Sowerby (UK Parliament constituency)

53.705°N 1.937°W / 53.705; -1.937

Sowerby
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Sowerby in Yorkshire, 1885–1918
CountyWest Riding of Yorkshire
1885–1983
SeatsOne
Created fromNorthern West Riding of Yorkshire
Replaced byCalder Valley and Halifax[1]

Sowerby (/ˈsoʊərbi, ˈsaʊərbi/)[2] was a county constituency centred on the village of Sowerby in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Calder Valley constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918:

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Todmorden, the Urban Districts of Barkisland, Hebden Bridge, Luddendenfoot, Midgley, Mytholmroyd, Rishworth, Sowerby, Sowerby Bridge, and Soyland, the Rural District of Todmorden, and the civil parish of Norland in the Rural District of Halifax.

1950–1983: The Municipal Borough of Todmorden, the Urban Districts of Elland, Hebden Royd, Ripponden, and Sowerby Bridge, and the Rural District of Hepton.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1885 Edward Crossley Liberal
1892 John William Mellor Liberal
1904 John Sharp Higham Liberal
1918 Robert Hewitt Barker Independent NADSS
1922 William Simpson-Hinchliffe Unionist
1923 Arnold Williams Liberal
1924 Geoffrey Shaw Unionist
1929 William John Tout Labour
1931 Malcolm McCorquodale Conservative
1945 John Belcher Labour
1949 Douglas Houghton Labour
1974 Max Madden Labour
1979 Donald Thompson Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1885: Sowerby [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Crossley 6,427 68.5
Conservative Frederick Milner 2,960 31.5
Majority 3,467 37.0
Turnout 9,387 82.6
Registered electors 11,364
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Sowerby [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Crossley Unopposed
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s
Mellor
General election 1892: Sowerby [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John William Mellor 5,754 63.4 N/A
Liberal Unionist Henry Tipping Crook[5] 3,324 36.6 New
Majority 2,430 26.8 N/A
Turnout 9,078 75.9 N/A
Registered electors 11,963
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General election 1895: Sowerby [3][4][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John William Mellor 5,328 58.7 −4.7
Conservative John Bailey* 3,753 41.3 +4.7
Majority 1,575 17.4 -9.4
Turnout 9,081 77.7 +1.8
Registered electors 11,686
Liberal hold Swing −4.7

*Some sources describe Bailey as a Liberal Unionist.

Elections in the 1900s
Mellor
General election 1900: Sowerby [3][4][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John William Mellor 5,528 57.6 -1.1
Conservative 4,067 42.4 +1.1
Majority 1,461 15.2 -2.2
Turnout 9,595 80.0 +2.3
Registered electors 11,998
Liberal hold Swing -1.1
  • some sources describe as Liberal Unionist
1904 Sowerby by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,049 60.9 +3.3
Conservative William Simpson-Hinchliffe 3,877 39.1 -3.3
Majority 2,172 21.8 +6.6
Turnout 9,926 80.6 +0.6
Registered electors 12,311
Liberal hold Swing +3.3
General election 1906: Sowerby [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,482 61.6 +4.0
Conservative William Simpson-Hinchliffe 4,034 38.4 −4.0
Majority 2,448 23.2 +8.0
Turnout 10,516 84.2 +4.2
Registered electors 12,492
Liberal hold Swing +4.0

Elections in the 1910s
General election January 1910: Sowerby[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,811 58.8 -2.8
Conservative William Simpson-Hinchliffe 4,781 41.2 +2.8
Majority 2,030 17.6 -5.6
Turnout 11,592 90.5 +6.3
Registered electors 12,805
Liberal hold Swing -2.8
General election December 1910: Sowerby[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham Unopposed
Liberal hold
General election 1918: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Ind. Unionist Robert Hewitt Barker* 8,287 37.0 New
Labour John William Ogden 7,306 32.7 New
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,778 30.2 New
Majority 981 4.3 N/A
Turnout 22,371 65.2 N/A
Ind. Unionist gain from Liberal Swing N/A
* An official Unionist candidate was selected ahead of the election, but when the writ for the election was issued, the Coalition Whips ordered the local Unionists to withdraw the candidate in favour of Higham – who was given the Coalition Coupon but then repudiated it.
Some local Unionists were angered by this state of affairs, and persuaded the local branch of the NADSS to sponsor Barker, who was known to be a Conservative. Barker then received considerable support from local Unionists during the campaign. There is no information on whether he took a whip in the House of Commons, but he voted fairly consistently with the coalition.

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1922: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William Simpson-Hinchliffe 11,710 39.9 New
Liberal Arnold Williams 8,144 27.7 -2.5
Labour John William Ogden 7,496 25.5 -7.2
National Liberal Frank Roebuck 2,023 6.9 -23.3
Majority 3,566 12.2 N/A
Turnout 29,373 83.9 +18.7
Unionist gain from Independent Swing N/A
General election 1923: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Arnold Williams 11,350 39.6 +11.9
Unionist William Simpson-Hinchliffe 9,932 34.6 -5.3
Labour Arthur Dawson 7,389 25.8 +0.3
Majority 1,418 5.0 17.2
Turnout 28,671 81.0 -2.9
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +8.6
General election 1924: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Geoffrey Shaw 11,181 37.8 +3.2
Liberal Arnold Williams 9,480 32.1 -7.5
Labour Arthur Dawson 8,881 30.1 +4.3
Majority 1,701 5.7 N/A
Turnout 29,542 83.2 +2.2
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +5.3
General election 1929: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour William John Tout 14,223 37.2 +7.1
Unionist Arthur Colegate 12,057 31.6 -6.2
Liberal Thomas George Graham 11,890 31.2 -0.9
Majority 2,166 5.6 N/A
Turnout 38,170 83.4 +0.2
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +6.6

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm McCorquodale 25,511 68.27
Labour William John Tout 11,857 31.73
Majority 13,654 36.54
Turnout 37,368 81.05
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Malcolm McCorquodale 18,707 53.9 -14.4
Labour William John Tout 16,035 46.2 +14.5
Majority 2,672 7.7 -28.8
Turnout 34,742 75.9
Conservative hold Swing

General Election 1939–40:

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Belcher 17,710 50.8 +4.6
Conservative Malcolm McCorquodale 10,777 30.9 -23.0
Liberal Douglas Eugene Moore 6,373 18.3 New
Majority 6,933 19.9 N/A
Turnout 34,860 82.0 +6.1
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
1949 Sowerby by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 18,606 53.0 +2.2
Conservative Paul Bryan 16,454 47.0 +16.1
Majority 2,152 6.0 -13.9
Turnout 35,060
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1950: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 22,846 45.4 -5.4
Conservative Paul Bryan 19,181 38.1 +7.2
Liberal Adrian Liddell Hart 8,306 16.5 New
Majority 3,665 7.3 -12.6
Turnout 50,333 88.3 +6.3
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 22,766 46.1 +0.7
Conservative Paul Bryan 21,118 42.7 +4.6
Liberal John G Walker 5,573 11.3 -5.2
Majority 1,648 3.4 -3.9
Turnout 49,457 86.9 -1.4
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 20,092 45.2 -0.9
Conservative Betty Harvie Anderson 17,309 38.9 -3.8
Liberal John G Walker 7,046 15.9 +4.6
Majority 2,783 6.3 +2.9
Turnout 44,447 81.4 -5.5
Labour hold Swing
General election 1959: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 18,949 43.5 -1.7
Conservative Robert Kenyon McKim 16,993 39.0 +0.1
Liberal John G Walker 7,654 17.6 +1.7
Majority 1,956 4.5 -1.8
Turnout 43,596 83.0 +1.6
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1964: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 21,582 54.2 +10.7
Conservative Robert Kenyon McKim 18,220 45.8 +6.8
Majority 3,362 8.4 +3.9
Turnout 39,802 79.5 -3.5
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 21,591 56.9 +2.7
Conservative William G Burman 16,361 43.1 -2.7
Majority 5,230 13.8 +5.4
Turnout 37,952 77.7 -1.8
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1970: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Douglas Houghton 16,583 43.8 -13.1
Conservative William G Burman 16,114 42.6 -0.5
Liberal David Shutt 5,137 13.6 New
Majority 469 1.2 -12.6
Turnout 37,834 75.6 -2.1
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Max Madden 14,492 36.1 -7.7
Conservative Donald Thompson 14,377 35.8 -6.8
Liberal David Shutt 11,254 28.1 +14.5
Majority 115 0.3 -0.9
Turnout 40,123 83.0 +7.4
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Max Madden 14,971 38.8 +2.7
Conservative Donald Thompson 14,325 37.1 +1.3
Liberal David Shutt 9,136 23.7 -4.4
More Prosperous Britain Harold Smith 157 0.4 New
Majority 646 1.7 +1.4
Turnout 38,589 80.7 -2.3
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Sowerby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Donald Thompson 16,797 42.2 +5.1
Labour Max Madden 15,617 39.3 +0.5
Liberal David Shutt 7,369 18.5 -5.2
Majority 1,180 2.9 N/A
Turnout 39,783 80.7 0.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

References
  1. "'Sowerby', Feb 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  3. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 448. ISBN 9781349022984.
  4. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  5. "Unionism in the Sowerby Division". Yorkshire Post and Lords Intelligencer. 27 May 1891. p. 5. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
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