John Frederick Lees (1809 – 1867)^[1] was a British landowner and Liberal Conservative politician who represented Oldham in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament from 1835 to 1837.

Lees was the grandson of a cotton manufacturer,^[2] a local mill-owner,^[3] mine-owner,^[4] and landowner: the Lord of the manor of Oldham^[5] and an Oxford graduate,^[6] but was dismissed as "a gentleman... qualified neither by age nor ability to fulfill the duties of a member of the imperial parliament" by the Manchester Times.^[7] Hansard reports him to have made no speeches in Parliament during his term.^[8]

Thanks to internal squabbles (principally over the desired relationship between the state and the Anglican church) amongst the Radicals of Oldham,^[9] he was elected as a 'Liberal Conservative' at a by-election caused by the death of William Cobbett, narrowly defeating John Morgan Cobbett (Cobbett's son) after another Radical candidate (Feargus O'Connor) withdrew on the first morning of the poll.^[10] Lees attributed his victory to the absence of the organised 'intimidation system' he claimed had been practiced in the previous contested election (that of 1832).^[11] By the general election of 1837 the Radicals had regrouped, and Lees came bottom of the poll:^[12] this he attributed to the return of intimidation and 'exclusive dealing'.^[13]