This constituency covers the urban centre and east of the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield, the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. The town grew out of the former woollen industry, and is now a primarily residential market town with some light industry remaining in the town such as Syngenta and Cummins, and a growing number of students at the University of Huddersfield. The town is economically diverse with some deprived inner-city council estates, such as Deighton, and better-off areas on the outskirts, such as Fixby, some exclusive detached stone houses in leafy roads.
Apart from four years tenure as MP by Geoffrey Dickens for Huddersfield West (1979-1983), the area (including its divided halves for the 33 years to 1983) has returned a Labour Party MP since 1945.
The constituency is currently held by the Labour Party, although the Liberal Democrats made inroads by coming second in the 2005 general election, and in the 2010 general election Karen Tween of the Conservative Party narrowed the incumbent's lead to a relatively average 4,472 votes and the new Liberal Democrat candidate slipped into third place. There are currently Green Party councillors in Newsome, and some Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors in Almondbury, but the remaining wards are safely Labour. The Dalton ward also includes the village of Kirkheaton, separated by a green buffer, and the Almondbury ward includes the small village of Lepton, West Yorkshire.
Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
^Mabane's exact party label was confused for much of his time in the Commons before becoming Lord Mabane (first Baron). His local Liberal association was affiliated to the official Liberals until 1939, but Mabane was frequently listed as being a National Liberal, which he repeatedly sought to deny, despite supporting the National Government when the official Liberals ceased to. However the authoritative F.W.S. Craig volume and the contemporary Times Guide to the House of Commons have him as a National Liberal
^Binfield, Clyde (April 1981). Buick Knox, R.; Binfield, Clyde (eds.). "Asquith: The Formation of a Prime Minister"(PDF). The Journal of the United Reformed Church Historical Society. 2 (7): 223. Retrieved 14 May 2018.