Ripon (UK Parliament constituency)

Ripon
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Skipton and Ripon, Leeds North West, Keighley and Shipley[1]
1295–1885
Number of members	Two until 1868, then one
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.

History

Ripon was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295, and also returned members in 1307 and 1337, but it was not permanently represented until 1553, after which it returned two Members of Parliament. It was a parliamentary borough consisting only of the town of Ripon itself until the Great Reform Act of 1832; the right to vote was vested in the holders of the burgage tenements, but voting was rare for the last contested election in Ripon before the Reform Act had been in 1715! By 1832 it was estimated that there were 43 men qualified to vote, though the population of the borough was over 5,000.

A population of this size made Ripon one of the more substantial boroughs, and after the Reform Act it kept its right to return two members, though the boundaries of the borough were slightly extended to bring in another 600 people living in the neighbouring parish of Aismunderby-cum-Bondgate. However, the next Reform Act, which came into force at the 1868 election, reduced Ripon's representation from two MPs to one.

The Reform Act of 1885 abolished the borough of Ripon, but the county constituency in which the town was placed as a result was named Ripon (strictly speaking, at first, "The Ripon Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire"), and this continued as a single member constituency, though with some boundary changes, until it was abolished before the 1983 general election. Until 1950 it included, as well as Ripon itself, the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough; after that date they were excluded, but the boundaries instead took in Ilkley and Otley.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Ripon, the Sessional Divisions of Claro and Kirkby Malzeard, and the Liberty of Ripon.

1918-1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Harrogate and Ripon, the Urban District of Knaresborough, the Rural Districts of Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, and part of the Rural District of Great Ouseburn.

1950-1983: The Municipal Borough of Ripon, the Urban Districts of Ilkley and Otley, and the Rural Districts of Ripon and Pateley Bridge, and Wharfedale.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency re-created (1553)

MPs 1553–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1553 (Oct)	Marmaduke Wyvill	Edward Beseley [2]
1554 (Apr)	William Rastell	John Temple [2]
1554 (Nov)	Thomas More II	Thomas Seckford [2]
1555	John Holmes	Thomas Poley [2]
1558	William Heath	Thomas Lewknor [2]
1559	Francis Kempe	John Sapcote[3]
1562/3	George Leighe	Richard Pratt [3]
1571	Martin Birkhead	Anthony Roane [3]
1572	Martin Birkhead	John Scott [3]
1584	William Spencer	Gervase Lee [3]
1586	William Spencer	Samuel Sandys [3]
1588	Peter York	William Smith [3]
1593	Anthony Wingfield	William Bennet [3]
1597	Sir John Bennet	Christopher Perkins [3]
1601	John Thornborough	Christopher Perkins [3]
1604	Sir John Mallory	Sir John Bennet
1614	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby	William Mallory
1621	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby	William Mallory
1624	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby	William Mallory
1625	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby	William Mallory
1626	Thomas Best	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby
1628	Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby	William Mallory
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1867

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		November 1640	William Mallory	Royalist	John Mallory	Royalist
		September 1642	William Mallory disabled to sit - seat vacant
		January 1644			John Mallory disabled to sit - seat vacant
		1645	Sir Charles Egerton		Miles Moody (d. March 1647)
		1647			Sir John Bourchier
		December 1648	Egerton excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
		1653	Ripon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		January 1659	Edmund Jennings		Jonathan Jennings
		May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
		April 1660	Henry Arthington		Edmund Jennings
		1661	John Nicholas		Thomas Burwell
		1673			Sir Edmund Jennings
		February 1679	Richard Sterne
		August 1679			Christopher Wandesford
		1685	Sir Gilbert Dolben, 1st Baronet		Sir Edmund Jennings
		1689	Sir Jonathan Jennings		Sir Edward Blackett, Bt
		1690			Sir Edmund Jennings
		1691			Jonathan Jennings
		1695	John Aislabie	Tory
		1701			John Sharp
		1702	Sir William Hustler
		1705	John Aislabie[4]	Tory, later Country Whig
		1715			The Viscount Castlecomer
		1719			William Aislabie the elder
		1721	William Aislabie the younger	Tory
		1722			John Scrope
		1727			William Aislabie the third
		1734			Thomas Duncombe
		1741			Hon. Henry Vane	Whig
		1747			Sir Charles Vernon
		1761			William Lawrence
		1768			Charles Allanson
		1775			William Lawrence	Tory
		1780			Frederick Robinson	Tory
		1781	William Lawrence	Tory
		1787			Sir John Goodricke, Bt	Tory
		1789			Sir George Allanson-Winn, Bt[5]	Tory
		April 1798			John Heathcote	Tory
		October 1798	Sir James Graham, Bt	Tory
		1806			The Lord Headley	Tory
		1807	Frederick John Robinson	Tory	George Gipps	Tory
		1826			Lancelot Shadwell	Tory
		1827	Louis Hayes Petit	Tory
		1828			Sir Robert Inglis	Tory
		1829			George Spence	Tory
		1831		Whig		Whig
		1832	Thomas Staveley	Whig	Joshua Crompton	Whig
		1835	Sir Charles Dalbiac	Conservative	Thomas Pemberton	Conservative
		1837	Sir Edward Sugden	Conservative
		1841	Sir George Cockburn	Conservative
		1843			Thomas Berry Cusack Smith	Conservative
		1846			Hon. Edwin Lascelles	Conservative
		1847	Sir James Graham, Bt	Peelite
		1852	William Beckett	Conservative
		1857	John Ashley Warre	Liberal	John Greenwood	Liberal
		1860	Reginald Vyner	Liberal
		1865	Sir Charles Wood	Liberal	Robert Kearsley	Liberal
		1866	Lord John Hay	Liberal
		1868	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1868–1983

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Lord John Hay	Liberal
	1871 by-election	Sir Henry Knight Storks	Liberal
	1874	Earl de Grey	Liberal
	1880	George Goschen	Liberal
1885		Ripon parliamentary borough abolished, replaced by Ripon Division of the West Riding (county constituency)
	1885	William Harker	Liberal
	1886	John Lloyd Wharton	Conservative
	1906	Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch	Liberal
	Jan. 1910	Hon. Edward Wood	Conservative
	1925 by-election	John Waller Hills	Conservative
	1939 by-election	Christopher York	Conservative
	1950	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	Conservative
	1973 by-election	David Austick	Liberal
	Feb 1974	Dr Keith Hampson	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Harker	3,985	51.1	n/a
	Conservative	John Lloyd Wharton	3,820	48.9	n/a
Majority			165	2.2	n/a
Turnout				86.3	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

J.L. Wharton

General Election 1886: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lloyd Wharton	4,113	56.8
	Liberal	CAC Ponsonby	3,125	43.2
Majority			988	13.6
Turnout				80.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lloyd Wharton	4,268	53.9
	Liberal	H Leetham	3,657	46.1
Majority			611	7.8
Turnout				77.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Ripon[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lloyd Wharton	4,435
	Liberal	Robert Charles Phillimore	3,733	45.7
Majority			702	8.6
Turnout				79.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. John Lloyd Wharton	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Henry Lynch

General Election 1906: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch	5,645	51.4	n/a
	Conservative	Rt Hon. John Lloyd Wharton	5,332	48.6	n/a
Majority			313	2.8	n/a
Turnout				86.9	n/a
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Ripon[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood	6,363	55.4
	Liberal	Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch	5,119	44.6
Majority			1,244	10.8
Turnout				89.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election December 1910: Ripon[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood	5,894	54.0
	Liberal	Henry Norman Rae	5,020	46.0
Majority			874	8.0
Turnout				84.9
	Conservative 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;

• Unionist: Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood
• Liberal:

Elections in the 1920s

1923 General Election: Ripon [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Edward Frederick Lindley Wood	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Ripon by-election, 1925[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Waller Hills	16,433	59.0
	Liberal	John Murray	11,422	41.0
Majority			5,011	18.0
Turnout				74.6
	Unionist hold		Swing

1929 General Election[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Waller Hills	23,173	55.1
	Liberal	Frederick L Boult	14,542	34.6
	Labour	Arthur Godfrey	4,339	10.3
Majority			8,631	20.5
Turnout				76.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election, 1931
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Waller Hills	37,898	88.1
	Labour	Cllr. R. J. Hall	5,125	11.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election, 14 November 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Waller Hills	30,804
	Labour	Cllr. R. J. Hall	9,116
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ripon by-election, 1939
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher York	23,257
	Labour	Cllr. R. J. Hall	10,213
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

United Kingdom general election, 1945
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher York	29,674	61.3
	Labour	R Hartley	12,599	26.0
	Liberal	Mrs. Mabel Cowley	6,122	12.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

United Kingdom general election, 1950: Ripon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	22,292	66.3
	Labour	WS Hill	11,317	33.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, 1951: Ripon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	23,047	68.4
	Labour	Sydney J Andrews	10,627	31.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, 1955: Ripon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	21,977	68.9
	Labour	Eric Brierley	9,912	31.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, 1959: Ripon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	22,757	69.9
	Labour	Joseph H Swann	9,791	30.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

United Kingdom general election, 1964
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	18,503	54.9
	Liberal	Ronald HH Duncan	7,814	23.2
	Labour	Peter A O'Grady	7,341	21.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	17,352	52.2
	Labour	Michael McGowan	8,607	25.9
	Liberal	Ronald HH Duncan	7,301	22.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

United Kingdom general election, 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	21,211	60.7
	Labour	David Daniel	9,147	26.2
	Liberal	Miss Valerie S Craven	4,583	13.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ripon by-election, 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Austick	13,902	43.5	+30.4
	Conservative	Keith Hampson	12,956	40.5	-20.2
	Labour	D.M. English	4,435	13.9	-12.3
	Independent Conservative	R.E.G. Simmerson	690	2.1	N/A
Majority			946	3.0	N/A
Turnout				64.3	-9.4
Registered electors			49,761
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

United Kingdom general election, February 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Hampson	21,080	49.6
	Liberal	David Austick	16,745	39.4
	Labour	DM English	4,643	10.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, October 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Hampson	20,636	52.1
	Liberal	David Austick	13,632	34.3
	Labour	SP Meyer	5,330	13.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

United Kingdom general election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Hampson	25,292	60.3
	Liberal	R Tennant	9,089	21.7
	Labour	WN Davies	6,749	16.1
	Ecology	A Laurence	781	1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• Ripon by-election, 1973

References

1. "'Ripon', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
3. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
4. Expelled from the House of Commons in 1721 for his role in the South Sea Bubble
5. Lord Headley (in the peerage of Ireland) from 1797
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. Debrett's House of Commons 1901
8. Debrett's House of Commons 1916
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
10. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

• 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)
• F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
• 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)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• "The Constitutional Year Book for 1913" (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)