Bradford Central (UK Parliament constituency)

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Bradford Central
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyWest Riding of Yorkshire
Major settlementsBradford
1885–1955
Number of membersOne
Replaced byBradford North, Bradford East, Bradford South and Bradford West
Created fromBradford

Bradford Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Elections were held under the first-past-the-post voting system.

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, when the Redistribution of Seats Act split the two-member Bradford constituency into three single-seat divisions. It was abolished for the 1955 general election.

Political history[]

For most of its existence, Bradford Central was a marginal seat, initially between the Liberal Party and the Conservatives or their Liberal Unionist allies. The Liberals held it for all but eleven of the years from 1885 to 1918, after which it became a Labour-Conservative marginal. Control alternated between Labour and the Conservatives through the 1920s and 1930s, and in 1945 it became a safe seat for Labour.

Boundaries[]

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bradford wards of Exchange, Lister Hills, Little Horton, North, and West.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Bradford wards of East, Exchange, Manningham, North, South, and West.

1950–1955: The County Borough of Bradford wards of Bradford Moor, Exchange, Manningham, North East, and South.

Members of Parliament[]

Year Member [1] Party [2][3]
1885 William Forster Liberal
George Shaw-Lefevre Liberal
1895 James Wanklyn Liberal Unionist
1906 Sir George Robertson Liberal
1916 Sir James Hill Liberal
1918 Henry Ratcliffe Unionist
1922 William Leach Labour
1924 Anthony Gadie Unionist
1929 William Leach Labour
1931 George Eady Conservative
1935 William Leach Labour
1945 Maurice Webb Labour
1955 constituency abolished

Elections[]

Bradford Central election results
Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
1951 general election[4]
Electorate: 49,625
Turnout: 41,558 (83.7%) −0.9		Labour hold
Majority: 8,872 (21.4%) −5.7
Swing: 2.8% from Lab to Conservative 		Maurice WebbLabour25,21560.7+2.0
Arthur Tiley Conservative16,34339.3+7.6
1950 general election[5]
Electorate: 49,935
Turnout: 42,260 (84.6%) +8.4		Labour hold
Majority: 11,447 (27.1%) −3.8
Swing: 2.0% from Lab to Conservative 		Maurice WebbLabour24,82258.7+1.2
T. Boyce Conservative13,37531.7+5.1
Charles Frederick Sarsby Liberal4,0639.6−6.3
1945 general election[3]
Electorate: 38,331
Turnout: 29,205 (76.2%) +10.2		Labour hold
Majority: 8,988 (30.9%) +27.3
Swing: 14.2% from Conservative to Lab 		Maurice WebbLabour16,76457.5+6.7
T. L. Dallas Conservative7,77626.6−21.6
Peter Edward Trench Liberal4,66515.9N/A
1935 general election[3]
Electorate: 47,906
Turnout: 31,638 (66.0%) −12.2		Labour gain from Conservative
Majority: 1,156 (3.6%)
Swing: 13.2% from Conservative to Lab 		William LeachLabour16,39751.8+13.2
George Eady Conservative15,24148.2−13.2
1931 general election[3]
Electorate: 51,996
Turnout: 40,673 (78.2%) −1.8		Conservative gain from Labour
Majority: 9,289 (22.8%)
Swing: 20.4% from Lab to Conservative 		George EadyConservative24,98661.4+20.4
William Leach Labour15,68738.6−20.4
1929 general election[3]
Electorate: 52,674
Turnout: 42,141 (80.0%) +3.5		Labour gain from Unionist
Majority: 7,611 (18.9%)
Swing: 10.7% from Unionist to Lab 		William LeachLabour24,87659.0+10.7
Anthony Gadie Unionist17,26541.0−10.7
1924 general election[3]
Electorate: 45,127
Turnout: 34,506 (76.5%) +5.5		Unionist gain from Labour
Majority: 1,202 (3.4%)
Swing: 8.8% from Lab to Unionist 		Anthony GadieUnionist17,85451.7+21.3
William Leach Labour16,65248.3+3.7
1923 general election[3]
Electorate: 44,991
Turnout: 31,939 (71.0%) −4.4		Labour hold
Majority: 4,516 (14.2%) +7.9
Swing: 3.7% from Unionist to Lab 		William LeachLabour14,24144.6+1.8
Jonas Pearson Unionist9,72530.4−5.7
Rev. William Paxton Liberal7,97325.0+3.5
1922 general election[3]
Electorate: 44,689
Turnout: 75.4% (+0.7)		Labour gain from Unionist
Majority: 2,125 (6.3%)
Swing: 13.0% from Unionist to Lab 		William LeachLabour14,29642.4+11.1
Fred Denby Moore Unionist12,17136.1−14.9
Rev. William Paxton Liberal7,25021.5+3.8
1918 general election[3]
Electorate: 44,549
Turnout: 24,374 (54.7%) −27.1		Coalition Conservative gain from Liberal
Majority: 4,798 (19.7%)
Swing: 27.7% from Lib to Conservative 		Henry Butler RatcliffeCoalition Conservative12,43451.0+9.0
William Leach Labour7,63631.3N/A
Sir James Hill, Bt Liberal4,30417.7−40.3
1916 by-election[2]
Death of Sir George Scott Robertson		Liberal hold Sir James Hill, BtLiberalunopposed
December 1910 general election[2]
Electorate: 9,848
Turnout: 8,058 (81.8%) −8.1		Liberal hold
Majority: 1,296 (16.0%) −2.6
Swing: 1.3% from Lib to Conservative 		Sir George Scott RobertsonLiberal4,67758.0−1.3
G. H. R. Pauling Conservative3,38142.0+1.3
January 1910 general election[2]
Electorate: 9,848
Turnout: 8,857 (89.9%) +4.0		Liberal hold
Majority: 1,641 (18.6%) +3.0
Swing: 1.5% from LibU to Lib 		Sir George Scott RobertsonLiberal5,24959.3+1.5
Viscount Howick Liberal Unionist3,60840.7−1.5
1906 general election[2]
Electorate: 9,978
Turnout: 8,568 (85.9%) +3.1		Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist
Majority: 1,340 (15.6%) +8.4
Swing: 4.2% from LibU to Lib 		Sir George Scott RobertsonLiberal4,95457.8+4.2
Vicary Gibbs[6] Conservative3,61442.2−4.2
1900 general election[2]
Electorate: 10,442
Turnout: 8,641 (82.8%) +5.2		Liberal Unionist hold
Majority: 627 (7.2%) +6.6
Swing: 3.3% from Lib to LibU 		James WanklynLiberal Unionist4,63453.6+3.3
A. Anderton Liberal4,00746.4−3.3
1895 general election[2]
Electorate: 10,316
Turnout: 7,917 (77.6%) −0.7		Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal
Majority: 41 (0.6%)
Swing: 2.9% from Lib to LibU 		James WanklynLiberal Unionist4,02450.3+2.9
George Shaw-Lefevre Liberal3,89349.7−2.9
By-election, 23 August 1892[2][7]
Sitting MP seeks re-election		Liberal hold George Shaw-LefevreLiberalunopposed
1892 general election[2]
Electorate: 11,434
Turnout: 8,955 (78.3%) +4.3		Liberal hold
Majority: 465 (5.2%) −0.2
Swing: 0.1% from Lib to LibU 		George Shaw-LefevreLiberal4,71052.6−0.1
Marquess of Lorne Liberal Unionist4,24547.4+0.1
1886 general election[2]
Electorate: 11,297
Turnout: 8,361 (74.0%) +2.9		Liberal hold
Majority: 459 (5.4%) −4.4
Swing: 2.2% from Lib to LibU 		George Shaw-LefevreLiberal4,41052.7−2.2
Charles Norwood Liberal Unionist3,95147.3+2.2
[2]
Death of William Edward Forster
Electorate: 11,297
Turnout: 8,032 (71.1%) −8.6		Liberal hold
Majority: 780 (9.8%) −4.4
Swing: 3.7% from Lib to Conservative 		George Shaw-LefevreLiberal4,40754.9−3.7
Edward Hoare Conservative3,62745.1+3.7
1885 general election[2]
New constituency
Electorate: 11,297
Turnout: 9,007 (79.7%)		Liberal win
Majority: 1,543 (17.2%) 		William Edward ForsterLiberal5,27558.6
George Motley Waud Conservative3,73241.4

References[]

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 79. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 99. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. ^ "UK General Election results October 1951, part 4". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  5. ^ "UK General Election results February 1950, part 4". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  6. ^ Vicary Gibbs had been the MP for St Albans from 1892 to 1904
  7. ^ The by-election in 1892 was caused by the appointment of George Shaw-Lefevre to the ministerial post of First Commissioner of Works. Until the 1920s, appointment as a minister required an MP to seek re-election.
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974)
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