Sir William Edward Briggs Priestley (12 April 1859 – 25 March 1932) was an Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician from the West Riding of Yorkshire

West Riding of Yorkshire

The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...

. He was Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Bradford East

Bradford East (UK Parliament constituency)

Bradford East is the name of a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency originally existed from 1885 to 1974 and was recreated for the 2010 general election, electing one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...

 from 1906 to 1918.

He was the son of Briggs Priestley

Briggs Priestley

Briggs Priestley was an English cloth manufacturer and Liberal Party politician from Bradford in West Yorkshire.-Biography:...

 (1821–1907), a Thornton-born millhand who became a major mill-owner in Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, Mayor of Bradford, and MP for neighbouring Pudsey

Pudsey (UK Parliament constituency)

Pudsey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

. His younger bother Arthur

Arthur Priestley

Sir Arthur Alexander Priestley was an English Liberal Party politician and cricketer. After three unsuccessful candidacies he held a seat in the House of Commons from 1900 to 1918...

 was MP for Grantham

Grantham (UK Parliament constituency)

Grantham was a Parliamentary constituency in Lincolnshire, England.The constituency was created in 1468 as a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until the union with Scotland, and then to the Parliament of Great Britain...

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William Priestley first stood for Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 at the 1900 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1900

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

, when he failed to unseat Bradford East's Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 MP. He won the seat in 1906

United Kingdom general election, 1906

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

, and held it until his defeat at the 1918 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

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