Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newbury County constituency |
|
---|---|
Newbury shown within Berkshire, and Berkshire shown within England | |
Created: | 1885 |
MP: | Richard Benyon |
Party: | Conservative |
Type: | House of Commons |
County: | Berkshire |
EP constituency: | South East England |
Newbury is a United Kingdom House of Commons constituency consisting of Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and a large part of the surrounding area of West Berkshire. To the east, parts of West Berkshire have been incorporated into the Wokingham or Reading West constituencies. It is part of the South East region of England.
It is currently represented by Richard Benyon, Conservative, who won the seat in the 2005 general election from David Rendel of the Liberal Democrats.
[edit] Boundaries
As West Berkshire is a unitary authority and not a county, as is the rest of Berkshire, the Boundary Commission treats Berkshire as a whole, they are not constrained by the borders of West Berkshire.
The Boundary Commission's current recommendation is to move the Sulhamstead ward from the Newbury constituency to Wokingham. Currently the ward is split between the two.
The constituencies bordering Newbury (clockwise from north) are: Wantage, Henley, Reading West, Wokingham, Basingstoke, North West Hampshire, and Devizes.
[edit] History
Originally, Newbury was part of a larger constituency of Berkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), increased to three in the Reform Act of 1832. In the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 Berkshire (excluding Reading) was divided into three parts, Northern (Abingdon), Southern (Newbury), and Eastern (Wokingham), returning one member each. Furthermore, there was included a borough constituency for Reading which also returned one MP.
For the European Parliament elections, between 1974 and 1984 Newbury was placed in the Upper Thames constituency, between 1984 and 1994 it was placed in the Wiltshire constituency, and then in the 1994 election it was in the Hampshire North and Oxford European Parliament constituency. Since 1994 Newbury has formed part of the South East England constituency elected with a form of proportional representation.
[edit] Members of Parliament
Over the course of the constituency's history there have been eleven different Members of Parliament. Of those, all but three have been Conservatives. The total period served by either a Liberal or Liberal Democrat MP is 17 years, Conservative MPs have served for the remaining 103 years.
An incumbent MP has been defeated just four times, in the elections of 1906, 1923, 1924, and finally in 2005.
The longest serving MP was Howard Clifton Brown who was MP for two periods, the first lasting one year and the second lasting twenty one years, making a total of twenty two years as an MP.
Year | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1885 | William George Mount | Conservative | |
1900 | William Arthur Mount | Conservative | |
1906 | Frederick Coleridge Mackarness | Liberal | |
1910 | William Arthur Mount | Conservative | |
1922 | Howard Clifton Brown | Conservative | |
1923 | Innes Harold Stranger | Liberal | |
1924 | Howard Clifton Brown | Conservative | |
1945 | Anthony Hurd | Conservative | |
1964 | John Astor | Conservative | |
1974 | Michael McNair-Wilson | Conservative | |
1992 | Judith Chaplin | Conservative | |
1993 | David Rendel | Liberal Democrat | |
2005 | Richard Benyon | Conservative |
[edit] Elections
[edit] Elections in the 2000s
- General election of 2005
In the UK general election of 2005 David Rendel's small majority was overturned by Richard Benyon for the Conservative Party. It was their 30th target seat.
General Election 2005: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Richard Benyon | 26,771 | 49.0 | +5.5 | |
Liberal Democrat | David Rendel | 23,311 | 42.6 | −5.6 | |
Labour | Oscar Van Nooijen | 3,239 | 5.9 | −1.0 | |
UK Independence | David McMahon | 857 | 1.6 | +0.3 | |
Independent | Nick Cornish | 409 | 0.7 | ||
Independent | Barrie Singleton | 86 | 0.2 | ||
Majority | 3,460 | 6.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 54,673 | 72.0 | +4.7 | ||
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat | Swing |
- General election of 2001
The 2001 general election saw David Rendel returned with a smaller majority of 2 415. Turnout was above average at 67.3%.
General Election 2001: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal Democrat | David Rendel | 24,507 | 48.2 | −4.7 | |
Conservative | Richard Benyon | 22,092 | 43.5 | +5.7 | |
Labour | Steve Billcliffe | 3,523 | 6.9 | +1.4 | |
UK Independence | Delphine Gray-Fisk | 685 | 1.4 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 2,415 | 4.8 | −10.3 | ||
Turnout | 50,807 | 67.3 | −9.0 | ||
Liberal Democrat hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1990s
General election of 1997 In the 1997 general election, contrary to many expectations, David Rendel managed to keep a hold of his seat.
General Election 1997: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal Democrat | David Rendel | 29,887 | 52.9 | +15.8 | |
Conservative | Richard Benyon | 21,370 | 37.8 | -18.1 | |
Labour | Paul Hannon | 3,107 | 5.5 | -0.6 | |
Referendum Party | Ted Snook | 992 | 1.8 | ||
Green | Rachel Stark | 644 | 1.1 | ||
UK Independence | R Tubb | 302 | 0.5 | ||
Socialist Labour | Katrina Howse | 174 | 0.3 | ||
Majority | 8,517 | 15.1 | −23.1 | ||
Turnout | 56,476 | 76.3 | +5.0 | ||
Liberal Democrat hold | Swing |
- Newbury by-election of 1993
The Newbury by-election of 1993 was held after Judith Chaplin died. It was won by David Rendel with an impressive swing of 27.8%. However, turnout was down on the previous year at 71.3%. The by-election in Newbury was the first in a string of by-election losses for the Conservative Party. It is also famed for having a very long ballot paper.
This table shows the top ten candidates in the by-election, for the full results see the main article.
By-election 1993: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal Democrat | David Rendel | 37,590 | 65.1 | +27.8 | |
Conservative | Julian Davidson | 15,535 | 26.9 | −29.0 | |
Labour | Steve Billcliffe | 1,151 | 2.0 | −4.0 | |
Anti-Federalist League | Alan Sked | 601 | 1.0 | ||
Conservative Candidate | Andrew Bannon | 561 | 1.0 | ||
Commoners' Party | Stephen Martin | 435 | 0.8 | ||
Monster Raving Loony | Screaming Lord Sutch | 432 | 0.7 | ||
Green | Jim Wallis | 341 | 0.6 | −0.2 | |
Referendum Party | Robin Marlar | 338 | 0.6 | ||
Conservative Rebel | John Browne | 267 | 0.5 | ||
Majority | 22,055 | 38.2 | |||
Turnout | 57,399 | 71.3 | −11.46 | ||
Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative | Swing |
- General election of 1992
In the 1992 general election the new Conservative Party candidate won the seat with an absolute majority. The turnout was 82.76%, higher than the nationwide average. Labour achieved their fifth worst result of the 1992 election in Newbury with only a 6.0% share of the vote.
General Election 1992: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Judith Chaplin | 37,135 | 55.9 | −4.2 | |
Liberal Democrat | David Rendel | 24 778 | 37.3 | +5.6 | |
Labour | Richard J E Hall | 3,962 | 6.0 | −2.1 | |
Green | Jim Wallis | 539 | 0.8 | ||
Majority | 12,357 | 18.6 | −9.8 | ||
Turnout | 66,414 | 82.8 | +4.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1980s
- General election of 1987
General Election 1987: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Michael McNair-Wilson | 35,266 | 60.1 | +0.8 | |
SDP-Liberal Alliance (Liberal) | David Rendel | 18,608 | 31.7 | −3.3 | |
Labour | Robert Stapley | 4,765 | 8.1 | +2.5 | |
Majority | 16,658 | 28.4 | +4.1 | ||
Turnout | 58,639 | 78.0 | +2.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1983
General Election 1983: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Michael McNair-Wilson | 31,836 | 59.3 | +6.2 | |
SDP-Liberal Alliance (Liberal) | Anthony Richards | 18,798 | 35.0 | −1.0 | |
Labour | Richard Knight | 3,027 | 5.6 | −5.2 | |
Majority | 13,038 | 24.3 | +7.2 | ||
Turnout | 53,661 | 75.2 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1970s
- General election of 1979
General Election 1979: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Michael McNair-Wilson | 33,677 | 52.8 | +10.4 | |
Liberal | Anthony Richards | 23,388 | 36.7 | −3.9 | |
Labour | Joan Ruddock | 6,676 | 10.5 | −6.2 | |
Majority | 10,289 | 16.1 | +14.3 | ||
Turnout | 63,741 | 79.3 | +3.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of October 1974
After the 1970 general election, Newbury's boundary's were altered to reduce the size of the electorate which had grown to over 85,000. After the boundary changes, the electorate numbered around 72,000 people. This came into effect for the first general election in February 1974.
General Election October 1974: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Michael McNair-Wilson | 23,499 | 42.4 | +0.1 | |
Liberal | Dane Clouston | 22,477 | 40.6 | +0.3 | |
Labour | Celia Fletcher | 9,390 | 16.7 | −0.6 | |
Majority | 1,022 | 1.8 | −0.2 | ||
Turnout | 55,366 | 76.3 | −4.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of February 1974
General Election February 1974: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Michael McNair-Wilson | 24,620 | 42.4 | ||
Liberal | Dane Clouston | 23,419 | 40.3 | +19.0 | |
Labour | Celia Fletcher | 10,935 | 17.3 | ||
Majority | 1,201 | 2.1 | |||
Turnout | 58,974 | 80.8 | +8.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1970
General Election 1970: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | John Astor | 30,380 | 48.8 | +3.5 | |
Labour | Timothy Sims | 18,647 | 29.9 | −8.1 | |
Liberal | Dane Clouston | 13,279 | 21.3 | +4.6 | |
Majority | 11,733 | 18.8 | +11.6 | ||
Turnout | 55,392 | 72.6 | −6.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1960s
- General election of 1966
General Election 1966: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | John Astor | 25,908 | 45.3 | −0.1 | |
Labour | Ronald Spiller | 21,762 | 38.0 | +3.6 | |
Liberal | Stanley Clement Davies | 9,571 | 16.7 | −3.5 | |
Majority | 4,146 | 7.2 | −3.7 | ||
Turnout | 57,241 | 79.1 | −0.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1964
General Election 1964: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | John Astor | 24,936 | 45.3 | -14.6 | |
Labour | David Stoddart | 18,943 | 34.4 | +5.5 | |
Liberal | Denis Egginton | 11,124 | 20.2 | ||
Majority | 5,993 | 10.9 | −9.1 | ||
Turnout | 55,003 | 79.3 | +0.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1950s
- General election of 1959
General Election 1959: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Anthony Hurd | 29,703 | 60.0 | +2.0 | |
Labour | David Stoddart | 19,787 | 40.0 | −2.0 | |
Majority | 9,916 | 20.0 | +4.0 | ||
Turnout | 49,490 | 78.7 | +0.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1955
General Election 1955: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Anthony Hurd | 29,703 | 58.1 | −1.7 | |
Labour | Jon Evans | 18,843 | 41.9 | +1.7 | |
Majority | 7,237 | 16.0 | −3.6 | ||
Turnout | 48,546 | 78.3 | −0.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1951
General Election 1951: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Anthony Hurd | 20,102 | 59.8 | +7.0 | |
Labour | Colin Jackson | 13,507 | 40.2 | +5.5 | |
Majority | 6,595 | 19.6 | +1.5 | ||
Turnout | 33,609 | 78.7 | −2.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1950
General Election 1950: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Anthony Hurd | 18,150 | 52.8 | ||
Labour | Colin Jackson | 11,914 | 34.7 | ||
Liberal | E. Burrows | 4,284 | 12.5 | ||
Majority | 6,236 | 18.1 | |||
Turnout | 34,348 | 81.1 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1940s
- General election of 1945
General Election 1945: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Anthony Hurd | 24,463 | 52.4 | −20.6 | |
Labour | Mrs I. Brook | 15,754 | 33.7 | +6.7 | |
Liberal | E. D. T. Vane | 6,052 | 13.0 | +13.0 | |
Common Wealth | George Suggett | 424 | 0.9 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 8,709 | 18.7 | −27.3 | ||
Turnout | 46,693 | 65.4 | −0.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1930s
- General election of 1935
General Election 1935: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Howard Clifton Brown | 24,642 | 73.0 | ||
Labour | Richard Russell | 9,125 | 27.0 | ||
Majority | 15,517 | 46.0 | |||
Turnout | 33,767 | 65.5 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1931
In the 1931 general election, Howard Clifton Brown of the Conservative Party was re-elected unopposed.
[edit] Elections in the 1920s
- General election of 1929
General Election 1929: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Howard Clifton Brown | 17,800 | 51.0 | −4.9 | |
Liberal | E. H. Brooks | 13,604 | 39.0 | −0.5 | |
Labour | F. M. Jacques | 3,471 | 10.0 | +5.4 | |
Majority | 4,196 | 12.0 | −4.4 | ||
Turnout | 34,875 | 78.3 | −2.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1924
General Election 1924: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Howard Clifton Brown | 14,759 | 55.90 | +6 | |
Liberal | Innes Harold Stranger | 10,444 | 39.50 | −10.6 | |
Labour | F. M. Jacques | 1,219 | 4.60 | +4.60 | |
Majority | 4,315 | 16.40 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 26,422 | 80.90 | +9.6 | ||
Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing |
- General election of 1923
General Election 1923: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | Innes Harold Stranger | 11,226 | 50.1 | +7.5 | |
Conservative | Howard Clifton Brown | 11,185 | 49.9 | −7.5 | |
Majority | 41 | 0.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 22,411 | 71.3 | +1.6 | ||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +7.5 |
- General election of 1922
General Election 1922: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Howard Clifton Brown | 12,322 | 57.4 | ||
Liberal | Innes Harold Stranger | 9,144 | 42.6 | ||
Majority | 3,178 | 14.8 | |||
Turnout | 21,466 | 69.7 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- Newbury by-election of 1922
The by-election of June 10, 1922 saw Howard Clifton Brown returned as Newbury's MP unopposed.
[edit] Elections in the 1910s
- General election of 1918
The 1918 general election saw William Arthur Mount returned unopposed.
- General election of December 1910
General Election December 1910: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William Arthur Mount | 6,485 | 60.3 | +0.3 | |
Liberal | Captain Lisle March-Phillipps | 4,278 | 39.7 | −0.3 | |
Majority | 2,207 | 20.5 | +0.5 | ||
Turnout | 10,763 | 82.4 | &minus8.0 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of January 1910
General Election January 1910: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William Arthur Mount | 7,081 | 60.0 | +14.9 | |
Liberal | Thomas Hedderwick | 4,723 | 40.0 | −14.9 | |
Majority | 2,358 | 20.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 11,804 | 90.4 | +2.9 | ||
Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing |
[edit] Elections in the 1900s
- General election of 1906
In the 1906 general election the Liberal candidate, Frederick Mackarness won with a majority of 402 votes. Nationally there was also a large swing to the Liberal party, with the Conservatives losing 246 seats in total.
General Election 1906: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | Frederick Mackarness | 5,338 | 52.0 | +8.7 | |
Conservative | William Arthur Mount | 4,936 | 48.0 | −8.7 | |
Majority | 402 | 3.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,274 | 87.5 | |||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +8.62 |
- General election of 1900
In the 1900 general election William Arthur Mount (Conservative) was returned as Newbury's MP unopposed.
[edit] Elections in the 1890s
- General election of 1895
General Election 1895: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William George Mount | 4,936 | 56.7 | +2.9 | |
Liberal | Sir John Swinburne | 3,776 | 43.3 | −2.9 | |
Majority | 1,160 | 13.3 | +5.7 | ||
Turnout | 8,712 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
- General election of 1892
General Election 1892: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William George Mount | 4,588 | 53.8 | +2.7 | |
Liberal | T. Stevens | 3,938 | 46.2 | −2.7 | |
Majority | 650 | 7.6 | +5.4 | ||
Turnout | 8,526 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | +2.7 |
[edit] Elections in the 1880s
- General election of 1886
In the general election of 1886 William George Mount (Conservative) was returned as Newbury's MP unopposed.
- General election of 1885
In the first general election in the Newbury constituency William George Mount for the Conservative Party won with a small majority of 202 votes over his Liberal opponent, G. Palmer.
General Election 1885: Newbury | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William George Mount | 4,631 | 51.1 | ||
Liberal | G. Palmer | 4,429 | 48.9 | ||
Majority | 202 | 2.2 | |||
Turnout | 9,060 |
(you smell bad)
[edit] See also
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom
[edit] References
- Newbury election history. Newbury. Retrieved on April 12, 2005.
- Parliament.uk: 1992 elections. Highest and lowest shares of the vote by party. Retrieved on April 12, 2005.
- Newbury 1993. Candidate names. Retrieved on April 17, 2005.
- Election data from 1832. Newbury constituency 1959 onwards. Retrieved on April 23, 2005.
- Boundary Commission for England. Boundary changes. Retrieved on April 23, 2005.
- Leigh Rayment. List of Parliamentary constituencies. 'N' constituencies. Retrieved on June 2, 2005.
- David Boothroyd. Smallest majorities at elections since 1918. 1923 Majority. Retrieved on June 3, 2005.
- BBC: Newbury constituency (2001)
- McCalmont, Frederick Haynes, Stenton Michael, Vincent, John Russell. McCalmont's parliamentary poll book: British election results. (ISBN 0-85527-000-4)
- F. W. S. Craig. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973. (ISBN 0-900178-07-8)
- F. W. S. Craig. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949. (ISBN 0-900178-01-9)
[edit] External links
- BBC News: Tories win Newbury from Lib Dems
- Independent story on the 2005 campaign
- West Berkshire Conservative Association
- David Rendel's Official Homepage
- Labour South East
- http://www.election-maps.co.uk
- Map of old Berkshire Constituency