History of Oldham - Political History

Political History

Industrial workers in Oldham played a prominent role in the struggle for the vote. After hearing Major John Cartwright explain his views on parliamentary reform in 1816, Joseph Healey (an apothecary from Harpurhey) formed a Hampden Club in the town. After the passing of the Reform Act 1832, people of the newly created Oldham parliamentary borough elected the two Radical candidates, William Cobbett and John Fielden. Winston Churchill began his political career in Oldham. Although unsuccessful at his first attempt in 1899, Churchill was elected as the member of Parliament for the Oldham parliamentary borough constituency in the 1900 general election. He held the constituency for the Conservative Party until the 1906 general election, when he won the election for Manchester North West as a Liberal MP. After he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940, Churchill was made a Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Oldham, on April 2, 1941.

Since 1997, the boundaries of two parliamentary constituencies have divided Oldham; Oldham East and Saddleworth, and Oldham West and Royton (which includes the town centre), represented by Labour Members of Parliament Phil Woolas and Michael Meacher respectively.

Following the Oldham Riots in 2001, Oldham West and Royton gained notoriety at the 2001 general election when the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, stood as a candidate (despite it being a safe seat for Labour). Griffin received over 6,500 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place, and finishing narrowly behind the Conservatives in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the race riots that had occurred in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth". At the 2005 election, the BNP's share of the vote declined, and Labour's Michael Meacher won comfortably.