Shipley is a
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
since 2005 by
Philip Davies
Philip Andrew Davies (born 5 January 1972) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley in West Yorkshire since the 2005 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he is the most rebellious se ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bradford, and the civil parishes of Clayton, Eccleshill, Idle, North Bierley, and Shipley.
1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Baildon, Bingley, Guiseley, Shipley, and Yeadon, and in the Rural District of Wharfedale the civil parishes of Esholt, Hawksworth, and Menston.
1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Baildon, Bingley, and Shipley.
1983–2010: The District of Bradford wards of Baildon, Bingley, Bingley Rural, Rombalds, Shipley East, and Shipley West.
2010–present: The District of Bradford wards of Baildon, Bingley, Bingley Rural, Shipley, Wharfedale, and Windhill and Wrose.
History
1885–1970
This seat was created in the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
. Until 1923 the seat was almost exclusively represented by elected
Liberals and
Arthur Creech Jones
Arthur Creech Jones (15 May 1891 – 23 October 1964) was a British trade union official and politician. Originally a civil servant, his imprisonment as a conscientious objector during the First World War forced him to change careers. He was el ...
was
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies.
Histor ...
(1946–1950) during most of the
Attlee Ministry
Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 gene ...
.
MPs since 1970
Shipley was for a long time the seat of ex-Chairman of the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...
,
Sir Marcus Fox. He held the seat for almost 30 years between the 1970 and 1997 general elections.
At the
1997 general election, the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
candidate
Chris Leslie
Christopher Michael Leslie (born 28 June 1972) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1997 to 2005 and Nottingham East from 2010 to 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he defected to form ...
gained the seat from Fox, becoming the youngest MP of that parliament. He held the seat at the 2001 election and became a junior minister. A number of traditional Labour supporters considered Leslie to be an ardent
Blairite
In Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and ...
, though he was in fact equally close to
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
, one of whose staff he married, and whose campaign for election as Labour leader he helped run (after he had lost this seat).
Chris Leslie: Statement in full
BBC News, 29 November 2007
Leslie narrowly lost the seat in the 2005 election, when the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate Philip Davies
Philip Andrew Davies (born 5 January 1972) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley in West Yorkshire since the 2005 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he is the most rebellious se ...
narrowly regained the seat with a majority of 422 votes, which then increased to nearly ten thousand votes at the May 2010 general election. Although it has remained with the Conservative Party since 2005, it has arguably become a swing seat, similar to nearby Keighley.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Election in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
See also
* List of parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire
Notes
References
Sources
Political Science Resources
Richard Kimber
*F. W. S. Craig
Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...
, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885 - 1918''
*F. W. S. Craig
Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...
, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1974 - 1979''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipley (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
Politics of Bradford
Shipley, West Yorkshire