Bradford (UK Parliament constituency)

Bradford
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County West Riding of Yorkshire
Major settlements Bradford
1832–1885
Number of members Two
Replaced by Bradford Central
Bradford East
Bradford West
Created from Yorkshire

Bradford was a parliamentary constituency in Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.

It was then split into three new constituencies: Bradford Central, Bradford East, and Bradford West.

Boundaries

The constituency was based upon the town of Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was enfranchised as a two member parliamentary borough from 1832. Before 1832 the area was only represented as part of the county constituency of Yorkshire. After 1832 the non-resident Forty Shilling Freeholders of the area continued to qualify for a county vote (initially in the West Riding of Yorkshire seat, and from 1865 in a division of the West Riding).

Bradford, as a new parliamentary borough, had no voters enfranchised under the ancient rights preserved by the Reform Act 1832. All voters qualified under the new uniform, borough householder franchise.

The area was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, covering the parishes of Bradford, Horton and Manningham. Bradford was expanded in 1882 to include Allerton, Bolton, Bowling, Heaton, Thornbury and Tyersall. However the parliamentary boundaries were not affected until the redistribution of 1885.

After the expanded borough was divided into three single member seats in 1885, Bradford became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. The county borough was granted city status by Letters Patent in 1897.

Members of Parliament

Two MPs were elected at each general election. The table below shows the election years in which one or both of the MPs changed.[1][2]

ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1832 Ellis Cunliffe Lister Liberal 1 John Hardy Liberal 1
1835 Conservative
1837 William Busfield Liberal 1
1841 John Hardy Conservative William Cunliffe Lister Liberal 1
1841 by-election William Busfield Liberal 1
1847 Thomas Perronet Thompson Liberal 1
1851 by-election Robert Milligan Liberal 1
1852 Henry Wickham Wickham Conservative
1857 Thomas Perronet Thompson Liberal 1
1859 Liberal 1 Titus Salt Liberal 1
1861 by-election William Edward Forster Liberal
1867 by-election Matthew William Thompson Liberal
1868 Henry William Ripley Liberal
1869 by-election Edward Miall Liberal
1874 Henry William Ripley Conservative
1880 Alfred Illingworth Liberal
1885 constituency divided: see Bradford Central, Bradford East, and Bradford West

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

Bradford by-election, 1869:[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Miall 9,243
Liberal Matthew William Thompson 7,806
Majority 1,437 8.43%
Turnout 79.2%
Liberal hold Swing
1868 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Edward Forster 9,646
Liberal Henry Ripley 9,347
Liberal Edward Miall 8,768
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
Liberal hold Swing
Bradford by-election, 1867[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Matthew William Thompson 2,210
Liberal Edward Miall 1,807
Majority 403 10%
Turnout 77.4%
Liberal hold Swing
At the 1865 General Election, William Edward Forster and Henry Wickham Wickham were elected unopposed.[1]
At the Bradford by-election, 1861 following the resignation of Titus Salt, William Edward Forster was elected unopposed.[1]

Elections in the 1850s

1859 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Wickham Wickham 2,076
Liberal Titus Salt 1,727
Conservative Alfred Harris 1,229
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
Liberal hold Swing
At the 1857 General Election, Thomas Perronet Thompson and Henry Wickham Wickham were elected unopposed.[1]
1852 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Milligan 1,266
Conservative Henry Wickham Wickham 1,159
Liberal Thomas Perronet Thompson 1,153
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing
At the Bradford by-election, 1851 following the death of William Busfeild, Robert Milligan was elected unopposed..[1]

Elections in the 1840s

1847 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Busfeild 937
Liberal Thomas Perronet Thompson 926
Conservative Henry Wickham Wickham 860
Conservative Gathorne Hardy 812
Majority
Turnout
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing
Liberal hold Swing
Bradford by-election, 1841[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Busfeild 526
Conservative William Wilberforce 522
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
1841 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Hardy 612
Liberal William Cunliffe Lister 540
Liberal William Busfeild 503
Majority
Turnout
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing
Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1830s

1837 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ellis Cunliffe Lister 635
Liberal William Busfield 621
Conservative John Hardy 443
Conservative William Ferrand 383
Turnout
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing
Liberal hold Swing
1835 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Hardy 611
Liberal Ellis Cunliffe Lister 589
Liberal George Hadfield 392
Turnout
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing
Liberal hold Swing
1832 General Election: Bradford[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ellis Cunliffe Lister 650
Liberal John Hardy 471
Liberal George Banks 402
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
Liberal hold Swing

Note

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Craig, F. W. S. (1989). British electoral facts, 1832-1987. Dartmouth. ISBN 0-900178-30-2.
  2. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)