Editing Cleckheaton (section)

==Government==

===Local government===
[[File:Town Hall Cleckheaton.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cleckheaton Town Hall]] (1892) by Mawson & Hudson of Bradford]]
Cleckheaton was formerly a [[Township (England)|township]] in the parish of Birstall,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/930|title=History of Cleckheaton, in Kirklees and West Riding|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=9 October 2024}}</ref> in 1866 Cleckheaton became a separate [[civil parish]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10411191|title=Relationships and changes Cleckheaton CP/Ch through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=9 October 2024}}</ref> Cleckheaton adopted the [[Local Government Act 1858]] in 1864 and a [[Local board of health|local board]] was formed. The [[Local Government Act 1894]] reconstituted the area of the local board as Cleckheaton [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban District]]. There were at this time attempts to involve all the local authorities in the valley in joint projects such as installation of sewers and water. In 1915, the three [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban districts]] of Cleckheaton, [[Liversedge]] and [[Gomersal]] were amalgamated to form [[Spenborough|Spenborough Urban District]]. In 1937, a [[Local Government Act 1929|county review order]] enlarged the urban district to include Birkenshaw, Hunsworth and [[Hartshead]].<ref name="youngs">Frederic A Youngs Jr., ''Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol II: Northern England, London 1991</ref> Spenborough (which included all the Spen Valley except for Heckmondwike) was granted a charter of incorporation and became a [[municipal borough]] on 23 May 1955. The borough used the [[coat of arms]] which bore the motto "Industry Enriches" which it had been granted in 1949.<ref>Geoffrey Briggs, ''Civic and Corporate Heraldry'', London 1971</ref> In 1951 the parish had a population of 13,440.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10411191/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Cleckheaton CP/Ch through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=9 October 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/spen%20valley.html|title=Spen Valley Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=9 October 2024}}</ref>

On 1 April 1974, the [[Local Government Act 1972]] reorganised administration throughout [[England and Wales]]. The borough of Spenborough was abolished, and its area combined with that of ten other local authorities to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, one of five [[metropolitan borough]]s of [[West Yorkshire]].<ref>Local Government Act 1972, (1972 c.70), Schedule I</ref>
Cleckheaton is a [[ward (politics)|ward]] of Kirklees and is [[unparished area|unparished]]. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 16,622.<ref name="2011 census">{{NOMIS2011|id=E05001393|title=Cleckheaton Ward (as of 2011)|accessdate=23 November 2021}}</ref> It elects three of the borough council's 69 councillors. In 2007 all three councillors were members of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>[http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/you-kmc/kmc-howcouncilworks/councillors/yourcouncillors.asp?w_id=6 ''Your Councillors in Cleckheaton'', Kirklees Council, accessed 1 April 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618022518/http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/you-kmc/kmc-howcouncilworks/councillors/yourcouncillors.asp?w_id=6 |date=18 June 2008 }}</ref> Under the borough council's [[decentralisation]] scheme, Cleckheaton's councillors and those from Heckmondwike and Liversedge and Gomersal form the Spen Valley Area Committee.<ref>[http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/you-kmc/kmc-howcouncilworks/area-committee/committeedetails.asp?acID=10 ''Spen Valley Area Committee'', Kirklees Council, accessed 1 April 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618022510/http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/you-kmc/kmc-howcouncilworks/area-committee/committeedetails.asp?acID=10 |date=18 June 2008 }}</ref> In August 2014, it was announced that Cleckheaton councillor [[Kath Pinnock]] was to be elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer taking the title Baroness Pinnock, of Cleckheaton.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.libdems.org.uk/nick_clegg_announces_new_liberal_democrat_peers|title = Liberal Democrats|date = 8 August 2014|access-date = 8 August 2014|website = Nick Clegg announces new Liberal Democrat Peers}}</ref>

===Parliamentary representation===
In 1885, Cleckheaton and the three neighbouring townships, Gomersal, Heckmondwike and Liversedge, were grouped to form the Parliamentary [[county constituency]] of [[Spen Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Spen Valley]] and remained in that constituency until 1950.<ref name="youngs"/> The seat was held at various times by the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]], [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] parties. From 1950 to 1983, Cleckheaton was included in the [[borough constituency]] of [[Brighouse and Spenborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Brighouse and Spenborough]].<ref name="youngs"/> It was a marginal seat, changing hands between the Conservative and Labour parties on six occasions. Cleckheaton is now in the [[Batley and Spen (UK Parliament constituency)|Batley and Spen]] constituency,<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20071681_en_2 ''The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007'', Office of Public Sector Information, accessed 1 April 2008]</ref> created in 1983. It was represented by a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) from 1983 to 1997, then by Labour MP [[Mike Wood (Labour politician)|Mike Wood]] until 2015, when Wood retired and was succeeded by [[Jo Cox]] (Labour). After Jo Cox was murdered in 2016, she was replaced in a by-election (which was uncontested by the other major parties) by [[Tracy Brabin]], who retained the seat in 2017 and 2019. When she became [[Mayor of West Yorkshire]] in 2021, there was [[2021 Batley and Spen by-election|another by-election]] which was won by [[Kim Leadbeater]], sister of [[Jo Cox]], of the Labour Party. <ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wolfe-Robinson|first1=Maya|last2=Stewart|first2=Heather|date=2 July 2021|title=Labour's Kim Leadbeater wins narrow victory in Batley and Spen byelection|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/02/labour-candidate-kim-leadbeater-wins-batley-and-spen-byelection|access-date=2 July 2021|issn=1756-3224|oclc=60623878|archive-date=2 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702043824/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/02/labour-candidate-kim-leadbeater-wins-batley-and-spen-byelection|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of the 2024 General Election, the Batley and Spen constituency was abolished and in its place a new [[Spen Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Spen Valley constituency]] including Mirfield and Dalton was created. Leadbeater won the seat in 2024 with a majority of 6,000.