New Forest (UK Parliament constituency)

New Forest
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County	Hampshire
Major settlements	Ringwood, Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst, Fordingbridge
1950 (1950)–1997 (1997)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	New Forest West, New Forest East
Created from	New Forest and Christchurch
1885 (1885)–1918 (1918)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	New Forest and Christchurch

New Forest was a county constituency in Hampshire which elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was first created under the Redistribution of Seats Act for the 1885 general election, and was abolished for the 1918 general election, when it was partially replaced by the New Forest and Christchurch constituency.

The New Forest constituency was re-established for the 1950 general election, and existed until its abolition for the 1997 general election, when the New Forest East and New Forest West constituencies were created.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

Event		Member	Party
	1885	Francis Compton	Conservative
	1892	John Douglas-Scott-Montagu	Conservative
	1905 by-election	Henry Francis Compton	Conservative
	1906	Robert Hobart	Liberal
	1910 (Jan)	Walter Perkins	Conservative
	1918	constituency abolished: see New Forest & Christchurch

MPs 1950–1997

Event		Member	Party
	1950	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	Conservative
	1968 by-election	Patrick McNair-Wilson	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished; see New Forest East and New Forest West

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Patrick McNair-Wilson	37,986	62.4	-2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs JK Vernon-Jackson	17,581	28.9	+2.0
	Labour	MJ Shutler	4,989	8.2	-0.3
	Natural Law	Ms. FA Carter	350	0.6	+0.6
Majority			20,405	33.5	-4.3
Turnout			60,906	80.8	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	37,188	64.67
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	R Karn	15,456	26.88
	Labour	JI Hampton	4,856	8.45
Majority			21,732	37.79
Turnout				76.58
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	34,157	66.37
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	R Harrison	13,232	25.71
	Labour	DT James	4,075	7.92
Majority			8,509	21.93
Turnout				62.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	39,124	59.51
	Liberal	M Kyrle	13,674	20.80
	Labour	APV Whitehead	12,950	19.70
Majority			25,450	38.71
Turnout				77.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	28,778	49.65
	Liberal	A Hayes	15,355	26.49
	Labour	PJ Brushett	13,825	23.85
Majority			13,423	23.16
Turnout				74.20
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	30,567	48.92
	Liberal	A Hayes	19,185	30.70
	Labour	MVC Bailey	12,737	20.38
Majority			11,382	18.21
Turnout				80.70
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	36,041	60.13
	Labour	David Malcolm Offenbach	13,576	22.65
	Liberal	Peter Johnson	10,322	17.22
Majority			22,465	37.48
Turnout				71.85
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

New Forest by-election, 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick McNair-Wilson	28,025	66.27	+15.07
	Liberal	Nicholas Locock	8,430	19.93	-2.12
	Labour	Alan Reynard	5,836	13.80	-12.95
Turnout			42,291
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	27,292	51.20
	Labour	MH Jones	14,260	26.75
	Liberal	Nicholas Locock	11,757	22.05
Majority			13,032	24.45
Turnout			53,309	74.16%
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	27,884	53.31
	Labour	CB Kissen	12,924	24.71
	Liberal	Nicholas Locock	11,497	21.98
Majority			14,960	28.60
Turnout				75.84
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	29,949	68.67
	Labour	RC Mitchell	13,667	31.33
Majority			16,282	37.33
Turnout				73.98%
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	27,027	68.75
	Labour	HJ Barnes	12,285	31.25
Majority			14,742	37.50
Turnout				73.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	31,574	64.29
	Labour	AW White	17,537	35.71
Majority			8,717	13.99
Turnout				86.30
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: New Forest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	28,427	55.97
	Labour	AW White	15,986	31.47
	Liberal	H Fry	6,380	12.56
Majority			12,441	24.49
Turnout				81.58
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire