Plymouth Drake (UK Parliament constituency)

Plymouth Drake
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County Devon
1974 (1974)–1997
Number of members One
Replaced by Plymouth Sutton
Created from Plymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport
1918–1950
Number of members One

Plymouth Drake was a borough constituency in the city of Plymouth, in Devon. It elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.

History

The first Drake constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. For most of this time it was held by the Conservative Party. It was a Labour gain in the Attlee landslide of 1945, although it had been held by Labour once before, in the 1929–31 Parliament.

The second incarnation of the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election. For the whole of its 23-year existence it was represented by just one MP, Dame Janet Fookes of the Conservative Party. It was always a marginal seat during this period, but Dame Janet managed to survive many strong challenges at each general election she fought, including winning with a majority of just 34 in October 1974 – making Drake the most marginal Conservative seat at that election. She served as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd from 1992 until she retired from the Commons in 1997.

The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, with its wards being transferred to the redrawn constituency of Plymouth Sutton, which was gained by the Labour Party in the Blair landslide of that year. Most of the territory of Drake is now covered by the constituency of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Drake, Mount Edgcumbe, Mutley, Pennycross, St Peter, Stoke, and Valletort.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, Honicknowle, Pennycross, Tamerton, Trelawny, and Whitleigh.

1983-1997: The City of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, St Peter, Stoke, Sutton, and Trelawny.

In its 1918 and 1983 incarnations, the constituency included Plymouth city centre; it was transferred in 1997 to Plymouth Sutton and in 2010 to Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

ElectionMember[1]PartyNotes
1918 Arthur Benn Conservative
1929 James Moses Labour
1931 Frederick Guest Conservative Died 1937
1937 by-election Henry Guest Conservative
1945 Hubert Medland Labour
1950 constituency abolished

MPs 1974–1997

ElectionMember[1]Party
Feb 1974 Janet Fookes Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Plymouth Sutton

Election Results

Elections in the 1910s

Arthur Benn
General Election 1918: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist 17,188
Liberal Thomas William Dobson 6,225
Majority
Turnout
Unionist win

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Plymouth Drake [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Sir Arthur Shirley Benn 11,698
Labour James Gorman 8,359 n/a
Liberal Maj. S.J. Robins 6,594
Majority
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
General Election 1923: Plymouth Drake [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Sir Arthur Shirley Benn 12,345 43.7 -0.2
Labour James John Hamlyn Moses 11,849 41.9 +10.5
Liberal Edward Ernest Henry Atkin 4,082 14.4 -10.3
Majority 496 1.8 -10.7
Turnout 77.9
Unionist hold Swing -5.3
General Election 1924: Plymouth Drake [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Sir Arthur Shirley Benn 14,669
Labour James John Hamlyn Moses 12,161
Liberal Solomon Stephens 3,645
Majority
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
General Election 1929: Plymouth Drake [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James John Hamlyn Moses 16,684 44.3
Unionist Sir Arthur Shirley Benn 14,673 39.0
Liberal Hugh MacDonald Pratt 6,309 16.7
Majority 2,011 5.3
Turnout 80.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Plymouth Drake[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest 25,063 66.4
Labour James John Hamlyn Moses 12,669 33.6
Majority 12,394 32.8
Turnout 37,732 79.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1935: Plymouth Drake[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Frederick Edward Guest 21,446 58.3
Labour James John Hamlyn Moses 15,368 41.7
Majority 6,078 16.5
Turnout 36,814 74.8
Conservative hold Swing
Plymouth Drake by-election, 1937[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christian Henry Charles Guest 15,778
Labour Geoffrey Theodore Garratt 11,044
Majority
Turnout
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

General Election 1945: Plymouth Drake[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hubert Moses Medland 15,070 50.9
Conservative Lt-Col. Christian Henry Charles Guest 12,871 43.4
Common Wealth Edgar John Trout 1,681 5.7 n/a
Majority 2,199 7.4
Turnout 71.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election February 1974: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 18,417 42.82
Labour FK Taylor 15,806 36.75
Liberal ME Castle 8,784 20.42
Majority 2,611 6.07
Turnout 78.04
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 17,287 41.26
Labour BW Fletcher 17,253 41.18
Liberal ME Castle 7,354 17.55
Majority 34 0.08
Turnout 75.41
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1979: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 21,759 50.60
Labour BW Fletcher 17,515 40.73
Liberal A Puttick 3,452 8.03
National Front C Bradbury 279 0.65
Majority 4,244 9.87
Turnout 77.19
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 19,718 50.64
Social Democratic W Fitzgerald 11,133 28.59
Labour S Creswell 7,921 20.34
BNP C Bradbury 163 0.42
Majority 8,585 22.05
Turnout 74.33
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1987: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 16,195 41.30
Social Democratic David Waldorf Astor 13,070 33.33
Labour David Charles Jamieson 9,451 24.10
Green Tracey Barber 493 1.26
Majority 3,125 7.97
Turnout 76.60
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Plymouth Drake[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dame Janet Fookes 17,075 43.7 +2.4
Labour Co-op P Telford 15,062 38.6 +14.5
Liberal Democrat Mrs VA Cox 5,893 15.1 −18.2
Social Democratic DM Stanbury 476 1.2 +1.2
Green Mrs AE Harrison 441 1.1 −0.1
Natural Law TJ Pringle 95 0.2 N/A
Majority 2,013 5.2 −2.8
Turnout 39,042 75.6 −1.0
Conservative hold Swing −6.0

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
  2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  5. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  6. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  7. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  8. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  9. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  10. ↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  11. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  12. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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