Ramsden stood unsuccessfully for the
Spen Valley constituency in
West Yorkshire at the
1923 general election, held by the senior
Liberal John Simon. He came third, with 22% of the votes, behind
Labour. He did not stand again in Spen Valley, and at the
1924 general election he contested the marginal seat of
Bradford North, where the Liberal
Walter Rea had been elected in 1923 with a majority of only 173. Ramsden won the seat with a majority of 2,017, but was defeated at the
1929 general election by Labour's
Norman Angell. The Labour vote collapsed at the
1931 general election after
Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald split his party and formed a
National Government. Ramsden stood again in Bradford North, ousting Angell with a majority of over 18,000 votes. He held the seat comfortably at the
1935 election, and represented Bradford North until he retired from the
House of Commons at the
1945 general election. Ramsden was
knighted in 1933 and made a
Baronet, of
Birkenshaw in the West Riding of the County of York, in 1938. After leaving the House of Commons in 1945, he was elevated to the peerage as
Baron Ramsden, of Birkenshaw in the West Riding of the County of York. Ramsden was a council member of the
British Council, and is named in the council's charter, granted in 1940. He was described in 1927 as a "whole-hearted and keen Imperialist". ==Personal life==