Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 53°41′28″N 1°40′19″W / 53.691°N 1.672°W

Dewsbury
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire for the 2010 general election.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	79,634 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Dewsbury and Mirfield
Current constituency
Created	1868
Member of parliament	Paula Sherriff (Labour)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

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

History

Dewsbury's seat dates back to 1868 and the electorate has usually given the winning MP marginal majorities which means it is a marginal seat. Labour MPs served the seat from 1935 until 1983 and again from 1987. In 2010 it was gained by Simon Reevell, a Conservative and in 2015 it was gained by Paula Sherriff, a Labour Party candidate.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Dewsbury.

1950-1955: The County Borough of Dewsbury, the Municipal Borough of Ossett, and the Urban Districts of Heckmondwike and Mirfield.

1955-1983: The County Borough of Dewsbury, the Municipal Borough of Ossett, and the Urban District of Mirfield.

1983-1997: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Denby Dale, Dewsbury East, Dewsbury West, Kirkburton, Mirfield, and Thornhill.

1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Dewsbury East, Dewsbury West, Heckmondwike, Mirfield, and Thornhill.

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees wards of Denby Dale, Dewsbury East, Dewsbury South, Dewsbury West, Kirkburton, and Mirfield.

The constituency covers the towns of Dewsbury and Mirfield, and the surrounding areas.

In the 2010 redistribution, the constituency lost the Labour-leaning ward of Heckmondwike, but gained the Conservative-leaning wards of Denby Dale and Kirkburton.

Constituency profile

The seat has a substantial Muslim population and few rural parts. The seat has close to national average income and several developments have desirable views as the upland town cuts into the Pennines. Relatively few people rely upon social housing.^[2] In the light of increasing concern over Muslim extremism, the Labour Party candidate Shahid Malik enjoyed a fairly large public media profile after his victory in 2005, with various TV appearances and interviews, strongly denouncing believers in and adherents of such views; however, this has also been a strong area for the British National Party, who obtained their highest vote in Britain (13.1%) in the 2005 general election, much of it taken at the Labour Party's expense. They have also had a substantial vote at local level, when in 2006 for the first time in the UK the BNP polled more votes than any other party standing. However, at the 2010 general election, the BNP's popularity in Dewsbury fell (despite a substantial nationwide rise in support for the party compared to five years previously) and they gained a mere 6% of the vote.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1868	Sir John Simon	Liberal
	1888 by-election	Mark Oldroyd	Liberal
	1902 by-election	Walter Runciman	Liberal
	1918	Emil William Pickering	Coalition Conservative
	1922	Benjamin Riley	Labour
	1923	Thomas Edmund Harvey	Liberal
	1924	Benjamin Riley	Labour
	1931	Walter Russell Rea	Liberal
	1935	Benjamin Riley	Labour
	1945	Will Paling	Labour
	1959	David Ginsburg	Labour
	1981		Social Democrat
	1983	John Whitfield	Conservative
	1987	Ann Taylor	Labour
	2005	Shahid Malik	Labour
	2010	Simon Reevell	Conservative
	2015	Paula Sherriff	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Paula Sherriff	22,406	41.8	+9.6
	Conservative	Simon Reevell	20,955	39.1	+4.1
	UKIP	Mark Thackray	6,649	12.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Ednan Hussain	1,924	3.6	−13.4
	Green	Adrian Cruden	1,366	2.5	+1.0
	Yorkshire First	Richard Carter	236	0.4	N/A
	Christian Peoples	Steve Hakes	94	0.2	N/A
Majority			1,451	2.7	N/A
Turnout			53,630	67.2	−1.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.8

General Election 2010: Dewsbury^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Simon Reevell	18,898	35.0	+6.0
	Labour	Shahid Malik	17,372	32.2	−9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Hutchinson	9,150	16.9	+3.3
	Independent	Khizar Iqbal	3,813	7.1	N/A
	BNP	Roger Roberts	3,265	6.0	−7.1
	Green	Adrian Cruden	849	1.6	+0.1
	English Democrat	Michael Felse	661	1.2	N/A
Majority			1,526	2.8	N/A
Turnout			54,008	68.5	+6.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Dewsbury^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shahid Malik	15,807	41.0	−9.5
	Conservative	Sayeeda Warsi	11,192	29.0	−1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Kingsley Hill	5,624	14.6	+2.6
	BNP	David Exley	5,066	13.1	+8.6
	Green	Brenda Smithson	593	1.5	+0.0
	Independent	Alan Girvan	313	0.8	N/A
Majority			3,615	12	−8.3
Turnout			38,595	62.0	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.2

General Election 2001: Dewsbury^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Winifred Ann Taylor	18,524	50.5	+1.1
	Conservative	Robert Cole	11,075	30.2	+0.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Cuthbertson	4,382	12.0	+1.7
	BNP	Russell Smith	1,632	4.5	−0.7
	Green	Brenda Smithson	560	1.5	+0.6
	UKIP	David Peace	478	1.3	N/A
Majority			7,449	20.3	+1.0
Turnout			36,651	58.8	-11.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Dewsbury^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Winifred Ann Taylor	21,286	49.4	+5.6
	Conservative	Paul McCormick	12,963	30.1	−12.7
	Liberal Democrat	Kingsley Hill	4,422	10.3	−1.0
	BNP	Frances Taylor	2,232	5.2	+4.1
	Referendum	Wendy Golf	1,019	2.4	N/A
	Independent Labour	David Daniel	770	1.8	N/A
	Green	Ian McCourtie	383	0.9	+0.1
Majority			8,323	19.3	+18.2
Turnout			43,975	70.0	-10.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.2

General Election 1992: Dewsbury^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Winifred Ann Taylor	25,596	43.8	+1.4
	Conservative	John Whitfield	24,962	42.7	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Meadowcroft	6,570	11.3	N/A
	BNP	Jane Birdwood	660	1.1	N/A
	Green	Neil Denby	471	0.8	N/A
	Natural Law	Janet Marsden	146	0.3	N/A
Majority			634	1.1	+0.3
Turnout			58,402	80.2	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Dewsbury^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Winifred Ann Taylor	23,668	42.4	+7.1
	Conservative	John Whitfield	23,223	41.6	+2.3
	Social Democratic	Alan Mills	8,907	16.0	−9.3
Majority			445	0.8	N/A
Turnout			55,798	78.8	+7.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.4

General Election 1983: Dewsbury^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Whitfield	20,297	39.4	+1.6
	Labour	Denis Ripley	18,211	35.3	−11.4
	Social Democratic	David Ginsburg	13,065	25.3	N/A
Majority			2,086	4.0	N/A
Turnout			51,573	70.8	−6.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.5

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Dewsbury^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	22,829	46.7	+1.3
	Conservative	Roy Galley	18,448	37.8	+7.7
	Liberal	Neil Philip Derbyshire	7,580	15.5	−9.0
Majority			4,381	9.0	−6.4
Turnout			48,857	77.1	+4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.2

General Election October 1974: Dewsbury^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	20,378	45.4	+3.0
	Conservative	Marguerite Elizabeth Liversidge Wood	13,477	30.1	−1.6
	Liberal	Alan Allsop	10,991	24.5	−1.4
Majority			6,901	15.4	+4.5
Turnout			44,846	72.9	-8.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General Election February 1974: Dewsbury^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	21,186	42.5	-6.3
	Conservative	Ivor James Humphrey	15,774	31.6	-7.0
	Liberal	Alan Allsop	12,889	25.9	+13.2
Majority			5,412	10.9	+0.8
Turnout			49,859	81.8	+7.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.4

General Election 1970: Dewsbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	22,015	48.7	-4.8
	Conservative	John M Stanfield	17,468	38.7	+9.9
	Liberal	Alan Allsop	5,688	12.6	-5.1
Majority			4,547	10.1	-14.8
Turnout			45,171	74.5	-3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.4

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Dewsbury^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	23,027	53.6	+5.2
	Conservative	Donald H Haynes	12,361	28.8	-5.4
	Liberal	Alan Allsop	7,593	17.7	+0.2
Majority			10,666	24.8	+10.7
Turnout			42,981	77.9	-1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.3

General Election 1964: Dewsbury^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	21,284	48.4	+2.4
	Conservative	Mrs. Barbara M Garden	15,046	34.2	-3.7
	Liberal	Alan Allsop	7,679	17.5	+1.2
Majority			6,238	14.2	+6.1
Turnout			44,009	79.5	-3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Dewsbury^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Ginsburg	20,870	46.0	-6.2
	Conservative	John Marcus Fox	17,201	37.9	+2.4
	Liberal	John M McLusky	7,321	16.1	+3.8
Majority			3,669	7.1	-8.5
Turnout			45,392	82.7	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.3

General Election 1955: Dewsbury^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Thomas Paling	23,286	52.1	-1.1
	Conservative	Michael Norman Shaw	15,869	35.5	-0.9
	Liberal	Joseph Stanley Snowden	5,516	12.4	+2.0
Majority			7,417	16.6	-0.2
Turnout			44,671	80.8	-5.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Dewsbury^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Thomas Paling	28,650	53.3	-0.4
	Conservative	James Edward Ramsden	19,562	36.4	+3.4
	Liberal	Joseph Stanley Snowden	5,584	10.4	-3.0
Majority			9,088	16.9	-3.7
Turnout			53,796	85.8	-2.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Dewsbury^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Thomas Paling	29,341	53.6	-2.7
	Conservative	James Edward Ramsden	18,076	33.0	+3.1
	Liberal	George Granville Slack	7,323	13.4	-0.5
Majority			11,265	20.6	-5.8
Turnout			54,740	87.9	+7.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.9

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Dewsbury^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Thomas Paling	16,330	56.3	+9.1
	Liberal National	Ernest Kilner	8,674	29.9	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Mercer Banks	4,023	13.9	-9.4
Majority			7,656	26.4	+8.7
Turnout			29,027	80.3	-0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1939/40:

Another General Election was due to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected:

• Labour: Benjamin Riley
• Liberal: Ronald Walker
• Liberal National:Richard John Soper^[23]

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Dewsbury^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Benjamin Riley	14,066	47.21	+10.89
	National Labour	John Fennell	8,798	29.53	N/A
	Liberal	Walter Russell Rea	6,933	23.27	-40.41
Majority			5,268	17.68	N/A
Turnout			29,797	80.81	-3.42
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
General Election 1931: Dewsbury[25] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Russell Rea 19,463 63.68 +29.68 Labour Benjamin Riley 11,101 36.32 -9.88 Majority 8,362 27.36 N/A Turnout 30,564 84.23 -1.88 Liberal gain from Labour Swing Elections in the 1920s General Election 1929: Dewsbury Party Candidate Votes % ± Labour Benjamin Riley 14,420 46.2 +5.1 Liberal Ronald Fitzjohn Walker 10,607 34.0 +6.2 Unionist JWW Shuttleworth 6,175 19.8 -11.3 Majority 3,813 12.2 +2.2 Turnout 36,250 86.1 +1.8 Labour hold Swing General Election 1924: Dewsbury Party Candidate Votes % ± Labour Benjamin Riley 19,941 41.1 -3.2 Unionist Frederick Walter Skelsey 7,516 31.1 N/A Liberal Thomas Edmund Harvey 6,723 27.8 -27.8 Majority 2,425 10.0 N/A Turnout 28,677 84.3 +13.6 Labour gain from Liberal Swing General Election 1923: Dewsbury Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Thomas Edmund Harvey 11,179 55.6 +21.5 Labour Benjamin Riley 8,923 44.4 +13.2 Majority 2,256 11.2 N/A Turnout 20,102 70.7 -13.2 Liberal gain from Labour Swing General Election 1922: Dewsbury Party Candidate Votes % ± Labour Benjamin Riley 8,821 37.3 +7.2 Liberal Thomas Edmund Harvey 8,065 34.1 +5.5 Unionist Osbert Peake 8,065 28.5 N/A Majority 756 3.3 N/A Turnout 23,630 83.9 Labour gain from Unionist Swing Elections in the 1910s Walter Runciman General Election 1918: Dewsbury[26] Party Candidate Votes % ± Unionist Emil William Pickering 7,853 42.3 Labour Benjamin Riley 5,596 30.1 N/A Liberal Walter Runciman 5,130 27.6 Turnout Unionist gain from Liberal Swing endorsed by Coalition Government General Election December 1910: Dewsbury[27] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Runciman 7,061 Conservative Edward Overend Simpson 4,033 Turnout Liberal hold Swing General Election January 1910: Dewsbury[27] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Runciman 7,882 Conservative Edward Overend Simpson 4,747 Turnout Liberal hold Swing Elections in the 1900s Dewsbury by-election, 1908[27] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Runciman 5,594 Conservative W. B. Boyd-Carpenter 4,078 Labour Ben Turner 2,446 Turnout Liberal hold Swing Walter Runciman General Election 1906: Dewsbury[27] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Runciman 6,764 54.8 +6.6 Conservative W. B. Boyd-Carpenter 2,954 24.0 -14.2 Labour Ben Turner 2,629 21.2 +7.6 Turnout 12,347 89 +1 Majority 30.8 +21.0 Liberal hold Swing +10.4 Harry Quelch Dewsbury by-election, 1902[28] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Walter Runciman 5,660 48.1 Conservative Joe Haley 4,512 38.3 Social Democratic Federation Harry Quelch 1,597 13.6 Turnout Majority 1,148 9.8 Liberal hold Swing General Election 1900: Dewsbury[28] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Mark Oldroyd 6,045 60.1 Conservative Forbes St John Morrow 3,897 39.2 Turnout Majority 2,148 20.2 Liberal hold Swing Elections in the 1890s Mark Oldroyd General Election 1895: Dewsbury[26] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Mark Oldroyd 5,379 52.1 Conservative Henry Strother Cautley 3,875 37.5 Ind. Labour Party Edward Hartley 1,080 10.4 N/A Turnout Liberal hold Swing General Election 1892: Dewsbury[28] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Mark Oldroyd 5,759 Conservative Henry Strother Cautley 3,670 Turnout Liberal hold Swing Elections in the 1880s Dewsbury by-election, 1888[26] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal Mark Oldroyd 6,075 60.5 Liberal Unionist Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster 3,969 39.5 Turnout Liberal hold Swing 1886: Dewsbury[26] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal John Simon 5,118 65.1 Conservative J.S. Colefax 2,759 34.9 Turnout Liberal hold Swing 1885: Dewsbury[28] Party Candidate Votes % ± Liberal John Simon 6,124 Conservative Joe Foz 3,664 Turnout Liberal hold Swing See also List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire Notes A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer) 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. References Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011. "Check Browser Settings". statistics.gov.uk. "UK > England > Yorkshire & the Humber > Dewsbury". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2) "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. "Dewsbury". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015. "'Dewsbury', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results March 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results July 1945". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 15 March 1939 Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results November 1935". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1931". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Christopher J. James, M.P. for Dewsbury, p.291 The Liberal Year Book (1917), p.231 The Constitutional Year Book 1908, p.189 Sources Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.