Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Huntingdonshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1918–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Huntingdon SW Cambridgeshire Peterborough[1]
Created from	Huntingdon Ramsey
1290–1885
Number of members	2 (1290 – 1654) 3 (1654 – 1659) 2 (1659 – 1885)
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Huntingdon Ramsey

Huntingdonshire was a Parliamentary constituency covering the county of Huntingdonshire in England. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then in the House of Commons the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. It returned two Knights of the Shire (apart from 1654 to 1659, when it returned three); when elections were contested, the bloc vote system was used.

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was divided between the new single-seat county divisions of Huntingdon and Ramsey with effect from the 1885 general election.

In 1918, Huntingdon and Ramsey were re-united and the constituency was reconstituted, returning a single Member of Parliament (MP). After minor boundary changes for the 1983 general election, the modified constituency was renamed as Huntingdon. Its MP at the time, John Major, continued to represent it.

Boundaries

1918-1974: The administrative county of Huntingdonshire.

1974-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Huntingdon and Godmanchester, and St Ives, the Urban Districts of Old Fletton, Ramsey, and St Neots, and the Rural Districts of Huntingdon, Norman Cross, St Ives, and St Neots.

Members of Parliament

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• Constituency created (1290)

1290–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member	Third Member (1654 & 1656 only)
1302	Sir John Swinford
1305	Sir John Swinford
1306	Sir John Swinford
1318	Sir John Swinford
1319	Sir John Swinford
1385	Sir Nicholas Stukeley	Sir William Papworth
1386	Sir William Moigne	Robert Lovetot [2]
1388 (Feb)	Robert Waryn	Richard Botiller [2]
1388 (Sep)	Robert Waryn	John Herlyngton [2]
1390 (Jan)	Sir William Moigne	Sir Henry Green [2]
1390 (Nov)	Sir William Moigne	Robert Waryn [2]
1391	Sir William Moigne	Robert Lovetot [2]
1393	Sir John Peckbridge	Sir Robert Stokes [2]
1394	John Herlyngton	John Waweton [2]
1395	John Herlyngton	John Waweton [2]
1397 (Jan)	John Stukeley	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1397 (Sep)	John Knyvet	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1399	John Herlyngton	Robert Beville [2]
1401	Robert Scott	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1402	Robert Scott	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1404 (Jan)	Robert Scott	Sir John Tiptoft [2]
1404 (Oct)	Robert Scott	Sir John Tiptoft [2]
1406	John Botiller	Sir John Tiptoft [2]
1407	Roger Hunt	John Burton [2]
1410
1411	Nicholas Stukeley	Robert Scott [2]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Roger Hunt	Thomas Beville [2]
1414 (Apr)	Roger Hunt	John Botiller [2]
1414 (Nov)	Nicholas Stukeley	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1415	Nicholas Stukeley	Thomas Beville [2]
1416 (Mar)	Nicholas Stukeley	Henry Waryn [2]
1416 (Oct)	Sir Nicholas Stukeley	John Hore [2]
1417	Roger Hunt	Thomas Beville [2]
1419	Roger Hunt	Roger Scott [2]
1420	Sir Nicholas Stukeley	Sir Thomas Waweton [2]
1421 (May)	Sir Nicholas Stukeley	Roger Hunt [2]
1421 (Dec)	Robert Stonham	Henry Hethe [2]
1422	Sir Thomas Waweton
1422	Roger Hunt
1423	Roger Hunt
1425	Roger Hunt
1426	Roger Hunt
1427	Roger Hunt
1429	Roger Hunt	?Robert Stonham
1431	Roger Hunt
1432	Roger Hunt	Robert Stonham
1433	Roger Hunt	Robert Stonham
1439	Robert Stonham
1442	Robert Stonham
1445	Robert Stonham
1447	Robert Stonham
1449	Thomas Tresham
1449 (Nov)	Robert Stonham
1450	Robert Stonham
1453	Robert Stonham
1472	John Sapcote
1510	John Wynde	John Taylard[3]
1512
1515
1523
1529	Nicholas Harvey	Lawrence Taylard [3]
1536
1539	Richard Cromwell alias Williams	Oliver Leder [3]
1542	(Sir) Richard Cromwell alias Williams	Robert ap Rice [3]
1545
1547	Sir John Baker	Robert ap Rice [3]
1553 (Mar)	?	Thomas Audley [3]
1553 (Oct)	(Sir) Lawrence Taylard	Oliver Leder [3]
1554 (Apr)	Sir Robert Tyrwhitt	Thomas Cotton [3]
1554 (Nov)	William Lawrence	Henry Mannock [3]
1555	Thomas Maria Wingfield	William Mallory [3]
1558	Thomas Cotton	William Lawrence [3]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Robert Tyrwhitt	Simon Throckmorton[4]
1562–1563	Henry Cromwell alias Williams	Richard Dorrington [4]
1571	Sir Henry Darcy	Richard Dorrington [4]
1572 (Apr)	Richard Dorrington, died and replaced 1576 by Sir Henry Darcy	Francis Cromwell alias Williams [4]
1584 (Nov)	Robert Bevill	John Dorrington [4]
1586	Edward Wingfield	George Walton [4]
1588 (Oct)	(Sir) Edward Wingfield	Oliver Cromwell [4]
1593	(Sir) Edward Wingfield	Oliver Cromwell [4]
1597 (Oct)	Sir Gervase Clifton	Oliver Cromwell [4]
1601 (Oct)	Sir Gervase Clifton	Oliver Cromwell [4]
1604	Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington	Sir Oliver Cromwell
1614	Sir Robert Payne	Sir Oliver Cromwell
1621–1622	Richard Beavill	Sir Robert Payne
1624	Edward Montagu	Sir Oliver Cromwell
1625	Edward Montagu	Sir Oliver Cromwell
1626	Edward Montagu	Sir Robert Payne
1628	Sir Robert Payne	Sir Capel Bedel
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened
Apr 1640	Thomas Cotton	Sir Capel Bedel
Nov 1640	Sir Sidney Montagu, disabled replaced by Edward Montagu	Valentine Walton
1653	Edward Montagu	Stephen Pheasant
1654	Edward Montagu	Henry Cromwell	Stephen Pheasant
1656	General Edward Montague	Henry Cromwell	Nicholas Pedley
1659	Henry Cromwell	Nicholas Pedley
1659	Edward Montagu	Valentine Walton

MPs 1660–1885

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1660	Viscount Mandeville		Henry Cromwell
		February 1673	Sir Nicholas Pedley
		November 1673			Robert Apreece
		February 1679	Hon. Ralph Montagu
		August 1679	Sir Thomas Proby, Bt		Silius Titus
		1685	Sir John Cotton, Bt		Sir Lionel Walden
		1689	Robert Montagu		Sir Robert Bernard, Bt
		1690			John Dryden
		1693	John Proby
		1695	Heneage Montagu		Anthony Hammond
		June 1698	Robert Apreece
		July 1698	John Proby		Robert Throckmorton
		1699			John Dryden
		1702	William Naylor
		1705	John Pocklington
		1708			John Proby
		1710			Sir John Cotton, Bt
		1713	Sir Matthew Dudley, Bt	Whig	Robert Pigott
		1715	John Bigg
		April 1722			Viscount Hinchingbrooke
		October 1722			John Proby
		1727			Marquess of Hartington	Whig
		1730			Robert Pigott
		1734	Lord Robert Montagu
		1739	Charles Clarke
		1741	William Mitchell		Coulson Fellowes
		1745	William Montagu
		1747	Edward Wortley-Montagu
		1754	The Lord Carysfort
		1761			Viscount Mandeville
		1762			Lord Charles Montagu
		1765			Robert Bernard
		1768	Viscount Hinchingbrooke	Tory	The Earl Ludlow
		1792	Lancelot Brown
		1794	Viscount Hinchingbrooke
		1796			Lord Frederick Montagu
		1806			Lord Proby
		1807			William Henry Fellowes
		1814	Lord Proby
		1818	Lord Frederick Montagu
		1820	Lord John Russell	Whig
		1826	Viscount Mandeville
		1830			Lord Strathavon
		1831			John Bonfoy Rooper
		1837	Edward Fellowes	Conservative	George Thornhill
		1852			Viscount Mandeville	Conservative
		1855			James Rust
		1859			Lord Robert Montagu	Conservative
		1874			Sir Henry Pelly, Bt
		1877			Viscount Mandeville
		1880	William Fellowes	Conservative	Lord Douglas Gordon
1885			constituency abolished, Huntingdon and Ramsey from 1885

MPs 1918–1983

Year		Member	Party
Huntingdon and Ramsey prior to 1918
	1918	Oliver Locker-Lampson	Conservative
	1922	Charles Kenneth Murchison	Conservative
	1923	Leonard Costello	Liberal
	1924	Sir Charles Kenneth Murchison	Conservative
	1929	Sidney John Peters	Liberal
	1931		National Liberal
	1945	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	National Liberal
	1968		Conservative
	1979	John Major	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished, Huntingdon and part of SW Cambs from 1983

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Oliver Stillingfleet Locker-Lampson	10,760	62.6	n/a
	Liberal	Robert Christopher Grey	6,416	37.4	n/a
Majority			4,344	25.2	n/a
Turnout			17,176	62.8	n/a
	Unionist win (new seat)

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

Lina Scott Gatty

General Election 1922: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Kenneth Murchison	10,079	50.7	−11.9
	Liberal	Lina Mary Scott Gatty	5,123	25.7	−11.7
	Labour	Dermot Johnston Freyer	4,697	23.6	n/a
Majority			4,956	25.0	-0.2
Turnout			19,899	70.7	+7.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.1

Leonard Costello

General Election 1923: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Leonard Wilfred James Costello	10,465	52.7	+27.0
	Unionist	Charles Kenneth Murchison	9,404	47.3	−3.4
Majority			1,061	5.4	30.4
Turnout			19,869	69.6	−1.1
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+15.2

General Election 1924: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Kenneth Murchison	12,827	56.9	+9.6
	Liberal	Leonard Wilfred James Costello	9,703	43.1	−9.6
Majority			3,124	13.8	19.2
Turnout			22,530	77.8	+8.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.6

General Election 1929: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sidney John Peters	12,889	45.6	+2.5
	Unionist	Sir Charles Kenneth Murchison	11,935	42.1	−14.8
	Labour	C S Giddins	3,493	12.3	n/a
Majority			954	3.5	17.3
Turnout			28,317	77.2	−0.6
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+8.7

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sidney John Peters	23,102	83.3	+37.7
	Labour	Maurice Orbach	4,624	16.7	+4.4
Majority			18,478	66.6	+63.1
Turnout			27,726	74.2	−3.0
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+16.7

General Election 1935: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sidney John Peters	17,287	68.7	−14.6
	Labour	J L George	7,861	31.3	+14.6
Majority			9,426	37.4	-29.2
Turnout			25,148	66.2	−8.0
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−14.6

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal National: Sidney John Peters
• Labour: James Lunnon ^[6]

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Huntingdonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	15,389	50.1	−18.6
	Labour	W A Waters	9,458	30.8	−0.5
	Liberal	Henry David Leonard George Walston	5,869	19.1	n/a
Majority			5,931	19.3	-18.1
Turnout			30,716	65.7	−0.5
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−9.1

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Huntingdonshire [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	18,551	51.4	+1.3
	Labour	Francis Robert Macdonald	13,096	36.3	+5.5
	Liberal	William George F Thompson	4,442	12.3	−6.8
Majority			5,455	15.1	-4.2
Turnout			36,089	82.6	+16.9
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−2.1

General Election 1951: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	20,845	57.4	+6.0
	Labour	Francis Robert Macdonald	15,487	42.6	+6.3
Majority			5,358	14.8	-0.3
Turnout			36,332	80.8	−1.8
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−0.2

General Election 1955: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	20,609	58.4	+1.0
	Labour	John Albert Franks	14,670	41.6	−1.0
Majority			5,939	16.8	+2.0
Turnout			35,279	77.1	−3.7
	National Liberal hold		Swing	+1.0

General Election 1959: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	20,254	53.9	−4.5
	Labour	John Wilson Fear	11,983	31.8	−9.8
	Liberal	Richard Edward Walter Vanderplank	5,389	14.3	n/a
Majority			8,271	22.1	+5.3
Turnout			37,626	80.4	+3.3
	National Liberal hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	David Lockhart-Mure Renton	20,320	51.1	−2.8
	Labour	Leslie J Potter	12,456	31.3	−0.5
	Liberal	Peter G H Thorold	6,992	17.6	+3.3
Majority			7,864	19.8	-2.3
Turnout			39,768	78.8	−1.6
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−1.2

General Election 1966: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Sir David Lockhart-Mure Renton	20,504	49.1	−2.0
	Labour	Martin Lawn	15,276	36.7	+5.4
	Liberal	David Ralph Antony Spreckley	5,900	14.2	−3.4
Majority			5,228	12.4	-7.4
Turnout			41,680	77.6	−1.2
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−3.7

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Huntingdonshire[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir David Lockhart-Mure Renton	27,398	54.7	+5.6
	Labour	James P P Curran	17,588	35.1	−1.6
	Liberal	Michael Wilfrid B O'Loughlin	5,082	10.2	−4.0
Majority			9,810	19.6	+7.2
Turnout			50,068	75.3	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

General Election 1974 (February): Huntingdonshire[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir David Lockhart-Mure Renton	29,042	44.6	−10.1
	Liberal	Dennis Graham Rowe	19,040	29.2	+19.0
	Labour	Paul Andrew Ormerod	17,066	26.2	−8.9
Majority			10,002	15.4	-4.2
Turnout			65,148	82.4	+7.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.6

General Election October 1974: Huntingdonshire[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir David Lockhart-Mure Renton	26,989	45.1	+0.5
	Labour	Alan G Dowson	17,745	29.6	+3.4
	Liberal	Dennis Graham Rowe	15,152	25.3	−3.9
Majority			9,244	15.5	+0.1
Turnout			59,886	75.1	−7.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.9

General Election 1979: Huntingdonshire[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Major	40,193	55.3	+10.2
	Labour	Julian G H Fulbrook	18,630	25.7	−3.9
	Liberal	Dennis Graham Rowe	12,812	17.6	−7.7
	National Front	K T Robinson	983	1.4	n/a
Majority			21,563	29.6	+14.1
Turnout			72.618	77.4	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.1

See also

• Parliamentary representation from Huntingdonshire

References

1. "'Huntingdonshire', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-09.
3. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-09.
4. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-09.
5. F. W. S. Craig (1983), British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services.
6. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
7. F. W. S. Craig (1971), British Parliamentary Election Results, 1950-1970. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services.
8. F. W. S. Craig (1984), British Parliamentary Election Results, 1974-1983. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons