Sowerby

Sowerby 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.HistoryThe 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.Boundaries1885-1918:1918-1950: 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.ElectionsElections in the 1880sElections in the 1890ssome sources describe as Liberal UnionistElections in the 1900ssome sources describe as Liberal UnionistElections in the 1910s 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 persuade 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 voteded fairly consistently with the coalition.