Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Colne Valley
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Colne Valley in West Yorkshire.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	West Yorkshire
Electorate	80,791 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Holmfirth, Marsden, Slaithwaite
Current constituency
Created	1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament	Jason McCartney (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Southern West Riding of Yorkshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Colne Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the post-war period the seat had the distinction of being one of the few Labour/Liberal marginals, changing hands between the parties on several occasions. It is now considered a three-way marginal and has been held by each of the three major parties in the last 30 years.

Boundaries

This semi-rural constituency covers the Colne Valley, Holme Valley, Meltham and the outskirts of the large town of Huddersfield in the district of Kirklees, West Yorkshire. The constituency briefly comprises the towns of Holmfirth and Meltham and the villages of Marsden, Slaithwaite, Honley, Brockholes, Linthwaite, New Mill, and Golcar. The seat was once held by the Independent Labour MP Victor Grayson, who later disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1920.

In 1981, the Boundary Commission's proposals combined much of the seat with a large portion of the Huddersfield West seat. Originally it was proposed to use the Huddersfield West name, however this was opposed at the public inquiry which argued that the Colne Valley name be preserved.

In their most recent review in the 2000s, the Boundary Commission for England recommended minor changes to the existing Colne Valley constituency. At the 2010 election, the constituency was formed from the following electoral wards:

• Colne Valley, Crosland Moor and Netherton, Golcar, Holme Valley North, Holme Valley South, and Lindley.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Henry Beaumont	Liberal
	1892	Sir James Kitson	Liberal
	1907 by-election	Victor Grayson	Independent Labour
	Jan 1910	Charles Leach	Liberal
	1916 by-election	Frederick William Mallalieu	Liberal
	1922	Philip Snowden	Labour
	1931		National Labour
	1931	Edward Lancelot Mallalieu	Liberal
	1935	Ernest Marklew	Labour
	1939 by-election	William Glenvil Hall	Labour
	1963 by-election	Patrick Duffy	Labour
	1966	Richard Wainwright	Liberal
	1970	David Clark	Labour
	Feb 1974	Richard Wainwright	Liberal
	1987	Graham Riddick	Conservative
	1997	Kali Mountford	Labour
	2010	Jason McCartney	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jason McCartney	20,440	37.0	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Nicola Turner	15,603	28.2	+3.7
	Labour	Debbie Abrahams	14,589	26.4	-9.0
	BNP	Barry Fowler	1,893	3.4	+0.6
	UKIP	Melanie Roberts	1,163	2.1	+2.1
	Green	Chas Ball	867	1.6	-1.2
	Trade Unionist & Socialist	Jackie Grunsell	741	1.3	+1.3
Majority			4,837	8.7	-6.5
Turnout			55,296	69.1	+3.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kali Mountford	17,536	35.8	−4.6
	Conservative	Maggie Throup	16,035	32.8	+2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Elisabeth Wilson	11,822	24.2	−0.7
	BNP	Barry Fowler	1,430	2.9	N/A
	Green	Lesley Hedges	1,295	2.6	+0.3
	Veritas	Helen Martinek	543	1.1	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Ian Mumford	259	0.5	N/A
Majority			1,501	3.1
Turnout			48,920	66.0	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.4

General Election 2001: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kali Mountford	18,967	40.4	−0.9
	Conservative	Philip Davies	14,328	30.5	−2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Gordon Beever	11,694	24.9	+2.3
	Green	Richard Plunkett	1,081	2.3	+1.4
	UKIP	Arthur Quarmby	917	2.0	+1.1
Majority			4,639	9.9
Turnout			46,987	63.3	−13.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kali Mountford	23,285	41.3
	Conservative	Graham Riddick	18,445	32.7
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Priestley	12,755	22.6
	Socialist Labour	A. Brooke	759	1.3
	Green	A. Cooper	493	0.9
	UKIP	J. Nunn	478	0.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Mrs Melody Staniforth	196	0.3
Majority			4,840
Turnout				76.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1992: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Riddick	24,804	42.0	+5.6
	Labour	JA Harman	17,579	29.8	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	NJ Priestley	15,953	27.0	−6.4
	Green	RJA Stewart	443	0.8	−0.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Mrs ME Staniforth	160	0.3	+0.3
	Independent	JG Hosty	73	0.1	+0.1
	Natural Law	JP Tattersall	44	0.1	+0.1
Majority			7,225	12.2	+9.3
Turnout			59,056	82.0	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Riddick	20,457	36.4
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	Nigel Priestley	18,780	33.4
	Labour	John Harman	16,353	29.1
	Green	M. R. Mullany	614	1.1
Majority			1,677	3.0
Turnout				80.1
	Conservative gain from SDP–Liberal Alliance		Swing

General Election 1983: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	Richard Wainwright	21,139	39.8
	Conservative	J. Holt	17,993	33.9
	Labour	A. Williams	13,668	25.8
	Independent	Tom Keen	260	0.5
Majority			3,146	5.9
Turnout				76.2
	SDP–Liberal Alliance hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	20,151	38.4
	Labour	P. J. Hildrew	17,799	33.9
	Conservative	S. G. Kaye	14,450	27.5
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	101	0.2
Majority			2,352	4.5
Turnout				81.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	21,997	44.3
	Labour	David Clark	20,331	40.9
	Conservative	K. E. Davy	7,337	14.8
Majority			1,666	3.4
Turnout				81.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	20,984	40.3
	Labour	David Clark	20,265	38.9
	Conservative	K. E. Davy	10,864	20.9
Majority			719	1.4
Turnout				86.4
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1970: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Clark	18,896	39.9
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	18,040	38.1
	Conservative	K. E. Davy	10,417	22.0
Majority			856	1.6
Turnout				80.8
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	22,006	48.6
	Labour	Patrick Duffy	19,507	43.1
	Conservative	R. D. Hall	3,786	8.4
Majority			2,499	5.5
Turnout				86.2
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1964: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Duffy	18,537	42.0
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	18,350	41.6
	Conservative	A. C. Alexander	7,207	16.3
Majority			187	0.4
Turnout				84.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Colne Valley by-election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Duffy	18,033
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	15,994
	Conservative	A. C. Alexander	6,238
	Independent	A. Fox	266
Majority			2,039
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Glenvil Hall	19,284	44.3
	Conservative	C. J. Barr	13,030	29.9
	Liberal	Richard Wainwright	11,254	25.8	N/A
Majority			6,254	14.4
Turnout				84.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Glenvil Hall	23,108	54.2
	Conservative	S. Cheetham	19,512	45.8	N/A
Majority			3,956	8.4
Turnout				81.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Glenvil Hall	26,455	52.2
	Liberal	Violet Bonham-Carter	24,266	47.8
Majority			2,189	4.3
Turnout				87.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Glenvil Hall	24,910	49.4
	Conservative	E. E. Smith	15,826	31.4
	Liberal	R. F. Leslie	9,654	19.2
Majority			9,084	18.0
Turnout				86.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Glenvil Hall	23,488
	Conservative	S. Smith	11,593
	Liberal	G. K. Lawrence	7,890
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Colne Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lance Mallalieu	17,119
	Labour	Ernest Marklew	13,734
	Conservative	Lt-Col E ff W Lascelles	12,581
	National Labour	M A E Franklin*	202
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

• Franklin: After failing to win the endorsement of Philip Snowden, the retiring Labour (National Labour) MP, Franklin withdrew from the contest, however, his name still appeared on the ballot paper.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire