Leeds Parliamentary Election Results


 

1656 - 20 August

Adam Baynes defeated Francis Allanson

[ The Parliamentary Archives only lists the winning candidates not the number of votes cast.]

Adam Baynes, a dedicated republican and radical Independent, was again successful for Leeds. Being sympathetic to the smaller clothiers, he was opposed by the larger merchants in the town and the Presbyterian corporators, who again nominated Francis Allanson as their candidate. They were bitterly opposed to Baynes whom they considered an ‘atheist and schismatic’ and condemned his opposition to Sabbatarian rules.

Representation of England and Wales reverted to the pre-Civil War pattern in 1659 and Leeds lost its seat.