Ross (UK Parliament constituency)

Ross
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Herefordshire
Major settlements	Ross-on-Wye
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hereford
Created from	Herefordshire

Ross, or the Southern division of Herefordshire was a county constituency centred on the town of Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when the three-seat Herefordshire constituency was replaced by two single-member county divisions: the Leominster (or Northern) division, and the Ross (or Southern) division.

Ross was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1][2]	Party
	1885	Michael Biddulph	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1900	Percy Archer Clive	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Alan Coulston Gardner	Liberal
	1908 by-election	Percy Archer Clive	Liberal Unionist
	1912		Unionist
	May 1918 by-election	Charles Thornton Pulley	Unionist
	Dec. 1918	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Biddulph	4,415	54.8	n/a
	Conservative	Sir Joseph Russell Bailey	3,643	45.2	n/a
Majority			772	9.6	n/a
Turnout				79.2	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Michael Biddulph	3,968	70.4
	Liberal	Thomas Duckham	1,670	29.6
Majority			2,298	40.8
Turnout				55.4
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Michael Biddulph	4,326	52.8	-17.6
	Liberal	Joseph Pulley	3,869	47.2	+17.6
Majority			457	5.6	-35.2
Turnout				74.7	+19.3
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+17.6

General Election 1895: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Michael Biddulph	4,573	61.8	+9.0
	Liberal	A. Withy	2,828	38.2	-9.0
Majority			1,745	23.6	+18.0
Turnout				65.8
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+9.0

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Percy Archer Clive	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1906: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alan Coulston Gardner	4,497	51.8	n/a
	Liberal Unionist	Percy Archer Clive	4,185	48.2	n/a
Majority			312	3.6	n/a
Turnout				83.5	n/a
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	n/a

Ross by-election, 1908[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Percy Archer Clive	4,947	55.7	+7.5
	Liberal	Frederick Whitley Thomson	3,928	44.3	-7.5
Majority				11.4	15.0
Turnout				84.6
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.5

Elections in the 1910s

Harry Webb

General Election January 1910: Ross[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Percy Archer Clive	5,073	52.0
	Liberal	Henry Webb	4,678	48.0
Majority			395	4.0
Turnout				89.1
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Ross[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Percy Archer Clive	4,748	50.6	-1.4
	Liberal	Henry Webb	4,627	49.4	+1.4
Turnout			9,375	85.6	-3.5
Majority			121	1.2	-2.8
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-1.4

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: Percy Archer Clive
• Liberal: Clement Woodbine Parish

Ross by-election, 1918[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Thornton Pulley	3,260	64.6
	National Farmers Union of Scotland	*T. Percy Preece	1,784	35.4	n/a
Majority			1,476	29.2
Turnout				44.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-1.4

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 294. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918