Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Woodbridge
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Woodbridge
1885–1950
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Sudbury & Woodbridge
Created from	East Suffolk

Woodbridge was a county constituency centred on the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. It was then largely replaced by the new Sudbury & Woodbridge constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	1886	Robert Hamilton Lloyd-Anstruther	Conservative
	1892	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	1895	E. G. Pretyman	Conservative
	1906	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	Jan. 1910	Robert Francis Peel	Conservative
	1920	Sir Arthur Churchman, Bt	Conservative
	1929	Clavering Fison	Conservative
	1931	Walter Ross-Taylor	Conservative
	1945	Hon. John Hare	Conservative
1950		constituency abolished: see Sudbury and Woodbridge

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Woodbridge [1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	4,978		n/a
	Conservative	Lord Bendlesham	4,810		n/a
Majority			168		n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Woodbridge [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hamilton Lloyd-Anstruther	4,854
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	4,541
Majority			313
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Woodbridge [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	5,223
	Conservative	Robert Hamilton Lloyd-Anstruther	4,485
Majority			738
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

E.G. Pretyman

General Election 1895: Woodbridge [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest George Pretyman	5,410
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	4,778
Majority			632
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Woodbridge [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ernest George Pretyman	5,089
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	4,437
Majority			652
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1906: Woodbridge [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lacey Everett	5,527	50.8
	Conservative	Ernest George Pretyman	5,348	49.2
Majority			179	1.6
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Woodbridge [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Francis Peel	6,120
	Liberal	Charles Sydney Buxton	5,226
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election December 1910: Woodbridge [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Francis Peel	5,704	52.6
	Liberal	William Rowley Elliston	5,144	47.4
Majority				5.2
Turnout
	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: Robert Francis Peel
• Liberal: William Rowley Elliston

Robert Peel

General Election 1918: Woodbridge[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Col. Robert Francis Peel	8,654	55.8
	Liberal	Maj. William Rowley Elliston	6,842	44.2
Majority			1,812	11.6
Turnout				51.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

Woodbridge by-election, 1920[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Charles Churchman	9,898	53.2	-2.6
	Labour	Henry Devenish Harben	8,707	46.8	n/a
Majority			1,191	6.4
Turnout				61.4	+10.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1922: Woodbridge[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Charles Churchman	12,396	56.7	+3.5
	Labour	Edward John Cecil Neep	9,476	43.3	-3.5
Majority			2,920	13.4	+6.8
Turnout				69.1	+7.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.4

General Election 1923: Woodbridge[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Charles Churchman	10,606	46.7	-10.0
	Liberal	William Rowley Elliston	7,328	32.2	n/a
	Labour	Edward John Cecil Neep	4,810	21.1	-22.2
Majority			3,278	14.5	+1.1
Turnout				70.9	+1.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1924: Woodbridge[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Charles Churchman	13,419	54.9	+8.2
	Liberal	William Rowley Elliston	7,008	28.7	-3.5
	Labour	Sylvain Mayer	3,998	16.4	-4.7
Majority			6,411	26.2	+11.7
Turnout				74.3	+3.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.8

General Election 1929: Woodbridge[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frank Guy Clavering Fison	15,231	48.1	-6.8
	Liberal	Roger Thomas Baldwin Fulford	10,904	34.5	+5.8
	Labour	Leonard Spero	5,507	17.4	+1.0
Majority			4,327	13.6	-12.6
Turnout				73.3	-1.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-6.3

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Woodbridge[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Ross-Taylor	25,654	81.3	+33.2
	Labour	Ida Mary Nussey Keeble	5,885	18.7	+1.3
Majority			19,769	62.6	+49.0
Turnout				70.6	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1935: Woodbridge[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Ross-Taylor	22,715	72.1	-9.2
	Labour	A V Smith	8,808	27.9	+9.2
Majority			13,907	44.2	-18.4
Turnout				67.5	+4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.2

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;

• Conservative: Hon. John Hugh Hare
• Liberal: Douglas B Law^[17]
• Labour: J M Stewart^[18]

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Woodbridge[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lt-Col. Hon. John Hugh Hare	16,073	47.0	-25.1
	Labour	J M Stewart	11,380	33.3	+5.4
	Liberal	Capt. Douglas B Law	6,740	19.7	n/a
Majority
Turnout				71.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sources

1. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
2. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
5. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
8. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
11. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
17. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
18. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 395. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 469. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.