Accrington (UK Parliament constituency)

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Accrington
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County Lancashire
1918 (1918)–1983 (1983)
Number of members One
Replaced by Hyndburn
1885 (1885)–1918 (1918)
Number of members One
Type of constituency County constituency

Accrington was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Contents

[edit] History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. The original county constituency was replaced by a borough constituency for the 1918 general election. The constituency was based on the town of Accrington.

From the 1983 general election the constituency was abolished. The successor seat was Hyndburn, named after the local government area including the town of Accrington. 85.5% of the new seat came from the former Accrington constituency.

[edit] Boundaries

This constituency was part of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England.

[edit] 1885–1918

The constituency, officially named North East Lancashire, Accrington Division consisted of the Municipal Borough of Accrington, and the parishes of Altham, Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Hapton, Huncoat, Oswaldtwistle, and Rishton.[1]

Neighbouring constituencies were Blackburn to the south west and Burnley to the north east and Darwen to the north. Accrington also had short boundaries with Clitheroe at both its north and east borders and Rossendale to the south and south east.

[edit] 1918–1983

The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised constituencies throughout Great Britain. Constituencies were defined in terms of the districts created by the Local Government Act 1894.

The Parliamentary Borough of Accrington consisted of the Municipal Borough of Accrington and the Urban Districts of Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Oswaldtwistle, and Rishton. The three parishes of Altham, Hapton and Huncoat passed to the Clitheroe constituency.[2]

The Representation of the People Act 1948 replaced the term "parliamentary borough" with "borough constituency". The Accrington Borough Constituency was defined in the same terms as in the 1918 legislation. However there were boundary changes reflecting local government changes in the 1930s: the Huncoats area rejoined the constituency as the parish had been absorbed by the Borough of Accrington, while an enlargement of the county borough of Blackburn took away part of Rishton.[3] These boundaries were first used in the 1950 general election.

[edit] Abolition

In 1974 local government in England and Wales was reorganised. However parliamentary boundaries were not altered until 1983. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 created new constituencies based on the new districts. A new Hyndburn Borough Constituency was formed. The new seat included the whole of the Accrington constituency with the addition of Altham and Great Harwood.[4]

[edit] Member of Parliament

Election Member Party
1885 Frederick William Grafton Liberal
1886 Robert Hodge Conservative
1892 Sir Joseph Francis Leese Liberal
1910 Harold Trevor Baker Liberal
1918 Ernest Gray Coalition Conservative
1922 Charles Roden Buxton Labour
1923 John Hugh Edwards 1 Liberal
1924 Constitutionalist
1924 Liberal
1929 Tom Snowden Labour
1931 Henry Adam Procter Conservative
1945 Walter Scott-Elliot Labour
1950 Henry Hynd Labour
1966 Arthur Davidson Labour
1983 constituency abolished - see Hyndburn

Note:-

  • 1 Edwards contested the 1924 election as a Constitutionalist, with Liberal and Conservative support, but he took the Liberal Whip in the 1924-1929 Parliament.

[edit] Election results

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election 3 May 1979:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 10 October 1974:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 28 February 1974:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 18 June 1970:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Elections in the 1960s

General Election 31 March 1966:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 15 October 1964:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Elections in the 1950s

General Election 8 October 1959:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
Labour
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 26 May 1955:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
Labour
Majority
Turnout
General Election 25 October 1951:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Majority
Turnout
General Election 23 February 1950:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Election in the 1940s

General Election 5 to 19 July 1945:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Election in the 1930s

General Election 14 November 1935:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 27 October 1931:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Elections in the 1920s

General Election 30 May 1929:

Parliamentary Borough of Accrington
Composed of the Municipal Borough of Accrington, Urban Districts of Church, Clayton le Moors, Oswaldtwistle and Rishton
Electorate 54,591, Turnout 88.8%,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tom Snowden 25,336 52.3
Liberal John Hugh Edwards 23,110 47.7
Majority 2,226 4.6
Labour gain from Constitutionalist
General Election 29 October 1924:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 6 December 1923:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
General Election 15 November 1922:

constituency of
Composed of the wards of
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] Election in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918:

constituency of Accrington
Composed of the wards of Accrington Metropolitan Borough, Church Urban District,
Clayton-le-Moor Urban District, Oswaldtwistle Urban District and Rishton Urban District
Electorate , Turnout %,
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout

[edit] References

  1. ^ Seventh Schedule: Counties at Large, Part I: England, Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (C.23)
  2. ^ Ninth Schedule, Part 1(2): Parliamentary Boroughs, England excluding London and Monmouthshire, Representation of the People Act, 1918 (C.64)
  3. ^ F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II: Northern England, London, 1991
  4. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983 No. 417)

[edit] Sources

  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
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