Huddersfield West (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1983

53°38′46″N 1°48′11″W﻿ / ﻿53.646°N 1.803°W﻿ / 53.646; -1.803

Huddersfield West

Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–1983
Seats| one
Replaced by| Huddersfield and Colne Valley[1]

Huddersfield West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election.

It was a much more marginal seat than its neighbour, Huddersfield East, which was safely Labour, and was alternately held by the Liberals, Labour Party and finally the Conservatives in 1979.

## Boundaries

[edit]

1950–1955:The County Borough of Huddersfield wards of Birkby, Crosland Moor, Lindley, Lockwood, Longwood, Marsh, Milnsbridge, and Paddock.[2]

1955–1983: The County Borough of Huddersfield wards of Birkby, Crosland Moor, Lindley, Lockwood, Longwood, Marsh, Milnsbridge, Newsome, and Paddock.[3]

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party

|
|

| 1950 | Donald Wade | Liberal
| 1964 | Ken Lomas | Labour
| 1979 | Geoffrey Dickens | Conservative
1983 | constituency abolished: see Huddersfield and Colne Valley

When this seat was abolished in 1983, Dickens was elected MP for the new seat of Littleborough and Saddleworth, which he held until he died in 1995. Most of the area which this seat covered is now held by Labour within the Huddersfield constituency however its western outskirts now fall under Colne Valley which is a marginal Conservative seat.

## Elections

[edit]

### Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Huddersfield West  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Donald Wade | 24,456  | 58.2  |
| Labour | Harold William Bolt  | 17,542  | 41.8  |
Majority | 6,914  | 16.4  |
Turnout | 41,998  | 86.9  |
| Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1951: Huddersfield West  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Donald Wade | 24,054  | 58.5  | +0.3
| Labour | Harold William Bolt  | 17,066  | 41.5  | −0.3
Majority | 6,988  | 17.0  | +0.6
Turnout | 41,120  | 85.9  | −1.0
| Liberal hold | Swing |  |
General election 1955: Huddersfield West  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Donald Wade | 24,345  | 55.1  | −3.4
| Labour | John Frederick Drabble | 16,418  | 44.9  | +3.4
Majority | 7,927  | 10.2  | −6.8
Turnout | 40,763  | 79.3  | −6.3
| Liberal hold | Swing |  |
General election 1959: Huddersfield West  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Donald Wade | 25,273  | 61.8  | +6.7
| Labour | James Marsden  | 15,621  | 38.2  | −6.7
Majority | 9,652  | 23.6  | +13.4
Turnout | 40,894  | 79.7  | +0.4
| Liberal hold | Swing |  |

### Elections in the 1960s

[edit]

General election 1964: Huddersfield West  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Kenneth Lomas | 14,808  | 35.8  | −2.4
| Liberal | Donald Wade | 13,528  | 32.7  | −29.1
| Conservative | John Addey  | 13,054  | 31.5  | New
Majority | 1,280  | 3.1  | N/A
Turnout | 41,390  | 81.6  | +1.9
| Labour gain from Liberal | Swing |  |
General election 1966: Huddersfield West[4] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Kenneth Lomas | 17,990  | 43.9  | +8.1
| Conservative | Marcus Fox | 13,514  | 33.0  | +1.5
| Liberal | Ruslyn Hargreaves | 9,470  | 23.1  | −9.6
Majority | 4,476  | 10.9  | +7.8
Turnout | 40,974  | 82.3  | +0.7
| Labour hold | Swing |  |

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

General election 1970: Huddersfield West[5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Kenneth Lomas | 16,866  | 41.0  | −2.9
| Conservative | Richard Storey | 16,673  | 40.6  | +7.6
| Liberal | William Wallace | 6,128  | 14.9  | −8.2
| National Front | Ronald Scott  | 1,427  | 3.5  | New
Majority | 193  | 0.4  | −10.5
Turnout | 41,094  | 77.3  | −5.0
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
General election February 1974: Huddersfield West[6] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Kenneth Lomas | 17,434  | 39.6  | −1.4
| Conservative | John Stansfield  | 16,804  | 38.2  | −2.4
| Liberal | Kathleen Hasler  | 9,790  | 22.2  | +7.3
Majority | 630  | 1.4  | +1.0
Turnout | 44,028  | 82.9  | +5.6
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
General election October 1974: Huddersfield West[7] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Kenneth Lomas | 16,882  | 41.4  | +1.8
| Conservative | John Stansfield  | 15,518  | 38.0  | −0.2
| Liberal | Kathleen Hasler  | 7,503  | 18.4  | −3.8
| National Front | D. Ford  | 760  | 1.9  | New
| More Prosperous Britain | Harold Smith  | 136  | 0.3  | New
Majority | 1,364  | 3.4  | +2.0
Turnout | 40,799  | 76.3  | −5.6
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
General election 1979: Huddersfield West[8] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Geoffrey Dickens | 18,504  | 44.2  | +6.2
| Labour | Richard Faulkner | 16,996  | 40.6  | −0.8
| Liberal | Kathleen Hasler  | 6,225  | 14.9  | −3.5
| More Prosperous Britain | Tom Keen  | 101  | 0.2  | −0.1
Majority | 1,508  | 3.6  | N/A
Turnout | 41,826  | 76.0  | −0.3
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "'Huddersfield West', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
2. ^ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
3. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Huddersfield, Colne Valley and Penistone) Order 1955. SI 1955/179". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2138–2140.
4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1966. Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1970. Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
6. ^ "Politics Resources". Election February 1974. Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
7. ^ "Politics Resources". Election October 1974. Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
8. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1979. Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2011.

* Election results, 1950 - 1979 Archived 5 May 2004 at the Wayback Machine
* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)