Wellingborough and Rushden (UK Parliament constituency)

Wellingborough
Wellingborough
County constituency; for the House of Commons
	Boundary of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire
	Location of Northamptonshire within England
County	Northamptonshire
Electorate	78,313 (2018)
Major settlements	Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Irchester
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Peter Bone (Conservative)
Created from	East Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire

Wellingborough is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Peter Bone, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

This seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Political history

Wellingborough's earliest years were left-leaning. Between 1964 and 2005, the seat has kept on producing examples of bellwether results and rarely showed itself to be safe for more than one government term. Departing from this are two years where the result has defied the most common result nationwide, by leaning towards the Conservative Party, in 1974 (twice). Since 2010 it has become a safe seat for the conservatives.

In the 2016 EU referendum, Wellingborough voted 62.4% leave (25,679 votes) to 37.6% remain (15,462 votes)^[2]

Prominent frontbenchers

Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare was a Lloyd-Georgist National Liberal who served in junior minister roles through much of World War II including, briefly as the Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1940.

The lack of other senior positions is assisted by no majority having been gained by the winner which is in national terms generally shown to be insurmountable, see marginal seat.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Finedon, Irthlingborough, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, the Rural District of Wellingborough, and in the Rural District of Thrapston the parishes of Chelveston cum Caldecott, Hargrave, and Stanwick.

1950–1974: The Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Irthlingborough, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, the Rural District of Wellingborough, and in the Rural District of Oundle and Thrapston the civil parishes of Chelveston cum Caldecott and Hargrave.

1974–1983: The Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Irthlingborough, Oundle, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, and the Rural Districts of Oundle and Thrapston, and Wellingborough.

1983–2010: The Borough of Wellingborough, and the District of East Northamptonshire wards of Higham Ferrers, Rushden East, Rushden North, Rushden South, and Rushden West.

2010–present: The Borough of Wellingborough wards of Brickhill, Castle, Croyland, Finedon, Great Doddington and Wilby, Hemmingwell, Irchester, North, Queensway, Redwell East, Redwell West, South, Swanspool, and Wollaston, and the District of East Northamptonshire wards of Higham Ferrers, Rushden East, Rushden North, Rushden South, and Rushden West.

The constituency is named after the town of Wellingborough and covers most of the former Borough of Wellingborough local government district. The constituency also includes Rushden and Higham Ferrers, a small town in the neighbouring local government district of East Northamptonshire.

Higham Ferrers was itself a former borough constituency until its abolition as one of the rotten boroughs in 1832.

Constituency profile

Strengths in local industries here or in neighbouring Northampton and Kettering include in printing, logistics and distribution, automotive (assembly and design), construction, food processing and advanced engineering sectors. Despite this a decline in the traditional local industries such as quarrying, furniture making and textiles pushes workless claimants who were registered jobseekers in November 2012 higher than the national (and regional) average of 3.8%, at 4.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[3]

Members of Parliament

	Member^[4]	Party
1918	Walter Smith	Labour
1922	Geoffrey Shakespeare	National Liberal
1923	William Cove	Labour
1929	George Dallas	Labour
1931	Archibald James	Conservative
1945	George Lindgren	Labour
1959	Michael Hamilton	Conservative
1964	Harry Howarth	Labour
1969 by-election	Peter Fry	Conservative
1997	Paul Stinchcombe	Labour
2005	Peter Bone	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

2024 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Votes
	Conservative
	Labour
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
Majority
Turnout
		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Wellingborough^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	32,277	62.2	+4.8
	Labour	Andrea Watts	13,737	26.5	−7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanna Austin	4,078	7.9	+4.6
	Green	Marion Turner-Hawes	1,821	3.5	+1.7
Majority			18,540	35.7	+12.3
Turnout			51,913	64.3	−2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.15

2017 general election: Wellingborough^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	30,579	57.4	+5.3
	Labour	Andrea Watts	18,119	34.0	+14.5
	UKIP	Alan Shipham	1,804	3.4	−16.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Nelson	1,782	3.3	−1.1
	Green	Jonathan Hornett	956	1.8	−2.6
Majority			12,460	23.4	−9.1
Turnout			53,240	67.2	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.55

2015 general election: Wellingborough^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	26,265	52.1	+3.9
	UKIP	Jonathan Munday^[10]	9,868	19.6	+16.4
	Labour	Richard Garvie¹	9,839	19.5	−5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Nelson	2,240	4.4	−12.7
	Green	Marion-Turner-Hawes	2,218	4.4	+3.5
Majority			16,397	32.5	+9.7
Turnout			50,430	65.4	−1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.3

¹: After nominations were closed, Garvie was suspended from the Labour Party after he was convicted of fraud after buying £900 of train tickets with a closed bank account.^[11] He still appeared on ballot papers as Labour.

2010 general election: Wellingborough^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	24,918	48.2	+5.5
	Labour	Jayne Buckland	13,131	25.4	−16.0
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Barron	8,848	17.1	+5.6
	UKIP	Adrian Haynes	1,636	3.2	+0.9
	BNP	Rob Walker	1,596	3.1	New
	English Democrat	Terry Spencer	530	1.0	New
	Green	Jonathan Hornett	480	0.9	New
	TUSC	Paul Crofts	249	0.5	New
	Independent	Gary Donaldson	240	0.5	New
	Independent	Marcus Lavin	33	0.1	New
Majority			11,787	22.8	+21.5
Turnout			51,661	67.2	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.8

Elections in the 2000s

2005 general election: Wellingborough^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	22,674	42.8	+0.6
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	21,987	41.5	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Church	6,147	11.6	+2.3
	UKIP	James Wrench	1,214	2.3	+0.6
	Veritas	Nicholas Alex	749	1.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Andy Dickson	234	0.4	New
Majority			687	1.3	N/A
Turnout			53,005	66.5	+2.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+2.9

2001 general election: Wellingborough^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	23,867	46.8	+2.6
	Conservative	Peter Bone	21,512	42.2	−1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Gaskell	4,763	9.3	−0.1
	UKIP	Tony Ellwood	864	1.7	−0.4
Majority			2,355	4.6	+4.2
Turnout			51,006	64.1	−10.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1990s

1997 general election: Wellingborough^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	24,854	44.2	+10.3
	Conservative	Peter Fry	24,667	43.8	−9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Smith	5,279	9.4	−3.4
	UKIP	Tony Ellwood	1,192	2.1	New
	Natural Law	Annie Lorys	297	0.5	New
Majority			187	0.4	N/A
Turnout			56,289	74.8	−7.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

1992 general election: Wellingborough^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	32,302	53.4	+0.7
	Labour	Phil Sawford	20,486	33.9	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Trevor	7,714	12.8	−7.3
Majority			11,816	19.5	−6.0
Turnout			60,502	81.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1980s

1987 general election: Wellingborough^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	29,038	52.7	+3.8
	Labour	James Currie	14,968	27.2	+1.2
	Liberal	Leslie Stringer	11,047	20.1	−4.6
Majority			14,070	25.5	+2.6
Turnout			55,053
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

1983 general election: Wellingborough^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	25,715	48.9	−3.4
	Labour	John H. Mann	13,659	26.0	−8.9
	Liberal	L.E. Stringer	12,994	24.7	+12.9
	Independent	D.M.P. Garnett	228	0.4	+0.1
Majority			12,056	22.9	+5.5
Turnout			52,596
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 1970s

1979 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	37,812	52.3	+9.5
	Labour	D.A. Forwood	25,278	34.9	−5.3
	Liberal	L.E. Stringer	8,506	11.8	−5.2
	National Front	S.F. Wright	529	0.7	New
	Independent	D.M.P. Garnett	228	0.3	New
Majority			12,534	17.4	+14.8
Turnout			72,353	81.25	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.4

October 1974 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	29,078	42.8	+2.3
	Labour	John H. Mann	27,320	40.2	+2.9
	Liberal	Penelope Jessel	11,500	17.0	−3.9
Majority			1,758	2.6	−0.6
Turnout			67,898	79.61	−5.39
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

February 1974 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	29,099	40.5	−11.7
	Labour	John H. Mann	26,829	37.3	−10.5
	Liberal	Penelope Jessel	15,049	20.9	New
	Ind. Conservative	D.T. James	897	1.2	New
Majority			2,720	3.2	−1.3
Turnout			71,874	85.00	−1.34
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.6

1970 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	27,459	52.2	+4.6
	Labour	John H. Mann	25,107	47.8	−4.6
Majority			2,352	4.4	N/A
Turnout			52,566	81.34	−5.12
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.6

Elections in the 1960s

1969 Wellingborough by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Fry	22,548	54.4	+6.8
	Labour	John H. Mann	16,499	39.8	−7.8
	Independent	M.P. Coney	2,421	5.8	New
Majority			6,049	14.6	N/A
Turnout			41,468
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.3

1966 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Howarth	24,705	52.4	+10.1
	Conservative	John Lawson Leatham	22,472	47.6	+5.4
Majority			2,233	4.8	+4.7
Turnout			54,566	86.46	−0.6
	Labour hold		Swing

1964 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Howarth	19,592	42.26	−7.17
	Conservative	Michael Hamilton	19,545	42.16	−8.51
	Liberal	Philip Arthur John Pettit	7,227	15.59	New
Majority			47	0.10	N/A
Turnout			46,364	87.11
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

1959 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Hamilton	22,964	50.67	+1.61
	Labour	George Lindgren	22,358	49.33	−1.61
Majority			606	1.34	N/A
Turnout			45,322	86.72
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.61

1955 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Lindgren	22,745	51.04	−1.35
	Conservative	Arthur Jones	21,819	48.96	+1.35
Majority			926	2.08
Turnout			44,564	86.01
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.35

1951 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Lindgren	24,113	52.39	+5.29
	Conservative	F Richard Parsons	21,912	47.61	+19.15
Majority			2,201	4.78
Turnout			46,025	88.38
	Labour hold		Swing

1950 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Lindgren	21,640	47.10	−10.61
	Conservative	Jaspar Carlisle Sayer	13,075	28.46	−13.83
	Liberal	Edwin Malindine	11,227	24.44	New
Majority			8,565	18.64
Turnout			45,942	89.51
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Lindgren	22,416	57.71
	Conservative	Archibald James	16,426	42.29
Majority			5,990	15.42	N/A
Turnout			38,842	74.39
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

1935 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Archibald James	18,085	50.52
	Labour	George Dallas	17,713	49.48
Majority			372	1.04
Turnout			35,798	77.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

1931 general election: Wellingborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald James	22,127	61.02
	Labour	George Dallas	14,137	38.98
Majority			7,990	22.04	N/A
Turnout			36,264	81.24
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

1929 general election: Wellingborough ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Dallas	15,300	42.2	+2.2
	Liberal	Richard Pattinson Winfrey	11,255	31.0	+2.2
	Unionist	Archibald James	9,703	26.8	−4.4
Majority			4,045	11.2	+2.4
Turnout			36,258	83.3	−0.7
Registered electors			43,548
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.0

1924 general election: Wellingborough ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	11,381	40.0	−2.1
	Unionist	Ralph A Raphael	8,900	31.2	+5.8
	Liberal	Humphrey Mackworth Paul	8,223	28.8	−3.7
Majority			2,481	8.8	−0.8
Turnout			28,504	84.0	+4.1
Registered electors			33,934
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

1923 general election: Wellingborough ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	11,175	42.1	−0.3
	Liberal	Geoffrey Shakespeare	8,638	32.5	−25.1
	Unionist	Robert Massy-Dawson Sanders	6,747	25.4	New
Majority			2,537	9.6	N/A
Turnout			26,560	79.9	+0.5
Registered electors			33,226
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+12.4

1922 general election: Wellingborough ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Geoffrey Shakespeare	14,995	57.6	+10.1
	Labour	Walter Smith	11,057	42.4	−8.1
Majority			3,938	15.2	N/A
Turnout			26,052	79.4	+17.5
Registered electors			32,820
	National Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

1918 general election: Wellingborough^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Walter Smith	10,290	52.5
C	Liberal	Milner Gray	9,313	47.5
Majority			977	5.0
Turnout			19,603	61.9
Registered electors			31,669
	Labour win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Notes

^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

^ "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
^ "EU Referendum local results - W". BBC News.
^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
^ "Wellingborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b Wellingborough BBC News | Election 2010
^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ "Election 2015:Wellingborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
^ "UK Polling Report".
^ Francesca Gosling. "Labour's candidate for Wellingborough and Rushden Richard Garvie suspended after conviction for fraud". Nothampton Chronicle & Echo.
^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Sources

A history of Britain's parliamentary constituencies / edited by Jacques A. Arnold. The constituencies of the county of Northamptonshire..

52°18′N 0°42′W / 52.30°N 0.70°W / 52.30; -0.70

[2] A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

[3] As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

[1] "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.

[4] "EU Referendum local results - W". BBC News.

[5] Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian

[rayment-6] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)

[7] "Wellingborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.

[electoralcalculus2010-8] "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[auto-9] Wellingborough BBC News | Election 2010

[electoralcalculus-10] "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

[11] "Election 2015:Wellingborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.

[12] "UK Polling Report".

[13] Francesca Gosling. "Labour's candidate for Wellingborough and Rushden Richard Garvie suspended after conviction for fraud". Nothampton Chronicle & Echo.

[electoralcalculus2005-14] "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus2001-15] "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1997-16] "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1992-17] "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1987-18] "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[electoralcalculus1983-19] "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

[craig-20] Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

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v t e Borough of Wellingborough
Settlements	Bozeat Earls Barton Easton Maudit Ecton Finedon Great Doddington Great Harrowden Grendon Hardwick Irchester Isham Little Harrowden Little Irchester Mears Ashby Orlingbury Strixton Sywell Wilby Wellingborough & Redhill Grange Wollaston
Places of interest	Chester House Farm Harrowden Hall Irchester Country Park The Castle Theatre Wellingborough Museum
Constituencies	Wellingborough
Sport	Wellingborough Golf Club Wellingborough Rugby AFC Rushden & Diamonds Irchester United Wellingborough Whitworth Wellingborough Town
Transport	A45 road A509 road East Midlands Railway First Northampton Stagecoach Midlands Sywell Aerodrome Wellingborough railway station
Education	Friars Academy Sir Christopher Hatton Academy Tresham College Weavers Academy Wellingborough School Wrenn School Wollaston School
East Midlands England Portal WikiProject Northamptonshire United Kingdom Portal

v t e Constituencies in the East Midlands (47)
Labour (29)	Amber Valley Bassetlaw Bolsover Broxtowe Chesterfield Corby and East Northamptonshire Derby North Derby South Derbyshire Dales Erewash Gedling High Peak Kettering Leicester West Lincoln Loughborough Mansfield Mid Derbyshire North East Derbyshire North West Leicestershire Northampton North Northampton South Nottingham East Nottingham North and Kimberley Nottingham South Rushcliffe Sherwood Forest South Derbyshire Wellingborough and Rushden
Conservative (15)	Daventry Gainsborough Grantham and Bourne Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Hinckley and Bosworth Leicester East Louth and Horncastle Melton and Syston Mid Leicestershire Newark Rutland and Stamford Sleaford and North Hykeham South Holland and The Deepings South Leicestershire South Northamptonshire
Reform UK (2)	Ashfield Boston and Skegness
Independent (1)	Leicester South