William Bland (politician)

[1] Two weeks before the 1913 Keighley by-election was held, the ILP proposed that Bland should stand in it.

They were concerned that he would fail to match the 28.9% of the vote which William Crawford Anderson had received as the Labour candidate in the 1911 Keighley by-election, and that this would discredit their cause.

Aware that he would not receive the endorsement of the Labour Party, he did not seek it, but he received the full backing of the ILP, which financially sponsored his candidacy, and was also backed by the local trades council.

[3][4] Standing against a single opponent, the Liberal William Somervell, Bland received 32.5% of the votes cast.

[6] He subsequently focused on local politics, and served as Mayor of Keighley in 1928/28,[7] the first Labour Party politician to hold the post.