Bradford West (UK Parliament constituency)

Bradford West is a constituency^{[n 1]} in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Naz Shah of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Bradford West
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2010
Boundary of Bradford West in Yorkshire and the Humber
County	West Yorkshire
Population	114,761 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	71,585 (December 2019)[2]
Major settlements	Bradford
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of Parliament	Naz Shah (Labour Party)
Created from	Bradford Central Bradford North Bradford South
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Bradford

Constituency profile

Bradford West covers the Bradford city centre, Manningham, Allerton and Clayton. It has a significant Pakistani population and a majority of Muslim voters.^[3]

History

The constituency was originally created in 1885, but was abolished in 1918. For the 1955 general election the constituency was recreated, following a boundary review.^[4]

Since its recreation in 1955, Labour and Conservative Parties held the seat marginally in various years up to 1974, since which time the Labour Party always won the seat, with the exception of the 2012 Bradford West by-election. In 1981, however, Edward Lyons, the sitting Bradford West MP, joined the newly established Social Democratic Party, consequently losing the seat at the 1983 general election.

This seat has a history of bucking the national trend. In 1997, the seat was one of only two Labour seats in the country, the other being Bethnal Green and Bow in London, to have seen a swing towards the Conservatives away from Labour. This was attributed to the local party association selecting a Sikh, Marsha Singh to stand when the majority of the seat's population is Muslim. In 2010, however, Singh retained his seat with a swing in his favour, against the national result.

George Galloway of the Respect Party won the seat in the 2012 Bradford West by-election with 55.9% of the votes cast; his 30.9% majority was at the time the largest majority in the history of the modern constituency, but he lost the seat in 2015 to the new Labour candidate Naz Shah by a substantial (28.3%) margin. Despite Galloway's threats to contest the result, he neither launched a legal challenge nor stood again in 2017, in which Shah surpassed his record by winning a majority of 48.1%, the largest margin for a Bradford West MP in any incarnation of the seat. Despite Galloway not standing, his former Respect colleague Salma Yaqoob did stand as an Independent, garnering 6,345 votes (13.9%), not far behind the second-placed Conservative candidate.

At the 2019 general election Shah increased her vote share by 11.5%. This was easily the highest increase in the Labour Party's vote share in any constituency in the United Kingdom, in an election where Labour's vote share decreased in all but 13 constituencies. This means that Bradford West has bucked the national trend thrice, as it also did in 1997 and 2010.^[5] Bradford West, during the 2019–24 Parliament, was the safest seat in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber for Labour. In 2024, when the Labour Party won a landslide nationally, the Labour share of the vote dropped dramatically to just 31% of the vote, reducing the Labour majority to 707 votes.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Bradford wards of Allerton, Bolton, Great Horton, Heaton, and Manningham.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Bradford wards of Allerton, Great Horton, Heaton, Manningham, and Thornton.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Bradford wards of Allerton, Heaton, Little Horton, Manningham, Thornton, and University.

1983–2010: The City of Bradford wards of Clayton, Heaton, Little Horton, Thornton, Toller, and University.

2010–present: The City of Bradford wards of City, Clayton and Fairweather Green, Heaton, Manningham, Thornton and Allerton, and Toller.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.^[6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member[7][8][9][10]	Party
	1885	Alfred Illingworth	Liberal
	1895	Ernest Flower	Conservative
	1906	Fred Jowett	Labour
	1918	constituency abolished

MPs since 1955

Election		Member[11][12][9][10]	Party
	1955	Arthur Tiley	Conservative
	1966	Norman Haseldine	Labour Co-op
	1970	John Wilkinson	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Edward Lyons	Labour
	1981		SDP
	1983	Max Madden	Labour
	1997	Marsha Singh	Labour
	2012 by-election	George Galloway	Respect
	2015	Naz Shah	Labour
	Apr 2016		Independent
	July 2016		Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Bradford West^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naz Shah	11,724	31.6	−44.6
	Independent	Muhammed Islam	11,017	29.7	N/A
	Green	Khalid Mahmood	3,690	10.0	+8.2
	Independent	Akeel Hussain	3,547	9.6	N/A
	Conservative	Nigel Moxon	3,055	8.2	−7.0
	Reform UK	Jamie Hinton-Wardle	2,958	8.0	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Imad Uddin Ahmed	756	2.0	−1.0
	Independent	Umar Ghafoor	334	0.9	N/A
Majority			707	1.9	–59.1
Turnout			37,081	47.6	−14.5
Registered electors			77,897
	Labour hold

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Bradford West^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naz Shah	33,736	76.2	+11.5
	Conservative	Mohammed Afzal	6,717	15.2	−1.4
	Brexit Party	Derrick Hodgson	1,556	3.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Christie	1,349	3.0	+1.5
	Green	Darren Parkinson	813	1.8	+0.8
	Independent	Azfar Bukhari	90	0.2	N/A
Majority			27,019	61.0	+12.9
Turnout			44,261	62.6	−4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.5

General election 2017: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naz Shah	29,444	64.7	+15.1
	Conservative	George Grant	7,542	16.6	+1.3
	Independent	Salma Yaqoob	6,345	13.9	N/A
	UKIP	Derrick Hodgson	885	1.9	−5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Alun Griffiths	712	1.6	−1.3
	Green	Celia Hickson	481	1.1	−1.6
	Independent	Hussain Khadim	65	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Muhammad Hijazi	54	0.1	N/A
Majority			21,902	48.1	+19.7
Turnout			45,528	67.4	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 2015: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naz Shah	19,977	49.6	+4.3
	Respect	George Galloway	8,557	21.2	+18.1
	Conservative	George Grant	6,160	15.3	−15.8
	UKIP	Harry Boota	3,140	7.8	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Alun Griffiths	1,173	2.9	−8.8
	Green	Celia Hickson	1,085	2.7	+0.4
	Independent	James Kirkcaldy	100	0.2	N/A
	English Democrat	Therese Muchewicz	98	0.2	N/A
Majority			11,420	28.4	+14.2
Turnout			40,290	63.6	+13.6
	Labour gain from Respect		Swing	N/A

2012 Bradford West by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Respect	George Galloway	18,341	55.9	+52.8
	Labour	Imran Hussain	8,201	25.0	−20.3
	Conservative	Jackie Whiteley	2,746	8.4	−22.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanette Sunderland	1,505	4.6	−7.1
	UKIP	Sonja McNally	1,085	3.3	+1.3
	Green	Dawud Islam	481	1.5	−0.8
	Democratic Nationalists	Neil Craig	344	1.0	−0.1
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	111	0.3	N/A
Majority			10,140	30.9
Turnout			32,814	50.0	−14.9
	Respect gain from Labour		Swing	+36.6

General election 2010: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marsha Singh	18,401	45.3	+5.6
	Conservative	Zahid Iqbal	12,638	31.1	−0.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Hall-Matthews	4,732	11.7	−7.4
	BNP	Jenny Sampson	1,370	3.4	−3.5
	Respect	Arshad Ali	1,245	3.1	N/A
	Green	David Ford	940	2.3	−0.7
	UKIP	Jason Smith	812	2.0	N/A
	Democratic Nationalists	Neil Craig	438	1.1	N/A
Majority			5,763	14.2	+5.8
Turnout			40,576	64.9	+10.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marsha Singh	14,570	40.1	−7.9
	Conservative	Haroon Rashid	11,544	31.7	−5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mukhtar Ali	6,620	18.2	+11.8
	BNP	Paul Cromie	2,525	6.9	N/A
	Green	Parvez Darr	1,110	3.1	−3.9
Majority			3,026	8.4	−2.5
Turnout			36,369	54.0	+0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

General election 2001: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marsha Singh	18,401	48.0	+6.4
	Conservative	Mohammed Riaz	14,236	37.1	+4.1
	Green	John Robinson	2,672	7.0	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Abdul Khan	2,437	6.4	−8.4
	UKIP	Imran Hussain	427	1.1	N/A
	Asian League	Farhan Khokhar	197	0.5	N/A
Majority			4,165	10.9	+2.3
Turnout			38,370	53.6	−9.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marsha Singh	18,932	41.6	−11.6
	Conservative	Mohammed Riaz	15,055	33.0	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Wright	6,737	14.8	+4.0
	Socialist Labour Party (UK)	Abdul R. Khan	1,551	3.4	N/A
	Referendum Party	Christopher Royston	1,348	3.0	N/A
	Green	John Robinson	861	1.9	N/A
	BNP	Gary Osborn	839	1.8	N/A
	Socialist Party (England and Wales)	Sajjad Shah	245	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,877	8.6	−10.8
Turnout			45,568	63.3	−6.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.4

General election 1992: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Max Madden	26,046	53.2	+1.3
	Conservative	Andrew J. Ashworth	16,544	33.8	−2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alun O. Griffiths	5,150	10.5	−0.9
	Independent	Peter Braham	735	1.5	N/A
	Islamic Party of Britain	David Pidcock	471	1.0	N/A
Majority			9,502	19.4	+4.2
Turnout			48,946	69.9	−0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Max Madden	25,775	51.9	+12.2
	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith	18,224	36.7	+3.8
	SDP	Manzoor Moghal	5,657	11.4	−15.7
Majority			7,551	15.2	+8.4
Turnout			49,656	70.2	+1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.2

General election 1983: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Max Madden	19,499	39.7	−14.1
	Conservative	Stephen Day	16,162	32.9	−3.7
	SDP	Edward Lyons	13,301	27.1	+19.0
	Workers' Revolutionary Party (UK)	B. Slaughter	139	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,337	6.8	−10.4
Turnout			49,101	68.9	−0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.2

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Lyons	24,309	53.82
	Conservative	Thomas Stow	16,554	36.65
	Liberal	Nicholas Flood	3,668	8.12
	National Front	G. Brown	633	1.4
Majority			7,755	17.17
Turnout			45,164	69.05
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Lyons	21,133	48.53
	Conservative	John Wilkinson	16,192	37.18
	Liberal	S. Harris	5,884	13.51
	Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain	Harold Smith	339	0.78
Majority			4,941	11.35
Turnout			43,548	69.47
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Lyons	20,787	43.36
	Conservative	John Wilkinson	18,568	38.74
	Liberal	Roderick Taylor	7,216	15.05
	Anti-Immigration	Jim Merrick	1,164	2.43
	Independent Democratic Alliance	Ralph Herbert	200	0.42
Majority			2,219	4.62
Turnout			47,935	77.12
	Labour gain from Conservative

General election 1970: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Wilkinson	20,475	51.95
	Labour	Norman Haseldine	18,936	48.05
Majority			1,539	3.90
Turnout			39,411	73.81
	Conservative gain from Labour

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Norman Haseldine	19,704	52.03
	Conservative	Arthur Tiley	18,170	47.97
Majority			1,534	4.06
Turnout			37,874	76.61
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative

General election 1964: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Tiley	21,121	54.02
	Labour Co-op	Norman Haseldine	17,974	45.98
Majority			3,147	8.04
Turnout			39,098	76.79
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Tiley	23,012	56.24
	Labour	Sydney Hyam	17,906	43.76
Majority			5,106	12.48
Turnout			40,918	81.76
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Tiley	22,306	53.81
	Labour Co-op	Muriel Ferguson	19,147	46.19
Turnout			41,453	81.72
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections 1885 - 1910

Elections in the 1910s

General election December 1910: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Jowett	7,729	64.0	−2.6
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	4,339	36.0	+2.6
Majority			3,390	28.0	−5.2
Turnout			12,068	81.4	−8.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

General election January 1910: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Jowett	8,880	66.6	+27.5
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	4,461	33.4	+0.7
Majority			4,419	33.2	+26.8
Turnout			13,341	90.0	−0.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.4

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Jowett	4,957	39.1	−10.7
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	4,147	32.7	−17.5
	Liberal	William Claridge	3,580	28.2	New
Majority			810	6.4
Turnout			12,684	90.8	+10.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.1

General election 1900: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	4,990	50.2	+9.5
	Labour	Fred Jowett	4,949	49.8	New
Majority			41	0.4	−4.4
Turnout			9,939	80.5	−5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+14.1

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	3,936	40.7	+7.2
	Liberal	John Cousin Horsfall	3,471	35.9	−0.4
	Ind. Labour Party	Ben Tillett	2,264	23.4	−6.8
Majority			465	4.8
Turnout			9,671	86.3	+2.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	3.8

General election 1892: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Illingworth	3,306	36.3	−23.9
	Conservative	Ernest Flower	3,053	33.5
	Bradford Labour Union	Ben Tillett	2,749	30.2	New
Majority			253	2.8	−13.0
Turnout			9,108	83.5	+13.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Illingworth	3,975	60.2	+2.3
	Liberal Unionist	Archibald William Stirling	2,623	39.8
Majority			1,352	20.4
Turnout			6,598	70.0	−15.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1885: Bradford West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Illingworth	4,688	57.9
	Conservative	Henry Byron Reed	3,408	42.1
Majority			1,280	15.8
Turnout			8,096	85.9
	Liberal win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the Yorkshire and the Humber (region)

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.