Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)

Lancaster
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lancashire
1885–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Lancaster and Wyre, Morecambe and Lunesdale, Fylde
Created from	North Lancashire
1523–1867
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	North Lancashire
Created from	Lancashire
1295–1376
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until the constituency was disenfranchised for corruption in 1867.

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Lancaster was re-established for the 1885 general election as a county constituency. It then returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with elections held under the first-past-the-post system. This constituency in turn was abolished when it was largely replaced by the new Lancaster and Wyre constituency for the 1997 general election.

History

Lancaster returned Members to Parliament between 1295 and 1331 but is not known to have done so again, on the grounds of the poverty of the town's burgesses, until the election of William Banester in 1523.

Representation was reduced during the protectorate: Lancaster was not represented in the Barebones Parliament and sent only one Member to the first and second Protectorate Parliaments.

The two Member constituency was disenfranchised in 1867 for corruption and representation not restored until 1885 as a one Member constituency. The constituency was finally abolished in 1997 and replaced by the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre.

Members of Parliament

1295-1640

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1523	William Banester	?Lawrence Starkey [1]
1529	Lawrence Starkey	Richard Southworth [1]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir John Baker	Sir Nicholas Hare [1]
1547	Sir Thomas Chaloner	Stephen Vaughan died and repl. by Jan 1552 by William Ward [1]
1553 (Mar)	John Caryll	Thomas Carus [1]
1553 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Tresham	Thomas Carus [1]
1554 (Apr)	John Heywood	George Felton [1]
1554 (Nov)	Richard Baker	Richard Weston [1]
1555	Thomas Carus	Thomas Hungate [1]
1558	Sir Clement Heigham	William Rice [1]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Thomas Benger	William Fleetwood[2]
1562/1563	John Hales	William Fleetwood [2]
1571	Henry Sadler	Miles Sandys [2]
1572	Thomas Sadler	Henry Sadler [2]
1584 (Nov)	Henry Sadler	Thomas Gerard [2]
1586	Thomas Gerard	Henry Sadler [2]
1588	Roger Dalton	John Atherton [2]
1593	John Preston	John Awdeley [2][3]
1597 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Hesketh	Edward Hubberd [2]
1601 (Oct)	Sir Jerome Bowes	Sir Carew Reynell [2]
1604	Sir Thomas Hesketh, died and repl. 1605 by Sir Thomas Howard	Thomas Fanshawe
1614	Thomas Fanshawe	William Fanshawe
1621	Sir Humphrey May	Thomas Fanshawe
1624	Sir Humphrey May, sat for Leicester and repl. by John Selden	Thomas Fanshawe
1625	Sir Humphrey May	Sir Thomas Fanshawe
1626	Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Thomas Jermyn
1628	Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Francis Bindlosse
1629-1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1867

Year		First member[4]	First party		Second member[4]	Second party
April 1640		Roger Kirkby			John Harrison
November 1640		Thomas Fanshawe	Royalist		John Harrison	Royalist
September 1642	Fanshawe disabled from sitting - seat vacant
September 1643				Harrison disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645		Thomas Fell			Sir Robert Bindlosse
December 1648				Bindlosse excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Lancaster was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Major Henry Porter		Lancaster had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659		Henry Porter, junior			Colonel William West
May 1659		Thomas Fell		One seat vacant
April 1660		Sir Gilbert Gerard			William West
1661		Richard Kirkby			Sir John Harrison
1669					Richard Harrison
1679					William Spencer
1685		Roger Kirkby			Henry Crispe
January 1689		Curwen Rawlinson			Thomas Preston
November 1689		Roger Kirkby
1697					Fitton Gerard
1698					Robert Heysham
1702		Sir William Lowther
1705		William Heysham
1715					Dodding Bradyll
1716		William Heysham, junior
1722					Sir Thomas Lowther
1727		Christopher Tower
1734		Robert Fenwick
1745					Francis Reynolds
1747		Edward Marton
1758		(Sir) George Warren [5]
1773					Lord Richard Cavendish
1780		Wilson Braddyll			Abraham Rawlinson
1784		Captain Francis Reynolds
1786		Sir George Warren
1790					John Dent
1796		Richard Penn
1802		Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton	Whig
1806		John Fenton-Cawthorne
1807		Peter Patten
1812		John Fenton-Cawthorne	Tory		Gabriel Doveton	Whig
1818		John Gladstone	Tory
1820		John Fenton-Cawthorne	Tory
1824					Thomas Greene	Tory
1831		Patrick Maxwell Stewart	Whig
1834						Conservative
1837		George Marton	Conservative
1847		Samuel Gregson [6]	Whig
1848		Robert Baynes Armstrong [7]	Whig
1852					Samuel Gregson	Whig
1853		Thomas Greene	Conservative
1857		William James Garnett	Conservative
1859						Liberal
1864		Edward Matthew Fenwick	Liberal
1865					Henry William Schneider	Liberal
1867	Constituency disfranchised for corruption [8]

Lancaster county constituency

1885-1997

Election		Member[4]	Party
1885		Constituency re-created
	1885	George Marton	Conservative
	1886	James Williamson	Liberal
	1895	William Foster	Conservative
	1900	Norval Helme	Liberal
	1918	Archibald Hunter	Coalition Conservative
	1922	John Singleton	Conservative
	1923	John O'Neill	Liberal
	1924	Gerald Strickland	Conservative
	1928 by-election	Robert Tomlinson	Liberal
	1929	Herwald Ramsbotham	Conservative
	1941 by-election	Fitzroy Maclean	Conservative
	1959	Humphry Berkeley	Conservative
	1966	Stan Henig	Labour
	1970	Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Lancaster and Wyre

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Lancaster [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Blucher Heneage Marton	4,387	55.4	n/a
	Liberal	J C McCoan	3,530	44.6	n/a
Majority			857	10.8	n/a
Turnout				88.3	n/a
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Lancaster [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Williamson	3,886	51.3
	Conservative	George Blucher Heneage Marton	3,691	48.7
Majority			195	2.6
Turnout				84.6
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Lancaster [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Williamson	4,755	53.9
	Liberal Unionist	Sir T Storey	4,075	46.1
Majority			680	7.8
Turnout				88.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Lancaster [12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,028	53.4
	Liberal	I S Leadam	4,394	46.6
Majority			634	6.8
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Norval Helme

General Election 1900: Lancaster [13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Watson Helme	5,113	50.2
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,069	49.8
Majority			44	0.4
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1906: Lancaster [14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Watson Helme	6,524	53.6
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	5,640	46.4
Majority			884	7.2
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Lancaster [15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Watson Helme	7,132	54.1
	Conservative	E Russell-Taylor	6,048	45.9
Majority			1,084	8.2
Turnout				89.1
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Lancaster [16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Norval Watson Helme	6,186	50.5
	Conservative	Herwald Ramsbotham	6,052	49.5
Majority			116	1.0
Turnout				82.6
	Liberal hold		Swing

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;

• Liberal: Sir Norval Watson Helme
• Unionist:

Archibald Hunter

General Election 1918
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter	14,403	59.6
	Liberal	Sir Norval Watson Helme	9,778	40.4
Majority			4,625	19.2
Turnout				65.4
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

Fenner Brockway

General Election 1922: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Edward Singleton	19,571	68.4
	Labour	Archibald Fenner Brockway	9,043	31.6
Majority			10,528	36.8
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Joseph O'Neill	17,763	59.2	n/a
	Unionist	John Edward Singleton	12,263	40.8	-17.6
Majority			5,500	18.4	55.2
Turnout				80.0
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	n/a

Strickland

General Election 1924: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland	15,243	47.8	+7.0
	Liberal	John Joseph O'Neill	11,085	34.7	-24.5
	Labour	Harold Mostyn Watkins	5,572	17.5	+17.5
Majority			4,158	13.1	31.5
Turnout				82.9	+2.9
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+15.5

Lancaster by-election, 1928
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Parkinson Tomlinson	14,689	43.7	+8.9
	Unionist	Herwald Ramsbotham	12,860	38.2	-9.6
	Labour	Rev. David R Davies	6,101	18.1	+0.6
Majority			1,829	5.5	18.6
Turnout				82.7	-0.2
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+9.4

General Election 1929: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herwald Ramsbotham	17,414	39.3	+1.2
	Liberal	Robert Parkinson Tomlinson	16,977	38.3	-5.4
	Labour	Reginald Penrith Burnett	9,903	22.4	+4.3
Majority			437	1.0	6.5
Turnout				83.9	+1.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herwald Ramsbotham	32,185
	Labour	R Carrington-Willis	10,309
Majority			21,876
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

• George H Bryans was adopted as Liberal candidate but in October 1931 had a heart attack and withdrew.

1935 General Election : Lancaster [17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Herwald Ramsbotham	26,632	53.7
	Liberal	Robert Parkinson Tomlinson	13,054	26.3	n/a
	Labour	Charles Royle	9,938	20.0
Majority			13,578	27.4
Turnout			49,624	79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Rt Hon. Herwald Ramsbotham
• Liberal: William Ross
• Labour: Albert Farrer

Lancaster by-election, 1941
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lt. Fitzroy Hew Royle MacLean	15,783	56.9
	Independent Liberal	Lt-Col. William C Ross	6,551	23.6
	Ind. Labour Party	Archibald Fenner Brockway	5,418	19.5
Majority
Turnout				41.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.5

General Election 1945: Lancaster [17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brig. Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean	27,090	49.42
	Labour	Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer	19,367	35.33
	Liberal	Capt. Eric Seymour Thewlis Johnson	8,357	15.25
Majority			7,723	14.09
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy Hew Royle MacLean	18,437	48.27	−1.2
	Labour	Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer	15,341	40.17	+4.84
	Liberal	Cllr. H Rogerson	4,416	11.56	-3.69
Majority			3,096	8.11	-5.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy Hew Royle MacLean	20,555
	Labour	Miss Dodo Lees	18,099
Majority			2,456
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fitzroy Hew Royle MacLean	19,873	56.46	+8.19
	Labour	Christopher S B Atlee	15,324	43.54	+3.37
Majority			4,549	12.92	+4.81
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humphry John Berkeley	20,783	56.67	+1.21
	Labour	Ernest Gardner	15,255	42.33	-1.21
Majority			5,528	15.34	+2.42
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Humphry John Berkeley	18,811	53.53	-4.14
	Labour	Ernest Gardner	16,330	46.47	+4.14
Majority			2,481	7.06	-8.28
Turnout				79.74
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Henig	18,168	52.62	+6.15
	Conservative	Humphry John Berkeley	16,357	47.38	-6.15
Majority			1,811	5.25
Turnout				79.17
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett	18,584	49.08	+1.7
	Labour	Stanley Henig	16,843	44.48	−8.1
	Liberal	Andrew Paton	2,436	6.43	N/A
Majority			1,741	4.60
Turnout				79.50
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election February 1974: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	17,666	43.47	−5.6
	Labour	David Owen	15,197	37.40	−7.1
	Liberal	Anthony Walstan Drury	6,898	17.0	+10.5
	Independent Liberal	Philip Edgar Wallace	631	1.6
	Independent	Geoffrey Darnton	245	0.6
Majority			2,493	6.1	+1.5
Turnout			40,637	82.45
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

General Election October 1974: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	16,540	42.61	-0.86
	Labour	D Owen	15,119	38.95	+1.15
	Liberal	Michael Mumford	7,161	18.45	+1.48
Majority			1,421	3.66	-2.42
Turnout			38,820	83.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Lancaster[18][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	19,400	47.64	+5.03
	Labour	Ruth Beatrice Henig	15,174	37.27	-1.68
	Liberal	Michael Mumford	5,949	14.61	-3.84
	National Front	David F. White	196	0.48
Majority			4,266	10.38	+6.72
Turnout			40,719	79.45	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,050	50.3	+2.7
	Labour	Colin Harkins	10,414	24.9	−12.4
	Liberal	William Booth	10,214	24.4	+9.8
	Independent	Stuart R. Leach	179	0.4
Majority			10,636	25.4	+15.0
Turnout				74.69	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.6

General Election 1987: Lancaster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,142	46.7	−3.6
	Labour	Joseph Gallacher	14,689	32.4	+7.5
	Liberal	Kathleen Claire Brooks	9,003	19.9	−4.5
	Green	Peter Frederick Ffoulkes Jones	473	1.0	n/a
Majority			6,453	14.2	−11.2
Turnout			45,307	79.17	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Lancaster[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dame Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman	21,084	45.6	−1.1
	Labour	Ruth Beatrice Henig	18,131	39.2	+6.8
	Liberal Democrat	John C. Humberstone	6,524	14.1	−5.8
	Green	Ms. Gina Dowding	433	0.9	−0.1
	Natural Law	Robert Barcis	83	0.2	+0.2
Majority			2,953	6.4	−7.9
Turnout			46,255	78.9	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.9

Notes and references

1. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-23.
2. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-23.
3. Awdeley was also elected for Stockbridge
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
5. Knighted (KB), 1761
6. On petition, Gregson's election was declared void and a by-election was held
7. On petition, Armstrong's re-election in 1852 was declared void and a by-election was held
8. Fenwick and Schneider were re-elected at the general election of 1865, but on petition their election was declared void. The constituency's writ was suspended, and a Royal Commission appointed to investigate. Following the Commission's report that it had found evidence of extensive bribery, the constituency was abolished and incorporated into the Northern Lancashire county division from the start of the next Parliament.
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
12. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
13. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
14. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
15. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
16. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
17. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
18. "'Lancaster', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
19. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1979". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
20. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)