West Riding of Yorkshire — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

West Riding of Yorkshire elected 2 MPs at the 1859 general election: John William Ramsden (Liberal) and Francis Crossley (Liberal). This page covers every general election in West Riding of Yorkshire from 1832 to 1859.

This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.

Full Election History, 1832–1859

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	George William Frederick Howard (Whig); George Strickland (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1835	George William Frederick Howard (Whig); George Strickland (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1837	George William Frederick Howard (Whig); George Strickland (Whig)	11,892	35.0% (top seat)	John Stuart-Wortley (Conservative)	403 (1.1 pts)	61.3%
1841	John Stuart-Wortley (Conservative); Edmund Beckett Denison (Conservative)	12,780	26.3% (top seat)	William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-FitzWilliam (Whig)	700 (1.4 pts)	80.2%
1847	Richard Cobden (Radical); George William Frederick Howard (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1852	Richard Cobden (Radical); Edmund Beckett Denison (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1857	Edmund Beckett Denison (Conservative); George Frederick Samuel Robinson (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1859	John William Ramsden (Liberal); Francis Crossley (Liberal)	15,401	35.5% (top seat)	James Archibald Stuart-Wortley (Conservative)	1,765 (3.9 pts)	61.4%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George William Frederick Howard	Whig	Unopposed		Yes
George Strickland	Whig	Unopposed		Yes

1835 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George William Frederick Howard	Whig	Unopposed		Yes
George Strickland	Whig	Unopposed		Yes

1837 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George William Frederick Howard	Whig	12,576	35.0%	Yes
George Strickland	Whig	11,892	33.1%	Yes
John Stuart-Wortley	Conservative	11,489	32.0%	No

1841 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Stuart-Wortley	Conservative	13,165	26.3%	Yes
Edmund Beckett Denison	Conservative	12,780	25.5%	Yes
William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Whig	12,080	24.1%	No
George William Frederick Howard	Whig	12,031	24.0%	No

1847 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Richard Cobden	Radical	Unopposed		Yes
George William Frederick Howard	Whig	Unopposed		Yes

1852 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Richard Cobden	Radical	Unopposed		Yes
Edmund Beckett Denison	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1857 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Edmund Beckett Denison	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
George Frederick Samuel Robinson	Whig	Unopposed		Yes

1859 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John William Ramsden	Liberal	15,978	35.5%	Yes
Francis Crossley	Liberal	15,401	34.2%	Yes
James Archibald Stuart-Wortley	Conservative	13,636	30.3%	No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

West Riding of Yorkshire has been contested at 8 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Conservative, Radical, Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won West Riding of Yorkshire in the 1859 general election?

John William Ramsden (Liberal), Francis Crossley (Liberal) won West Riding of Yorkshire in 1859.

Which parties have won West Riding of Yorkshire since 1832?

Since 1832, West Riding of Yorkshire has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Radical, Whig.

What was the closest result in West Riding of Yorkshire?

The closest result on record for West Riding of Yorkshire was 1837, when Whig beat Conservative by just 403 votes (1.1 percentage points).

Did West Riding of Yorkshire ever elect more than one MP at a time?

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, West Riding of Yorkshire elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.