Multi member constituencies in the British Parliament

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Multi member constituencies in the British Parliament (and its predecessor bodies in the component parts of the United Kingdom) existed from the earliest era of elected representation in Parliament until the last of them were abolished in the United Kingdom general election, 1950. Since 1950, all members of the United Kingdom House of Commons have been elected from single member constituencies.

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[edit] Method of election

Three electoral systems have been used to return multiple members to Parliament.

[edit] Bloc vote

The original method and the one most commonly used was the bloc vote.

In multi-member elections under this system, electors could cast a vote for up to as many candidates as there were seats to be filled. The elector could not vote more than once for any candidate, but was free not to use all the possible votes. A single vote for only one of the candidates was known as a plumper, and was particularly valued by politicians.

At the close of the poll the leading candidates, with the largest number of votes (to the required number to fill the vacant seats), were declared elected.

This was a non-proportional election system, so it sufferred from the defect that an elector using all his votes might contribute to the defeat of the candidate he most preferred. It also was not a system which guaranteed minority representation, as a majority which voted solidly for candidates of one party could win all the seats.

An advantage of the system, at least from the point of view of politicians, was that it enabled different sections of a party or allied groups to work together in the same constituency. In the early and mid nineteenth century it was quite common for liberals in an area with two seats to support a left wing liberal Radical candidate and a right wing liberal Whig nominee. Similarly in the early twentieth century the Liberal Party and Labour Party found it easier to split the seats in the remaining two member constituencies than to share out single member divisions.

[edit] Limited vote

In 1868, the limited vote was introduced, which was similar to the bloc vote but restricted an individual elector in a three or four seat constituency to using up to one fewer vote than the number of seats to be filled.

The purpose of this innovation was to encourage minority representation and weaken political parties. In some areas, particularly the three member counties where rural elites were used to negotiating so as to minimise the number of contested elections, the reform worked as its proposers hoped. In some urban areas, the result was completely counterproductive.

Joseph Chamberlain and the Birmingham Liberal Caucus realised that by ensuring their supporters voted in a disciplined manner, as directed by the Caucus, they had enough support to win all three seats for the city. Instead of weakening party organisation, the limited vote strengthened it. Instead of providing guaranteed minority representation, the chance of it depended largely on how well the dominant local party organised itself.

When the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was being considered in 1884-85, the limited vote had little support. The redistribution eliminated the three and four member districts and the limited vote disappeared.

[edit] Single transferable vote

When Parliament debated the Fourth Reform Act in 1918 consideration was given to electoral reform. James Lowther was Chairman of the Speakers' Electoral Reform Conference in 1916–1917, of the Boundary Commissions (Great Britain and Ireland) in 1917, of the Royal Commission on Proportional Representation in 1918, all held before the legislation was introduced. There had been a call for the introducing of proportional representation in multi member seats, at least in major urban areas where constituencies would not have to cover very large areas. This was not a unanimous recommendation and some politicians wanted to introduce the alternative vote in single member seats.

The House of Lords and House of Commons were agreed that there should be some reform, but could not agree what. In the end, Speaker Lowther warned that if the dispute continued the whole bill would be lost. As a result of this, neither the alternative vote or the single transferable vote (STV) were introduced for territorial constituencies which continued to use the old electoral system.

However one part of the proportional representation scheme survived into the final Act of Parliament. The multi member University constituencies would elect their representatives by the single transferable vote.

As only one constituency had as many as three seats, the trial of STV was not very satisfactory, but it did loosen the traditional Conservative Party grip on most of the University seats and encouraged the election of Independents.

The University representation was abolished in 1950, so no members have since been elected on a proportional representation system.

[edit] Constituencies

Constituencies in the Parliament of England were enfranchised (or re-enfranchised in some cases centuries after they last returned members) according to the policy or whim of particular monarchs. By the start of the English Civil War only three of the English constituencies in the Unreformed House of Commons had not yet been enfranchised.

Under the Instrument of Government England (and Wales), Scotland and Ireland were all represented in the First Protectorate Parliament and Second Protectorate Parliament, using a novel scheme of constituencies represented by 1-13 members. The Third Protectorate Parliament reverted to the pre-war distribution (at least for the English members).

By 1660 England, Scotland and Ireland had all reverted to having individual Parliaments.

In the 1670s the last three English constituencies were enfranchised (one two member county and two two member boroughs). For the summary of the final composition of the Parliament of England see the English and Welsh parts of the tables below for 1708-1800 and 1801-1821.

In 1707 45 Scottish members were added to the existing Parliament of England, to form the Parliament of Great Britain. In the 1st Parliament of Great Britain the Scottish members were co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, but from 1708 the distribution of members was as set out in the Scottish section of the tables below. Notably all the Scottish seats before 1832 were single member constituencies.

In 1801 100 Irish members were added to the existing Parliament of Great Britain, to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In the First Parliament of the United Kingdom some of the Irish members (for constituencies reduced from two seats to one) were co-opted from the former Parliament of Ireland by drawing lots. For the counties and two boroughs (Cork and Dublin) which retained two seats both members continued after the Union.

[edit] Members of Parliament 1654-1658

Key to categories: EC - English constituencies, WC - Welsh constituencies, SC - Scottish constituencies, IC - Irish constituencies, EMP - English Members of Parliament, WMP - Welsh Members of Parliament, SMP - Scottish Members of Parliament, IMP - Irish Members of Parliament, Total MP - Total Members of Parliament.

Table 1: Constituencies by type

Type EC WC SC IC Total C EMP WMP SMP IMP Total MP
BC 104 2 9 6 121 131 2 10 6 149
CC 44 12 20 13 89 242 23 20 24 309
UC 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2
Total 150 14 29 19 212 375 25 30 30 460

Table 2: Constituencies, by number of seats

Type x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x8 x9 x10 x11 x13 Total C Total MP
BC 97 23 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 121 149
CC 23 28 4 12 7 4 2 1 4 3 1 89 309
UC 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Total 122 51 4 12 7 5 2 1 4 3 1 212 460

Notes: (1) Monmouthshire (3 county seats) included in England, not Wales. (2) Dublin City and County treated as a county constituency (2 seats).

[edit] Members of Parliament 1708-1800

Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament.

Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country

Country BC CC UC Total C BMP CMP UMP Total MPs
England 202 39 2 243 404 78 4 486
Wales 13 13 0 26 13 14 0 27
Scotland 15 30 0 45 15 30 0 45
Total 230 82 2 314 432 122 4 558

Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

Country BCx1 BCx2 BCx4 CCx1 CCx2 UCx2 Total C
England 4 196 2 0 39 0 243
Wales 13 0 0 12 1 0 26
Scotland 15 0 0 30 0 0 45
Total 32 196 2 42 40 2 314

[edit] Members of Parliament 1801-1821

Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament.

Monmouthshire (1 County constituency with 2 MPs and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.

Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country

Country BC CC UC Total C BMP CMP UMP Total MPs
England 202 39 2 243 404 78 4 486
Wales 13 13 0 26 13 14 0 27
Scotland 15 30 0 45 15 30 0 45
Ireland 33 32 1 66 35 64 1 100
Total 263 114 3 380 467 176 5 658

Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

Country BCx1 BCx2 BCx4 CCx1 CCx2 UCx1 UCx2 Total C
England 4 196 2 0 39 0 2 243
Wales 13 0 0 12 1 0 0 26
Scotland 15 0 0 30 0 0 0 45
Ireland 31 2 0 0 32 1 0 66
Total 63 198 2 42 72 1 2 380

[edit] List of multi member constituencies

This section excludes periods when a constituency only returned one member. The from date is the year from which the multi member constituency is known to have been regularly represented. The until date is the year when the constituency was either disenfranchised or ceased to have more than one member. It covers the Parliament of England, the Protectorate Parliament, the Parliament of Scotland, the Parliament of Ireland, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

In some cases there were earlier periods of enfranchisement in the Parliament of England but those before the sixteenth century are excluded from this list. In the English sub-list the 'Prot' column only covers the first two Protectorate Parliaments (1654-1658). The third Parliament in 1659 used the same seats as the 'Pre 1826' column.

At present only the number of seats by constituency for the last Parliament of Scotland before the Union have been identified. The multi member constituencies may well be much older.

[edit] Multi member constituencies in England

Constituency From Until <1826 Prot 1826 1832 1868 1885 1918
Aldborough 1558 1832 2 2 - - - -
Aldeburgh 1571 1832 2 2 - - - -
Amersham 1625 1832 2 - 2 - - - -
Andover 1586 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Appleby 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Arundel 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Ashburton 1640 1832 2 2 - - - -
Bere Alston 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Bishop's Castle 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Bletchingley 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Boroughbridge 1553 1832 2 2 - - - -
Bossiney 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Brackley 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Bramber 1467 1832 2 2 - - - -
Callington 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Camelford 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Castle Rising 1558 1832 2 2 - - - -
Cheshire 1545 1832 2 2 - - - -
Cheshire North 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Cheshire South 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Corfe Castle 1572 1832 2 2 - - - -
Cornwall 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Cumberland 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Dartmouth 1351 1832 2 2 - - - -
Derbyshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Devon 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Downton 1467 1832 2 2 - - - -
Dunwich 1298 1832 2 2 - - - -
Durham (County) 1675 1832 2 2 - - - -
East Grinstead 1307 1832 2 3 - - - -
East Looe 1571 1832 2 2 - - - -
Essex 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Essex North 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Fowey 1571 1832 2 2 - - - -
Gatton 1450 1832 2 2 - - - -
Gloucestershire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Grampound 1547 1821 2 - - - - -
Great Bedwyn 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Great Yarmouth 1298 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Hampshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Haslemere 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Hedon 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Heytesbury 1449 1832 2 2 - - - -
Hindon 1449 1832 2 2 - - - -
Honiton 1640 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Ilchester 1621 1832 2 2 - - - -
Kent 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Lancashire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Lancashire South 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Lancaster 1523 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Leicestershire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Lincolnshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
London (City of) 1298 1950 4 6 4 4 4 2 2
Lostwithiel 1305 1832 2 2 - - - -
Ludgershall 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Lyme Regis 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Milborne Port 1628 1832 2 2 - - - -
Minehead 1563 1832 2 2 - - - -
Mitchell 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
New Romney 1371 1832 2 2 - - - -
Newport (Cornwall) 1529 1832 2 2 - - - -
Newton (Lancashire) 1559 1832 2 2 - - - -
Newtown (Isle of Wight) 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Norfolk 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Norfolk East 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Northamptonshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Northumberland 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Nottinghamshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Okehampton 1640 1832 2 2 - - - -
Old Sarum 1360 1832 2 2 - - - -
Orford 1512 1832 2 2 - - - -
Plympton Erle 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
Queenborough 1571 1832 2 2 - - - -
Reigate 1295 1832 2 2 - - - -
St Albans 1553 1852 2 2 2 - - -
St Germains 1563 1832 2 2 - - - -
St Mawes 1563 1832 2 2 - - - -
Saltash 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Seaford 1641 1832 2 2 - - - -
Shropshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Somerset 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Staffordshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Staffordshire South 1832 1868 - - - 2 - - -
Steyning 1467 1832 2 2 - - - -
Stockbridge 1563 1832 2 2 - - - -
Sudbury 1559 1844 2 2 2 - - -
Suffolk 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Surrey 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Sussex 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Thetford 1529 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Totnes 1295 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Tregony 1559 1832 2 2 - - - -
Warwickshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Wells 1295 1868 2 2 2 - - -
Wendover 1625 1832 2 2 - - - -
Weobley 1628 1832 2 2 - - - -
West Looe 1547 1832 2 2 - - - -
Yorkshire 1572 1832 4 4 2 2 - -
Whitchurch 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Wiltshire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Winchelsea 1366 1832 2 2 - - - -
Wootton Bassett 1447 1832 2 2 - - - -
Worcestershire 1290 1832 2 2 - - - -
Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) 1584 1832 2 2 - - - -
Yorkshire 1290 1832 2 4 - - - -
Yorkshire West Riding 1832 1865 - - - 2 - - -

[edit] See Also

[edit] References

  • British Electoral Facts 1832-1987, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1989)
  • The Constitutional Year Book 1900 (William Blackstone & Sons 1900) out of copyright
  • Electoral Reform in England and Wales, by Charles Seymour (David & Charles Reprints 1970) originally published in 1915, so out of copyright
  • The Statutes: Second Revised Edition, Vol. XVI 1884-1886 (printed by authority in 1900)
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