Spen Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Spen Valley
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Boundaries since 2024
Map of constituency
Boundary of Spen Valley in Yorkshire and the Humber
CountyWest Yorkshire
Major settlements
Current constituency
Created2024
Member of ParliamentKim Leadbeater (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created from
1885–1950
SeatsOne
Created fromEastern West Riding of Yorkshire
Replaced byBatley and Morley, Brighouse and Spenborough and Dewsbury

Spen Valley is a parliamentary constituency in the valley of the River Spen in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election, formed primarily from the (abolished) constituency of Batley and Spen.[1]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, retained with altered boundaries in 1918, and abolished for the 1950 general election. In the 1901 Census, there were 13,557 inhabited houses in the division; there were 10,960 registered electors, of which 9,396 qualified by virtue of occupying property within the division, 1,490 by virtue of owning property, 67 by virtue of occupying land only within the division, and 7 qualifying as lodgers.[2]

Political historian Henry Pelling noted that the constituency as it existed from 1885 to 1918 was dominated by the woollen industry and carpetmaking, where the vast bulk of the population were nonconformist: the Church of England parish of Birstall was said to have had only four clergymen in the eighteenth century (two of whom were schoolmasters).[3] In 1922, membership of nonconformist circuits in the constituency is estimated at 2,759 for the Congregational Church, 1,065 Wesleyanism, 1,027 United Methodist Church, 698 Primitive Methodism, and 328 Baptists, making it the second largest nonconformist attendance in the West Riding.[4]

The death of the sitting MP in 1919 led to a sensational by-election gain for the Labour Party, which was described by historian Maurice Cowling as the worst result for the Coalition during the 1918-22 Parliament;[5] John Ramsden admitted that Labour's win had a big psychological impact on the Coalition but thought the result was a "freak win" given that Labour had under 40% of the vote.[6] At the ensuing general election, the Manchester Guardian described the constituency as "scattered between the three towns of Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield", centred on Cleckheaton, and populated by "woollen and wire workers, miners, card manufacturers". A significant presence of Irish voters was also noted.[7] Sir John Simon, a former Home Secretary who had lost his seat in the 1918 election, regained the seat for the Liberals in 1922 and held it until given a Peerage in 1940. During this period Simon moved from declaring his basic sympathy with the Labour Party's objects, to forming the Liberal Nationals who went into alliance with the Conservatives.[8] Simon found his constituency marginal, and had a majority of under 1,000 in his last election, and Labour gained it in the 1945 election landslide.

Boundary changes abolished the constituency in 1950. The bulk of the abolished constituency, including Cleckheaton, Gildersome and Spenborough, formed the eastern half of Brighouse and Spenborough; another large part including Gildersome, Birstall and Drighlington, formed part of Batley and Morley. Heckmondwike and Mirfield transferred to Dewsbury, while Kirkheaton moved to Colne Valley and other parts moved to Huddersfield East.

Boundaries

1885–1950

While originally devised by the Boundary Commissioners in 1885, the division was originally named as 'Birstal', "from the name of a large ancient parish".[9] The naming of the new division led to a small struggle between the two Houses of Parliament during the passage of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when Alfred Illingworth (Liberal MP for Bradford) moved an amendment to replace 'Birstal' with 'Spen Valley'. Illingworth argued that Birstall contained only one-eighth of the population of the division, but Spen Valley was a name which represented several important towns, and his amendment was accepted without dissent by the House of Commons.[10] When the Bill reached the House of Lords, the Conservative peer the Earl of Feversham moved an amendment to reinstate 'Birstal' claiming the support of the people in the area. The Earl contended that the Spen Valley was an unknown description and "was only remarkable for being the receptacle of all the sewage from Birstal", whereas Birstal was a very important parish. He had support from the Earl of Cranbrook and his amendment was also accepted without dissent.[11]

When the Bill returned to the House of Commons, Alfred Illingworth again took up the issue and moved that the Commons disagree with the Lords. He again pointed to the small population of Birstall in comparison with other towns, and noted that the Sanitary district covering the area was known as Spen Valley and that the River Spen ran through the centre of the constituency whereas Birstall was in the extreme north-east corner of it. Conservative MP Edward Stanhope (Mid Lincolnshire) said that he had found feeling in the area to be in favour of 'Birstal', but the President of the Local Government Board Sir Charles Dilke, speaking for the Government, stated that the local boards in Heckmondwike, Liversedge and Cleckheaton (where a majority of the population lived) had sent a memorial in favour of 'Spen Valley'. He agreed that the name had been invented by the Local Government Board, but argued that there were "local jealousies" between the towns and that Birstall was unpopular with the others, and therefore personally supported 'Spen Valley'. After a brief debate, the House voted by 65 to 46 to insist on 'Spen Valley' as the name.[12] The Lords then gave way, but not without further protest from the Earl of Feversham.[13]

During this battle no alteration was made to the boundary. The new division was to consist of:

When redefined by the Boundary Commission in 1917, the county division was defined as consisting of the Urban Districts of Birkenshaw, Birstall, Drighlington, Gildersome, Heckmondwike, Hunsworth, Kirkheaton, Lepton, Mirfield, Spenborough and Whitley Upper.[15]

The effect of the boundary change in 1918 was as shown in the table:

Parish 1911 Population 1885–1918 1918–1950 Notes
Birkenshaw 2,508 Spen Valley Spen Valley Was part of Gomersal Parish in 1885
Birstall 7,116 Spen Valley Spen Valley Was part of Gomersal Parish in 1885
Cleckheaton 12,866 Spen Valley Spen Valley Part of Spenborough Urban District from 1915
Clifton 2,258 Spen Valley Elland
Drighlington 4,126 Pudsey Spen Valley
Gildersome 2,981 Pudsey Spen Valley
Gomersal 3,796 Spen Valley Spen Valley Included Birkenshaw and Birstall in 1885
Hartshead 958 Spen Valley Elland
Heckmondwike 9,016 Spen Valley Spen Valley
Hipperholme (part) 322 Spen Valley Elland Part of Wyke parish in 1885, removed in 1899
Hunsworth 1,326 Pudsey Spen Valley
Kirkheaton 2,621 Holmfirth Spen Valley
Lepton 2,999 Holmfirth Spen Valley
Liversedge 14,658 Spen Valley Spen Valley Part of Spenborough Urban District from 1915
Mirfield 11,712 Morley Spen Valley
Whitley Upper 830 Holmfirth Spen Valley
Wyke 6,145 Spen Valley Bradford South

Of the 59,643 population in Spen Valley before the boundary change, 49,960 (83.8%) remained in the division after it. 6,145 (10.3%) moved to Bradford South while 3,538 (5.9%) moved to Elland. The new constituency was made up primarily of the old Spen Valley (65.3%), with 11,712 (15.3%) from Morley, 8,433 (11.0%) from Pudsey, and 6,450 (8.4%) from Holmfirth.

2024–present

2024–present: The Borough of Kirklees wards of: Birstall and Birkenshaw; Cleckheaton; Dalton (polling district DA06); Heckmondwike; Liversedge and Gomersal; Mirfield.[16]

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies described changes to the constituency as following: The majority of the electorate will come from the current seat of Batley and Spen - excluding the town of Batley itself. To compensate for this loss, Mirfield will be transferred in from the Dewsbury constituency and the small part of Dalton ward, which includes the village of Kirkheaton will come from Huddersfield.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885-1950

Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1885

Election Member Party
1885 Joseph Woodhead Liberal
1892 Thomas Whittaker (Coalition) Liberal
1919 by-election Tom Myers Labour
1922 Sir John Simon Liberal
1931 Liberal National
1940 by-election William Woolley Liberal National
1945 Granville Maynard Sharp Labour
1950 Constituency abolished

MPs since 2024

Batley and Spen prior to 2024

Election Member Party
2024 Kim Leadbeater Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

2024 general election: Spen Valley [17] [18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Kim Leadbeater 16,076 39.2 +5.7
Reform UK Sarah Wood 9,888 24.1 +20.7
Conservative Laura Evans 9,859 24.0 −22.4
Green Martin Price 2,284 5.6 +3.8
Independent Javed Bashir 1,526 3.7 N/A
Liberal Democrats Alison Brelsford 1,425 3.5 −2.3
Majority 6,188 15.1 N/A
Turnout 41,058 56.5 −8.9
Registered electors 72,642
Labour gain from Conservative Swing −7.5

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[19]
Party Vote %
Conservative 21,886 46.4
Labour 15,822 33.5
Others 4,289 9.1
Liberal Democrats 2,755 5.8
Brexit Party 1,627 3.4
Green 830 1.8
Turnout 47,209 65.4
Electorate 72,169

Election results 1885-1950

Spen Valley election results

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Woodhead 5,826 67.7
Conservative John Gladstone 2,782 32.3
Majority 3,044 35.4
Turnout 8,608 89.2
Registered electors 9,645
Liberal win (new seat)
1886 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Woodhead 4,542 67.4 −0.3
Liberal Unionist Stanley Boulter 2,200 32.6 +0.3
Majority 2,342 34.8 −0.6
Turnout 6,742 69.9 −19.3
Registered electors 9,645
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

Thomas Whittaker
1892 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 4,952 58.8 −8.6
Conservative Frederick Ellis 3,474 41.2 +8.6
Majority 1,478 17.6 −17.2
Turnout 8,426 76.3 +6.4
Registered electors 11,038
Liberal hold
1895 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 4,700 54.8 −4.0
Conservative Frederick Ellis 3,879 45.2 +4.0
Majority 821 9.6 −8.0
Turnout 8,579 81.8 +5.5
Registered electors 10,492
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 5,068 58.1 +3.3
Conservative William Glossop 3,653 41.9 −3.3
Majority 1,415 16.2 +6.6
Turnout 8,721 80.3 −1.5
Registered electors 10,858
Liberal hold
1906 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 5,956 65.8 +7.7
Conservative Richard Johnson 3,092 34.2 −7.7
Majority 2,864 31.6 +15.4
Turnout 9,048 80.1 −0.2
Registered electors 11,300
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 4,817 44.8 −21.0
Conservative Frederic Kelley 3,439 31.9 −2.3
Labour T. Russell Williams 2,514 23.3 N/A
Majority 1,378 12.9 −18.7
Turnout 10,770 92.6 +12.5
Registered electors 11,631
Liberal hold
December 1910 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Whittaker 5,041 52.6 +7.8
Conservative Frederic Kelley 4,545 47.4 +15.5
Majority 496 5.2 −7.7
Turnout 9,586 82.4 −10.2
Registered electors 11,631
Liberal hold

Note: 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:

1918 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Thomas Whittaker 10,664 55.6 +3.0
Labour Tom Myers 8,508 44.4 New
Majority 2,156 11.2 +6.0
Turnout 19,172 50.2 −32.2
Registered electors 38,327
National Liberal hold
By-election, 20 December 1919: Spen Valley[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tom Myers 11,962 39.4 −5.0
Liberal John Simon 10,244 33.8 N/A
National Liberal Bryan Charles Fairfax[21] 8,134 26.8 −28.8
Majority 1,718 5.6 N/A
Turnout 30,340 76.5 +26.3
Registered electors 39,667
Labour gain from National Liberal

Elections in the 1920s

John Simon
1922 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Simon 13,306 39.2 N/A
Labour Tom Myers 12,519 36.9 −7.5
Conservative William Orlando Rhodes Holton 8,104 23.9 N/A
Majority 787 2.3 N/A
Turnout 33,929 84.6 +34.4
Registered electors 40,107
Liberal gain from National Liberal
1923 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Simon 13,672 40.6 +1.4
Labour Tom Myers 12,597 37.4 +0.5
Conservative Eugene Ramsden 7,390 22.0 −1.9
Majority 1,075 3.2 +0.9
Turnout 33,659 82.7 −1.9
Registered electors 40,678
Liberal hold
1924 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Simon 18,474 56.9 +16.3
Labour Tom Myers 13,999 43.1 +5.7
Majority 4,475 13.8 +10.6
Turnout 32,473 79.2 −3.5
Registered electors 40,978
Liberal hold
1929 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Simon 22,039 51.7 −5.2
Labour Herbert Elvin 20,300 47.7 +4.6
Communist Shaukat Usmani 242 0.6 New
Majority 1,739 4.0 −9.8
Turnout 42,581 79.6 +0.4
Registered electors 53,480
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal John Simon 28,647 64.6 +12.9
Labour Herbert Elvin 15,691 35.4 −12.3
Majority 12,956 29.2 +25.2
Turnout 44,338 82.0 +2.4
Registered electors 54,097
National Liberal hold
1935 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal John Simon 21,671 50.8 −13.8
Labour Ivor Thomas 21,029 49.2 +13.8
Majority 642 1.6 −27.6
Turnout 42,700 77.1 −4.9
Registered electors 55,358
National Liberal hold

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

Elections in the 1940s

1 June 1940 by-election: Spen Valley[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal William Woolley Unopposed
National Liberal hold
1945 general election: Spen Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Granville Sharp 25,698 56.7 +7.5
National Liberal William Woolley 19,621 43.3 −7.5
Majority 6,077 13.4 N/A
Turnout 45,319 82.1 +5.0
Registered electors 55,218
Labour gain from National Liberal

See also

References

  1. ^ "Yorkshire and the Humber | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Parliamentary Constituencies (Electors, &c.) (United Kingdom)", House of Commons Paper no. 85 of session 1901, p. 7.
  3. ^ Henry Pelling, "Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910", Macmillan, 1967, p. 302.
  4. ^ Michael Kinnear, "The British Voter" 2nd edition, Batsford Academic, 1981, p. 128.
  5. ^ Maurice Cowling, "The Impact of Labour, 1920–1924", Cambridge University Press, 1971, p. 112.
  6. ^ John Ramsden, "Newport and the fall of the Coalition" in "By-Elections in British Politics", Macmillan Press, 1973, p. 18.
  7. ^ "The Second Round in Spen Valley: Sir John Simon and Mr. Tom Myers", Manchester Guardian, 9 November 1922, p. 12.
  8. ^ David Dutton, "Liberals in Schism: A history of the National Liberal Party", Tauris Academic Studies, 2008, p. 42.
  9. ^ "County of York (Eastern Division of the West Riding)" in "Report of the Boundary Commissioners for England Wales, 1885" (C.-4287), vol I p. 185-7.
  10. ^ Hansard 3ser vol 296 col 1937.
  11. ^ Hansard 3ser vol 298 col 1394.
  12. ^ Hansard, 3ser vol 298 cols 1581-2.
  13. ^ Hansard 3ser vol 298 cols 1610-11.
  14. ^ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
  15. ^ "46. County of York, West Riding" in "Report of the Boundary Commission (England and Wales)", Cd. 8757, vol II.
  16. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 9 Yorkshire and the Humber region.
  17. ^ "Spen Valley results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Election results for Spen Valley". Kirklees Council. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  20. ^ Thomas Whittaker died on 9 November 1919.
  21. ^ ‘FAIRFAX, Col Bryan Charles’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 20 Sept 2017
  22. ^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  23. ^ Sir John Simon was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain on 20 May 1940.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer
1937–1940 		Succeeded by

53°43′N 1°42′W / 53.71°N 1.7°W / 53.71; -1.7