Halifax". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/council/democracy/election-information/halifax-constituency/halifax.html
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
14. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. The Times House of Commons, 1950
17. At the 1931 general election, the local Liberal Association chose not to field a candidate against the National Government; Sykes stood as an "Independent Liberal" candidate
18. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Victoria County History, Yorkshire
• T. Wright, The Antiquities of the Town of Halifax (Leeds, 1738)
• John Watson, The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Halifax (London, 1775)
• John Crabtree, A Concise History of the Parish and Vicarage of Halifax (Halifax and London, 1836).
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Coordinates: 53°43′N 1°53′W / 53.717°N 1.883°W