Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)

Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.

Pontefract
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295–1301
Seats	2
1621–1974 (1974)
Seats	2 until 1885; 1 from 1885 to 1974
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Pontefract and Castleford

History

In the unreformed Parliaments (1295–1832)

Pontefract had representation in the Model Parliament of 1295, and in that which followed it in 1298, but gained a continuous franchise only from 1621. The constituency was a parliamentary borough, returning two members, consisting only of the town of Pontefract itself.

Until 1783, Pontefract was a burgage borough, where the right to vote was attached to the holders of about 325 specified properties in the borough. As in most burgage boroughs, the majority of the burgage tenements were concentrated in a small number of hands, giving their owners an effective stranglehold on the choice of representatives; but, since an individual could not vote more than once in person, however, many of the burgages he controlled, such a majority could only be exercised by conveying each of the properties to a reliable nominee at election time. In Pontefract the two chief landowners in the first half of the 18th century, George Morton Pitt and Lord Galway, owned between them a narrow majority of the burgages, but rather than putting in dummy voters to enforce their control they had preferred to reach an amicable settlement at each election with the remaining small burgage holders, who were mostly residents of the town. Consequently, the inhabitants generally had some voice in the choice of their MPs, as well as benefiting from the monetary outlay that the patrons expended to secure their goodwill.

However, in 1766 Pitt sold his burgages to John Walsh, who persuaded Galway to join him in abandoning canvassing and treating of the other voters, instead bringing in "faggot voters" to enforce their majority. At the next general election, in 1768, the indignant inhabitants put up their own candidates (Sir Rowland Winn and his brother), and a riot on polling day prevented the imported voters from reaching the polling booth. The election was declared void and Walsh's nominee duly returned at the by-election, but the townsmen refused to abandon their quest.

Defeated in 1774, when Charles James Fox stood as one of their candidates, they petitioned against the result, but the Commons upheld the burgage franchise. But in 1783, when they tried again, the Commons abandoned its usual practice of refusing to reconsider a decision on a constituency's franchise, and declared that the right to vote was properly vested in all the (male) resident householders; this remained the case for the final half-century of the unreformed Parliament.

By the time of the Great Reform Act in 1831, roughly 800 householders qualified to vote, and 699 did so in the contested election of 1830; the borough at this period had a total population of just under 5,000. Nevertheless, Pontefract still classed as a pocket borough, where the Earl of Harewood had the effective power to choose one of its two MPs.

After the Reform Act

 

A map of the Parliamentary Borough of Pontefract as it existed before the 1832 Reform Act (in green) and after (in red)

The Reform Act of 1832 extended the boundaries of the constituency, bringing in the neighbouring townships of Tanshelf, Monkhill, Knottingley, Ferrybridge and Carleton, as well as Pontefract Castle and Pontefract Park, which had previously been excluded. This doubled the population to just over 10,000, in 4,832 houses.

In 1872 Pontefract became the first British constituency to hold a parliamentary election by secret ballot, at a by-election held shortly after the Act ending the old practice of open voting had come into effect. There was considerable interest in the outcome, many observers believing that support for the parties might be drastically different once voters were able to make their choice in secret; but in the event the shares of the vote were much as they had been at the previous general election. Hugh Childers was re-elected on 15 August 1872 following his appointment as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Pontefract museum holds the original ballot box, sealed in wax with a liquorice stamp.^[1]

The third Reform Act, which came into effect at the general election of 1885, reduced Pontefract's representation from two members to one, though the boundaries remained essentially unchanged. In 1918, Pontefract became a county constituency, with boundaries extended to cover a much wider area – Pontefract itself, the towns of Knottingley and Goole, and the Pontefract and Goole rural districts.

At the 1950 general election Pontefract regained its borough status, being redrawn as a wholly urban constituency consisting of Pontefract, Castleford and Featherstone. From February 1974, the constituency was renamed Pontefract and Castleford, although its composition remained unchanged.

Members of Parliament

1621–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
Right to return members restored, 1621
1621	George Shilleto	Sir Edwin Sandys, jnr
1623	Sir Henry Holcroft ^[nb 1]	Sir Thomas Wentworth
1623	Sir John Jackson	Sir Thomas Wentworth
1625	Sir John Jackson	Richard Beaumont
1626	Sir John Jackson	Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Baronet
1628	Sir John Ramsden	Sir John Jackson
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1885

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		April 1640	John Ramsden	Royalist	Sir George Wentworth (1)	Royalist
		November 1640	Sir George Wentworth (1)	Royalist	Sir George Wentworth (2)	Royalist
		September 1642	Wentworth disabled to sit – seat vacant ^[nb 2]
		January 1644			Wentworth disabled to sit – seat vacant
		1645	Henry Arthington
		1646			William White
		1653	Pontefract was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		January 1659	John Hewley		John Lambert ^[nb 3]
		May 1659	William White		One seat vacant
		1660	William Lowther		Sir George Savile, Bt.
		1661			Sir John Dawnay
		1679	Sir Patience Ward
		1685	Sir Thomas Yarburgh
		1690	Henry Dawnay		Sir John Bland, Bt.
		1695	Sir William Lowther		Robert Monckton
		1698	Sir John Bland, Bt.		John Bright
		1701			William Lowther
		1710			Robert Frank
		1713	John Dawnay^[nb 4]
		1716 ^[nb 5]	Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet		Hugh Bethell
		1722			John Lowther
		1729	Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet
		1730			John Mordaunt
		1734			John Monckton
		1741	George Morton Pitt
		1747			William Monckton
		1749			John Monckton
		1751			Robert Monckton
		1754	William Monckton-Arundell		Sambrooke Freeman
		1761			William Gerard Hamilton
		March 1768			Sir Rowland Winn
		December 1768			Henry Strachey
		1772	Henry Monckton-Arundell
		March 1774	Robert Monckton
		October 1774	Sir John Goodricke, Bt.		Charles Mellish ^[nb 6]
		1780	William Nedham		Robert Monckton-Arundell
		February 1783			Nathaniel Smith
		April 1783			John Smyth	Whig^[2]
		1784	William Sotheron
		1796	Robert Monckton-Arundell
		1802	Richard Benyon
		1806	Robert Pemberton Milnes	Tory^[2]
		1807			John Savile	Tory^[2]
		October 1812			Henry Lascelles^[nb 7]	Tory^[2]
		December 1812			John Savile	Tory^[2]
		1818	Thomas Houldsworth	Tory^[2]
		1826			Le Gendre Starkie	Tory^[2]
		1830	Hon. Henry Stafford-Jerningham	Whig^[2]	Sir Culling Eardley, Bt.	Tory^[2]
		1831			John Savile	Tory^[2]
		1832			John Gully	Whig^[2]
		1835	John Savile	Conservative^[2]
		1837	Richard Monckton Milnes	Conservative^[2]	William Stanley-Massey-Stanley	Whig^[2]^[3]^[4]
		1841			John Savile	Conservative^[2]
		1847			Samuel Martin	Whig^[5]^[6]^[7]
		1851			Hon. Beilby Lawley^[nb 8]	Whig^[8]
		1852			Benjamin Oliveira	Whig^[9]
		1857		Whig^[10]^[11]	William Wood	Whig
		1859		Liberal	William Overend	Conservative
		1860			Hugh Childers	Liberal
		1863	Samuel Waterhouse	Conservative
		1880	Sidney Woolf	Liberal
1885			Representation reduced to one member

1885–1974

Election		Member	Party	Notes
1885		reduced to one member
	1885	Rowland Winn	Conservative
	February 1893	Sir Harold Reckitt	Liberal
	June 1893	Thomas Nussey	Liberal
	1910	Frederick Handel Booth	Liberal
	1918	Sir Joseph Compton-Rickett	Coalition Liberal
	1919	Walter Forrest	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Tom Smith	Labour
	1924	Christopher Brooke	Unionist
	1929	Tom Smith	Labour
	1931	Thomas E. Sotheron-Estcourt	Conservative
	1935	Adam Hills	Labour
	1941 by-election	Percy Barstow	Labour
	1950	George Sylvester	Labour	Died October 1961
	1962 by-election	Joe Harper	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Pontefract & Castleford

Notes

1. Holcroft also stood for Stockbridge, winning both but chose to represent Stockbridge so a writ was issued to elect another MP for Pontefract.
2. Wentworth was disabled from sitting in the House of Commons for "disserting the service of the House and being in the King's quarters".
3. Lambert was also elected for Aldborough but chose to sit for Pontefract.
4. Dawnay had also been elected for Aldborough, but a petition against the result there had not been resolved by the time the Parliament was dissolved. Not being required to choose which constituency he would represent while there was an outstanding petition against one of the elections, he sat for both boroughs throughout the Parliament
5. At the general election of 1715, Dawnay and Frank were declared re-elected, but on petition the result was overturned and their opponents, Bethell and Lowther, seated in their place
6. After an election petition, Mellish was declared elected in Pontefract as well as in Boroughbridge but chose to sit for Pontefract.
7. Lascelles was also elected for Yorkshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Pontefract
8. Lawley was ennobled as Baron Wenlock in May 1852 but no new writ was ordered.

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Culling Eardley Smith	529	41.4
	Whig	Henry Stafford-Jerningham	413	32.3
	Whig	Robert Torrens	337	26.3
Turnout			699	c. 85.2
Registered electors			c. 820
Majority			116	9.1
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			76	6.0	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing

General election 1831: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Savile	Unopposed
	Whig	Henry Stafford-Jerningham	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 820
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Henry Stafford-Jerningham	Unopposed
	Whig	John Gully	Unopposed
Registered electors			956
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1835: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Gully	509	34.3
	Conservative	John Savile	498	33.5
	Whig	Alexander Raphael	478	32.2
Turnout			c. 743	c. 86.1
Registered electors			862
Majority			11	0.8
	Whig hold
Majority			20	1.3
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1837: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Monckton Milnes	507	49.1	+15.6
	Whig	Sir William Stanley-Massey-Stanley, 10th Baronet	403	39.0	+4.7
	Whig	Culling Eardley Smith	123	11.9	−20.3
	Conservative	Henry Gompertz^[14]	0	0.0	N/A
Turnout			679	85.4	c. −0.7
Registered electors			795
Majority			104	10.1	+8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+15.6
Majority			280	27.1	+26.3
	Whig hold		Swing	−1.6

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Pontefract (2 seats)^[2][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Savile	464	40.3	−8.8
	Conservative	Richard Monckton Milnes	433	37.7	+37.7
	Whig	John Gully	253	22.0	−28.9
Majority			180	15.7	+5.6
Turnout			632	88.8	+3.4
Registered electors			712
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+26.1

General election 1847: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Samuel Martin	415	36.9	+14.9
	Conservative	Richard Monckton Milnes	365	32.4	−5.3
	Conservative	Thomas Henry Preston^[15]	346	30.7	−9.6
Majority			69	6.2	N/A
Turnout			563 (est)	82.2 (est)	−6.6
Registered electors			685
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.4

Elections in the 1850s

Martin resigned after being appointed a judge of the Court of the Exchequer, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 February 1851: Pontefract^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Beilby Lawley	427	78.8	+41.9
	Conservative	John Savile	115	21.2	−41.9
Majority			312	57.6	+51.4
Turnout			542	80.3	−1.9
Registered electors			675
	Whig hold		Swing	+41.9

General election 1852: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Monckton Milnes	433	39.9	+7.5
	Whig	Benjamin Oliveira	338	31.2	−5.7
	Conservative	William David Lewis^[16]	313	28.9	−1.8
Turnout			542 (est)	79.2 (est)	−3.0
Registered electors			684
Majority			95	8.7	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.2
Majority			25	2.3	−3.9
	Whig hold		Swing	−5.7

General election 1857: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Monckton Milnes	439	38.8	−1.1
	Whig	William Wood	374	33.0	N/A
	Whig	Benjamin Oliveira	319	28.2	−0.7
Majority			65	5.8	+3.5
Turnout			566 (est)	80.3 (est)	+1.1
Registered electors			705
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Monckton Milnes	497	45.2	+6.4
	Conservative	William Overend	306	27.8	New
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	296	26.9	N/A
Turnout			550 (est)	78.4 (est)	−1.9
Registered electors			701
Majority			191	17.4	+11.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			10	0.9	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

Overend resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 31 January 1860: Pontefract^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	320	55.5	−16.6
	Conservative	Samuel Waterhouse	257	44.5	+16.7
Majority			63	11.0	N/A
Turnout			577	83.7	+5.3
Registered electors			689
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−16.7

Milnes was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Houghton and causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 August 1863: Pontefract^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Waterhouse	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Childers was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, causing a by-election.

By-election, 20 April 1864: Pontefract^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	359	36.7	+9.8
	Conservative	Samuel Waterhouse	330	33.8	+6.0
	Liberal	William McArthur	288	29.5	−15.7
Turnout			654 (est)	93.5 (est)	+15.1
Registered electors			699
Majority			29	2.9	−14.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.4
Majority			42	4.3	+4.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

General election 1868: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	913	36.6	−0.1
	Conservative	Samuel Waterhouse	900	36.1	+2.3
	Liberal	Charles Milnes Gaskell	680	27.3	−2.2
Turnout			1,697 (est)	88.8 (est)	−4.7
Registered electors			1,910
Majority			13	0.5	−2.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.6
Majority			220	8.8	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.3

Childers was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 December 1868: Pontefract^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Childers was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, causing a by-election.

By-election, 17 Aug 1872: Pontefract (1 seat)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	658	53.2	−10.7
	Conservative	John Horace Savile, 5th Earl of Mexborough	578	46.8	+10.7
Majority			80	6.4	+5.9
Turnout			1,236	63.7	−25.1
Registered electors			1,941
	Liberal hold		Swing	−13.0

General election 1874: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	934	37.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Samuel Waterhouse	861	34.4	+0.6
	Conservative	John Horace Savile, 5th Earl of Mexborough	709	28.3	−1.2
Turnout			1,719 (est)	84.3 (est)	-4.5
Registered electors			2,038
Majority			73	2.9	+2.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.5
Majority			152	6.1	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Pontefract (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	1,154	31.1	+12.4
	Liberal	Sidney Woolf	1,029	27.7	+9.0
	Conservative	Edward Green	904	24.3	−10.1
	Conservative	John Shaw^[17]	627	16.9	−11.4
Majority			125	3.4	+0.5
Turnout			1,857 (est)	76.5 (est)	−7.8
Registered electors			2,429
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.9
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.6

Childers was appointed Secretary of State for War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 8 May 1880: Pontefract (1 seat)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

 

Hugh Childers

General election 1885: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rowland Winn	1,111	50.8	+9.6
	Liberal	Hugh Childers	1,075	49.2	−9.6
Majority			36	1.6	N/A
Turnout			2,186	88.7	+12.2 (est)
Registered electors			2,465
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.6

General election 1886: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rowland Winn	1,156	55.0	+4.2
	Liberal	Charles James Fleming	947	45.0	-4.2
Majority			209	10.0	+8.4
Turnout			2,103	85.3	-3.4
Registered electors			2,465
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rowland Winn	1,132	50.9	−4.1
	Liberal	Henry Smithson Lee Wilson^[19]	1,092	49.1	+4.1
Majority			40	1.8	−8.2
Turnout			2,224	88.3	+3.0
Registered electors			2,518
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

Winn succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord St Oswald.

 

Harold Reckitt

February 1893 Pontefract by-election^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Reckitt	1,228	51.3	+2.2
	Conservative	John Reginald Shaw	1,165	48.7	-2.2
Majority			63	2.6	N/A
Turnout			2,393	92.9	+4.6
Registered electors			2,575
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.2

The by-election was declared void on petition, requiring a by-election.

 

Thomas Nussey

June 1893 Pontefract by-election^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Nussey	1,191	50.7	+1.6
	Conservative	Elliott Lees^[20]	1,159	49.3	−1.6
Majority			32	1.4	N/A
Turnout			2,350	91.3	+3.0
Registered electors			2,575
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.6

General election 1895: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Nussey	1,245	51.2	+2.1
	Conservative	James Hope	1,188	48.8	−2.1
Majority			57	2.4	N/A
Turnout			2,433	89.4	+1.1
Registered electors			2,721
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Nussey	1,385	52.2	+1.0
	Conservative	Frederick Ripley	1,269	47.8	-1.0
Majority			116	4.4	+2.0
Turnout			2,654	88.3	−1.1
Registered electors			3,004
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 1906: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Nussey	1,837	64.1	+11.9
	Conservative	Charles Yate	1,030	35.9	-11.9
Majority			807	28.2	+23.8
Turnout			2,867	87.2	-1.1
Registered electors			3,288
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.9

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Nussey	1,924	55.9	-8.2
	Conservative	John Reginald Shaw	1,515	44.1	+8.2
Majority			409	11.8	-16.4
Turnout			3,439	93.9	+6.7
Registered electors			3,661
	Liberal hold		Swing	-8.2

General election December 1910: Pontefract ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Handel Booth	1,679	50.8	−5.1
	Conservative	John Reginald Shaw	1,627	49.2	+5.1
Majority			52	1.6	−10.2
Turnout			3,306	90.3	-3.6
Registered electors			3,661
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.1

General Election 1914–15:

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;

• Liberal: Handel Booth
• Unionist:
• Labour:

 

Compton-Rickett

General election 1918: Pontefract ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Joseph Compton-Rickett	8,561	62.9	+12.1
	Labour	Isaac Burns	5,047	37.1	New
Majority			3514	25.8	+24.2
Turnout			13,608	45.6	−44.7
	Liberal hold		Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

 

Walter Forrest

1919 Pontefract by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Walter Forrest	9,920	54.0	-8.9
	Labour	Isaac Burns	8,445	46.0	+8.9
Majority			1,475	8.0	-17.8
Turnout			18,365	61.5	+15.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-8.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Pontefract ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	9,111	38.9	+1.8
	Unionist	Joshua Scholefield	8,495	36.1	New
	National Liberal	Walter Forrest	5,879	25.0	-29.0
Majority			626	2.8	N/A
Turnout			23,485	73.9	+12.4
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing

 

Mary Grant

General election 1923: Pontefract ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	11,134	45.3	+6.4
	Unionist	Albert Braithwaite	8,872	36.1	0.0
	Liberal	Mary Pollock Grant	4,567	18.6	-6.4
Majority			2,262	9.2	+6.4
Turnout			24,573	73.5	-0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

General election 1924: Pontefract^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Christopher Brooke	13,745	51.3	+15.2
	Labour	Tom Smith	13,044	48.7	+3.4
Majority			701	2.6	N/A
Turnout			26,789	76.2	+2.7
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1929: Pontefract^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Smith	17,335	47.8	-0.9
	Unionist	Christopher Brooke	10,040	27.7	-23.6
	Liberal	Harold Powis	8,892	24.5	New
Majority			7,185	20.1	N/A
Turnout			27,375	80.1	+3.9
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+11.3

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt	20,941	55.38
	Labour	Tom Smith	16,870	44.62
Majority			4,071	10.76	N/A
Turnout			37,811	80.89
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Hills	19,783	53.41
	National Liberal	Victor Seely	17,257	46.59
Majority			2,526	6.82	N/A
Turnout			37,040	75.75
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1941 Pontefract by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Barstow	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold

General election 1945: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Percy Barstow	24,690	60.61
	Conservative	K Hargreaves	16,048	39.39
Majority			8,642	21.22
Turnout			40,738	75.09
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Pontefract ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Sylvester	35,432	75.61
	National Liberal	Maurice Grant	11,431	24.39
Majority			24,001	51.22
Turnout			46,863	87.30
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Pontefract ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Sylvester	35,280	76.16
	National Liberal	Mervyn Pike	11,043	23.84
Majority			24,237	52.32
Turnout			46,323	86.01
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Pontefract ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Sylvester	32,646	76.22
	National Liberal	Alan Geoffrey Blake	10,183	23.78
Majority			22,463	52.44
Turnout			42,829	79.49
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Sylvester	35,194	76.38
	National Liberal	Edward Bowman	10,884	23.62
Majority			24,310	52.76
Turnout			46,078	84.27
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1962 Pontefract by-election^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Harper	26,461	77.28	+0.90
	Conservative	Paul Dean	6,633	19.37	-4.25
	Independent	Russell Ernest Eckley	1,146	3.35	New
Majority			19,828	57.91	+5.15
Turnout			34,240	63.26	-21.01
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Harper	32,357	76.16
	Conservative	John Flett Whitfield	10,128	23.84
Majority			22,229	52.32
Turnout			42,485	77.56
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Harper	32,328	78.36
	Conservative	Anthony F Wigram	8,927	21.64
Majority			23,401	56.72
Turnout			41,255	75.63
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Pontefract

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Harper	31,774	74.83
	Conservative	Ian Deslandes	10,687	25.17
Majority			21,087	49.66
Turnout			42,461	70.61
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "BBC – A History of the World – Object : Pontefract's secret ballot box, 1872". from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
2. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 160–162. from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via Google Books.
3. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 213. from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via Google Books.
4. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 219. from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via Google Books.
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6. "Yorkshire Gazette". 31 July 1847. p. 5. Retrieved 30 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Close of the Poll: Pontefract". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 31 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 30 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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10. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Houghton, Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
11. Swift, Roger (2017). Charles Pelham Villiers: Aristocratic Victorian Radical (eBook). Abingdon: Routledge. p. 179. ISBN 978-1-315-26797-5. from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
12. Casey, Martin. "Pontefract". The History of Parliament. from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
13. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
14. "Pontefract". The Evening Chronicle. 26 July 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 21 April 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "The Polling". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 2 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "The Elections". Leeds Intelligencer. 10 July 1852. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Mr John Shaw". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 10 March 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
19. "The General Election". Worcester Journal. 9 July 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
20. "The Pontefract by-election ended in the return of the Gladstonian". The Spectator. 1 July 1983. p. 11. from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
21. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p520
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
23. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1950.
24. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
25. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
26. . by-elections.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

• Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• Bean, W. W., "The Parliamentary Representation of the Six Northern Counties of England" (Hull: Charles Henry Barnwell, 1890)
• John Brooke, The House of Commons 1754–1790: Introductory Survey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968, reprinted from Volume I of Namier & Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790, London: HMSO, 1964)
• "" (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)

External links