Northwich (UK Parliament constituency)

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Northwich
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Northwich in Cheshire, boundaries 1974-83
CountyCheshire
1885–1983
Seatsone
Created fromMid Cheshire and West Cheshire
Replaced byEddisbury and Tatton[1]

Northwich was a constituency in Cheshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

History[edit]

Northwich was first created as one of eight single-member divisions of Cheshire under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

It was abolished following the reorganisation of local authorities in 1974 by the Third Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for the 1983 general election, when it was divided roughly equally between the re-established constituency of Eddisbury and the new constituency of Tatton.

Boundaries[edit]

1885–1918: The Sessional Division of Runcorn, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Eddisbury, Leftwich and Northwich.[2]

Comprised the towns of Runcorn, Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich, and surrounding rural areas.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Middlewich, Northwich, Runcorn, Sandbach and Winsford, and parts of the Rural Districts of Congleton, Northwich and Runcorn.[3]

Sandbach transferred from Crewe.

1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Middlewich, Northwich and Winsford, and the Rural Districts of Northwich and Tarvin.[4]

Gained the Rural District of Tarvin from the additional parts of the Rural District of Northwich from the abolished constituency of Eddisbury. Sandbach and the part of the Rural District of Congleton transferred to Knutsford, and Runcorn (including the part of the rural district thereof) transferred to the new constituency of Runcorn.

1955–1983: The Urban District of Northwich, and parts of the Rural Districts of Northwich and Tarvin.[4]

Middlewich, Winsford, the southern part of the Rural District of Tarvin and a small part of the Rural District of Northwich transferred to the new constituency of Nantwich.

From 1 April 1974 until the constituency was abolished at the next boundary review which came into effect for the 1983 general election, the constituency was primarily situated in the newly formed District of Vale Royal, but its boundaries were unchanged.

On abolition, Northwich and eastern areas were included in the new constituency of Tatton. Cuddington, Weaverham and western areas included in the re-established constituency of Eddisbury.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election Member Party
1885 John Brunner Liberal
1886 Robert Verdin Liberal Unionist
1887 by-election Sir John Brunner Liberal
Jan 1910 Sir John Brunner II Liberal
1918 Harry Dewhurst Coalition Conservative
1922 Lord Colum Crichton-Stuart Conservative
1945 Sir John Foster Conservative
Feb 1974 Alastair Goodlad Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 1880s[edit]

John Brunner
General election 1885: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 5,023 55.7
Conservative William Henry Verdin [6] 3,995 44.3
Majority 1,028 11.4
Turnout 9,018 85.3
Registered electors 10,577
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Robert Verdin 4,416 52.7 +8.4
Liberal John Brunner 3,958 47.3 −8.4
Majority 458 5.4 N/A
Turnout 8,374 79.2 −6.1
Registered electors 10,577
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +8.4

Verdin's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 13 Aug 1887: Northwich[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 5,112 56.2 +8.9
Liberal Unionist Henry Grosvenor 3,983 43.8 −8.9
Majority 1,129 12.4 N/A
Turnout 9,095 83.7 +4.5
Registered electors 10,868
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +8.9

Elections in the 1890s[edit]

George Whiteley
General election 1892: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 5,580 56.3 +9.0
Conservative George Whiteley 4,325 43.7 −9.0
Majority 1,255 12.6 N/A
Turnout 9,905 84.3 +5.1
Registered electors 11,750
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +9.0
General election 1895: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 5,706 58.4 +2.1
Conservative Thomas Ward 4,068 41.6 −2.1
Majority 1,638 16.8 +4.2
Turnout 9,774 82.9 −1.4
Registered electors 11,788
Liberal hold Swing +2.1

Elections in the 1900s[edit]

General election 1900: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 5,377 53.5 −4.9
Conservative Charles Leopold Samson [7] 4,678 46.5 +4.9
Majority 699 7.0 −9.8
Turnout 10,055 83.3 +0.4
Registered electors 12,067
Liberal hold Swing −4.9
General election 1906: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 6,343 58.2 +4.7
Liberal Unionist Bordrigge North [8] 4,551 41.8 −4.7
Majority 1,792 16.4 +9.4
Turnout 10,894 87.0 +3.7
Registered electors 12,527
Liberal hold Swing +4.7

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

Brunner
General election January 1910: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 6,661 54.6 −3.6
Liberal Unionist Charles Williams 5,542 45.4 +3.6
Majority 1,119 9.2 −7.2
Turnout 12,203 91.1 +4.1
Registered electors 13,389
Liberal hold Swing −3.6
General election December 1910: Northwich [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Brunner 6,071 51.4 −3.2
Conservative Julius John Jersey de Knoop 5,740 48.6 +3.2
Majority 331 2.8 −6.4
Turnout 11,811 88.2 −2.9
Registered electors 13,389
Liberal hold Swing −3.2

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 from 1914 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1918: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Harry Dewhurst 15,444 61.4 +12.8
Liberal John Brunner 9,723 38.6 −12.8
Majority 5,721 22.8 N/A
Turnout 25,167 64.1 −24.1
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +12.8
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s[edit]

General election 1922: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Colum Crichton-Stuart 15,454 54.2 -7.2
Labour John Williams 13,066 45.8 New
Majority 2,388 8.4 -14.4
Turnout 28,520 71.6 +7.5
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1923: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Colum Crichton-Stuart 11,835 38.5 -15.7
Liberal Arthur Mort 9,765 31.7 New
Labour John Williams 9,183 29.8 -16.0
Majority 2,070 6.8 -1.6
Turnout 30,783 76.1 +4.5
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1924: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Colum Crichton-Stuart 14,545 43.2 +4.7
Labour Barbara Ayrton-Gould 11,630 34.6 +4.8
Liberal Arthur Mort 7,465 22.2 -9.5
Majority 2,915 8.6 +1.8
Turnout 33,640 80.7 +4.6
Unionist hold Swing 0.0
General election 1929: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Colum Crichton-Stuart 15,477 34.3 -8.9
Labour Barbara Ayrton-Gould 15,473 34.3 -0.3
Liberal John Barlow 14,163 31.4 +9.2
Majority 4 0.0 -8.6
Turnout 45,113 83.6 +2.9
Unionist hold Swing -4.3

Elections in the 1930s[edit]

General election 1931: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colum Crichton-Stuart 30,061 65.6 +31.3
Labour Barbara Ayrton-Gould 15,746 34.4 +0.1
Majority 14,315 31.2 +31.2
Turnout 45,807 82.8 -3.8
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1935: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Colum Crichton-Stuart 24,316 54.5 -11.1
Labour Thomas Reid 20,289 46.5 +12.1
Majority 4,027 9.0 -22.2
Turnout 44,605 77.9 -4.9
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s[edit]

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1945: Northwich[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 20,198 41.4 -13.1
Labour Robert Chorley 20,183 41.3 -5.2
Liberal Felix Brunner 8,460 17.3 New
Majority 15 0.1 -8.9
Turnout 48,841 78.1 -1.8
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s[edit]

General election 1950: Northwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 25,144 48.4 +7.0
Labour Charles Mapp 19,886 38.2 -3.1
Liberal Walter Norman Leak 6,989 13.4 -3.9
Majority 5,258 10.2 +10.1
Turnout 52,019 87.7 +9.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1951: Northwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 29,375 56.8 +8.4
Labour Robert Patrick Walsh 22,300 43.2 +5.0
Majority 7,075 13.6 +3.4
Turnout 51,675 83.7 -4.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: Northwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 20,697 59.4 +2.6
Labour Derek Page 14,142 40.6 -2.6
Majority 6,555 18.8 +5.2
Turnout 34,889 79.7 -4.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Northwich [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 20,396 54.5 -4.9
Labour John Crawford 12,426 33.2 -7.4
Liberal Richard Eric Lewis 4,602 12.3 New
Majority 7,970 21.3 +2.5
Turnout 37,424 84.5 +4.8
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s[edit]

General election 1964: Northwich [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 17,277 47.4 -7.1
Labour John Crawford 12,892 35.3 +2.1
Liberal Geoff Tordoff 6,331 17.3 New
Majority 4,385 12.1 -9.2
Turnout 36,500 83.0 -1.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Northwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 16,483 45.1 -2.3
Labour Barry Jones 15,780 43.1 +7.8
Liberal Douglas Bedford Taylor 4,310 11.8 -5.5
Majority 703 2.0 -10.1
Turnout 36,573 82.3 -0.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s[edit]

General election 1970: Northwich [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Foster 20,366 51.3 +6.2
Labour Alfred Bates 15,746 39.6 -3.5
Liberal Thomas Noel Armstrong 3,604 9.1 -2.7
Majority 4,620 11.7 +9.7
Turnout 39,716 78.5 -3.8
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Northwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alastair Goodlad 19,778 45.36
Labour Co-op S. G. Benyon 13,485 30.92
Liberal R. Reaper 10,344 23.72
Majority 6,293 14.44
Turnout 43,607 83.68
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Northwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alastair Goodlad 18,663 45.12
Labour Peter Kent 14,053 33.98
Liberal D Reaper 8,645 20.90
Majority 4,610 11.14
Turnout 41,361 78.59
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Northwich
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alastair Goodlad 23,201 52.77
Labour PA Kent 14,455 32.88
Liberal G Little 6,311 14.35
Majority 8,746 19.89
Turnout 43,967 80.88
Conservative hold Swing

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'Northwich', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. ^ Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  3. ^ Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the people act, 1918 : with explanatory notes. University of California Libraries. London : Sweet and Maxwell.
  4. ^ a b Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
  6. ^ VERDIN, William Henry’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 1 Oct 2017
  7. ^ ‘SAMSON, Charles Leopold’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 1 Oct 2017
  8. ^ ‘NORTH, Brig.-Gen. Bordrigge North’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 1 Oct 2017
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  10. ^ a b c d e British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  11. ^ a b F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
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