Eskdale (UK Parliament constituency)

Eskdale
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members	one
Replaced by	North Cumberland
Created from	East Cumberland

Eskdale was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Eskdale district of north Cumberland not to be confused with the valley of Eskdale in the west of the county. 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.

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

The Municipal Borough of Carlisle, the Sessional Divisions of Cumberland Ward, Eskdale Ward, and Longtown, and part of the Sessional Division of Allerdale Ward below Derwent.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Robert Andrew Allison	Liberal
	1900	Claude William Henry Lowther	Conservative
	1906	Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	Liberal
	1910	Claude William Henry Lowther	Conservative
1918			constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Eskdale[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Andrew Allison	4,749	60.0	n/a
	Conservative	S P Foster	3,163	40.0	n/a
Majority			1,586	20.0	n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Eskdale[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Andrew Allison	4,112	56.0
	Conservative	Rt Hon. James Lowther	3,226	44.0
Majority			886	12.0
Turnout				73.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Eskdale[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Andrew Allison	3,976	55.7
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Charles Howard	3,163	44.3
Majority			813	11.4
Turnout				75.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

Robert Allison

General Election 1895: Eskdale[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Andrew Allison	3,745	51.0	-4.6
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Charles Howard	3,598	49.0	+4.6
Majority			147	2.0	-9.4
Turnout				76.5	+0.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.6

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Eskdale[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claude William Henry Lowther	4,052	54.7
	Liberal	Robert Andrew Allison	3,349	45.3
Majority			703	9.4
Turnout				73.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1906: Eskdale[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hon. Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	4,467	51.4	+6.1
	Conservative	Claude William Henry Lowther	4,230	48.6	-6.1
Majority			237	2.8	12.2
Turnout				80.4	+6.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Eskdale[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hon. Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	4,504	50.2	-1.2
	Conservative	Claude William Henry Lowther	4,470	49.8	+1.2
Majority			34	0.4	-2.4
Turnout				81.5	+1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.2

General Election December 1910: Eskdale[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claude William Henry Lowther	4,581	52.1	+2.3
	Liberal	Hon. Geoffrey William Algernon Howard	4,211	47.9	-2.3
Majority			370	4.2	+4.6
Turnout				79.8	-1.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.3

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Claude William Henry Lowther
• Liberal: George Ernest Schuster^[10]

See also

• Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918

References

1. Debrett's House of Commons 1916
2. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. Lloyd George, Liberalism and the Land: The Land Issue and Party Politics in England, 1906-1914 By Ian Packer

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)