It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
The constituency was created when the two-member Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire was divided by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election in six new single-member constituencies.
It was abolished for the 1918 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Pudsey & Otley constituency.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of- General Election 1914–15: 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;