Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth (UK Parliament constituency)

Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth
Former constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members	one

Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Radcliffe and Farnworth in Lancashire. 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

This area had previously been represented as part of South East Lancashire division. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the constituency was created for the 1885 general election and was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

The South East Lancashire, Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth Division was defined in the 1885 legislation as consisting of the parishes of Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Hulton and Pilkington (including Whitefield and Unsworth) and the parish of Radcliffe except the area in the Municipal Borough of Bury.^[1][2]

At the next redistribution of seats in 1918, the constituency was split between two new seats: Farnworth (which included Little Hulton and Kearsley) and Heywood and Radcliffe (which took in Unsworth and Whitefield).^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Robert Leake	Liberal
	1895	John James Mellor	Conservative
	1900	Theodore Cooke Taylor	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished: see Heywood and Radcliffe & Farnworth

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Leake	5,092	52.7	n/a
	Conservative	William Wilbraham Blethyn Hulton	4,579	47.3	n/a
Majority			513	5.4	n/a
Turnout				92.7	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Leake	4,695	50.7
	Conservative	Sir Frederick George Milner	4,559	49.3
Majority			136	1.4
Turnout				88.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

John Mellor

General Election 1892: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Leake	4,999	50.5	-0.2
	Conservative	John James Mellor	4,904	49.5	+0.2
Majority			95	1.0	-0.4
Turnout				92.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

George Pollard

General Election 1895: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John James Mellor	5,523	52.9	+3.4
	Liberal	George Herbert Pollard	4,923	47.1	-3.4
Majority			600	5.8	6.8
Turnout				92.8	+0.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.4

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Theodore Cooke Taylor	5,497	50.3
	Conservative	J.C. Cross	5,437	49.7
Majority			60	0.6
Turnout				89.3
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1906: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Theodore Cooke Taylor	6,719	56.8	+6.5
	Conservative	S. Musgrave	5,117	43.2	-6.5
Majority			1,602	13.6	+13.0
Turnout				90.0	+0.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.5

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Theodore Cooke Taylor	7,367	55.8
	Conservative	Sir Edward White	5,827	44.2
Majority			1,540	11.6
Turnout				93.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Theodore Cooke Taylor	6,721	53.1	-2.7
	Conservative	Edward Albert Ashton Bagley	5,937	46.9	+2.7
Majority			784	6.2	-5.4
Turnout				90.1	-3.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.7

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: Theodore Cooke Taylor
• Unionist:

References

1. 1885 c.23 sch.7
2. Boundary Commissioners for England and Wales (1885). "South East Lancashire, New Divisions of County (Map)". Report of the Boundary Commissioners for England and Wales. londonancestor.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
3. F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol. II: Northern England, London, 1991
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. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

Sources

• South Lancashire constituencies map, including Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)