# Nelson and Colne (UK Parliament constituency)

Nelson and Colne was a constituency in Lancashire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.
It was largely succeeded by the Pendle constituency.

## Boundaries

1918–1950: The Boroughs of Nelson and Colne, the Urban Districts of Barrowford, Brierfield, and Trawden, and the detached part of the parish of Foulridge which was bordered on the north, west and south by the Borough of Colne.
1950–1983: The Boroughs of Nelson and Colne, and the Urban Districts of Barrowford, Brierfield, and Trawden.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | Albert Smith | Labour |
| 1920 by-election | Robinson Graham | Labour |
| 1922 | Arthur Greenwood | Labour |
| 1931 | Linton Thorp | Conservative |
| 1935 | Sydney Silverman | Labour |
| 1968 by-election | David Waddington | Conservative |
| Oct 1974 | Doug Hoyle | Labour |
| 1979 | John Lee | Conservative |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Albert Smith | 14,075 | 62.0 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Fred Greenwood | 8,623 | 38.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,452 | 24.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,698 | 52.3 | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 43,381 | | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 1920s

By-election 1920: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Robinson Graham | 14,134 | 49.5 | −12.5 |
| C | Unionist | Frederick Norman Wainwright | 8,577 | 30.1 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Walter Rea | 5,805 | 20.4 | −17.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,557 | 19.4 | −4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,516 | 65.2 | +12.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 43,757 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.6 | |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||
General election 1922: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arthur Greenwood | 17,714 | 48.5 | −13.5 |
| | Liberal | James Henry Sutherland Aitken | 11,542 | 31.6 | −6.4 |
| | Unionist | Frederick Norman Wainwright | 7,286 | 19.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,172 | 16.9 | −7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,542 | 83.2 | +30.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 43,914 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −3.6 | |
General election 1923: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arthur Greenwood | 17,083 | 46.1 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal | James Henry Sutherland Aitken | 10,103 | 27.3 | −4.3 |
| | Unionist | Amos Nelson | 9,861 | 26.6 | +6.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,980 | 18.8 | +1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,047 | 83.4 | +0.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 44,432 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.0 | |
General election 1924: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arthur Greenwood | 19,922 | 51.9 | +5.8 |
| | Liberal | James Henry Sutherland Aitken | 18,479 | 48.1 | +20.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,443 | 3.8 | −15.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,348 | 85.6 | +2.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 44,871 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −7.5 | |
General election 1929: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arthur Greenwood | 28,533 | 61.0 | +9.1 |
| | Unionist | Linton Thorp | 18,236 | 39.0 | −9.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,297 | 22.0 | +18.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,769 | 82.8 | −2.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 56,465 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +9.1 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Linton Thorp | 28,747 | 57.71 |
| | Labour | Arthur Greenwood | 21,063 | 42.29 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,684 | 15.43 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,810 | 75.93 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | |
General election 1935: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 26,011 | 54.52 |
| | Ind. Conservative | Linton Thorp | 21,696 | 45.48 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,315 | 9.04 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,707 | 84.73 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 25,610 | 59.4 | +11.8 |
| | Conservative | Harmar Nicholls | 17,484 | 40.5 | −8.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,126 | 18.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,094 | 76.2 | −2.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 25,358 | 54.6 |
| | Conservative | Alan Green | 21,116 | 45.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,242 | 9.13 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 88.28 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 25,611 | 54.7 |
| | Conservative | Alan Green | 21,211 | 45.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,400 | 9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 22,135 | 52.7 | −2.0 |
| | Conservative | Elaine Kellett | 19,844 | 47.3 | +2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,291 | 5.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,979 | 88.4 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.0 | |
General election 1959: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 20,407 | 49.3 | −3.4 |
| | Conservative | John Crabtree | 19,143 | 46.2 | −1.1 |
| | Lancastrian Party | Tom Emmott | 1,889 | 4.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,287 | 3.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,439 | 85.5 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 20,205 | 53.5 | +4.2 |
| | Conservative | David Waddington | 17,561 | 46.5 | +0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,644 | 7.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,766 | 80.8 | −4.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.0 | |
General election 1966: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sydney Silverman | 18,406 | 49.3 | −4.2 |
| | Conservative | Peter Davies | 13,829 | 37.0 | −9.5 |
| | Independent | Patrick Downey | 5,117 | 13.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,577 | 12.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,352 | 81.0 | +0.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 | |
By-election 1968: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Waddington | 16,466 | 48.9 | +11.9 |
| | Labour | Betty Boothroyd | 12,944 | 38.4 | −10.9 |
| | Liberal | David Chadwick | 3,016 | 9.0 | N/A |
| | English Nationalist | Brian Tattersall | 1,255 | 3.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,522 | 10.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,681 | | − |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +11.4 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Waddington | 19,881 | 51.5 | +14.5 |
| | Labour | Doug Hoyle | 18,471 | 48.5 | −0.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,410 | 3.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,622 | 78.3 | −2.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +7.7 | |
General election February 1974: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Waddington | 15,692 | 38.9 | −12.6 |
| | Labour | Doug Hoyle | 15,515 | 38.4 | −10.1 |
| | Liberal | Tony Greaves | 9,166 | 22.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 177 | 0.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,373 | 84.2 | +5.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | 1.3 | |
General election October 1974: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Doug Hoyle | 17,506 | 44.7 | +6.3 |
| | Conservative | David Waddington | 16,836 | 43.0 | +4.1 |
| | Liberal | Tony Greaves | 4,850 | 12.4 | −10.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 669 | 1.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,192 | 81.1 | |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | 1.1% | |
General election 1979: Nelson and Colne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Lee | 17,522 | 45.0 | +2.0 |
| | Labour | Doug Hoyle | 17,086 | 43.9 | −0.8 |
| | Liberal | David Hewitt | 4,322 | 11.1 | −1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 436 | 1.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,930 | 81.6 | +0.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +1.4 | |