West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Derbyshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of West Derbyshire in Derbyshire for the 2005 general election.

Location of Derbyshire within England.
County Derbyshire
1885 (1885)–2010 (2010)
Number of members One
Replaced by Derbyshire Dales
Created from North Derbyshire

West Derbyshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 until it was replaced by the Derbyshire Dales constituency in the 2010 General Election, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

It was a safe Conservative seat for most of its existence, its last MP being Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative Chief Whip since 2005.

Contents

Boundaries

The only really safe Conservative seat in Derbyshire, consisting mostly of rural villages and tourist towns like Bakewell and Matlock; Labour's only strengths were in Wirksworth and Masson, not enough to end the long-standing Conservative representation of this seat.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Derbyshire, the Boundary Commission for England created a new constituency of Derbyshire Dales based on the existing West Derbyshire constituency.

History

Historically associated with the Cavendish family, the seat and its predecessors were usually represented by one of the future Dukes of Devonshire or their relatives from 1580 until the Second World War. When the Cavendish family left the Liberals over Irish Home Rule the seat stayed loyal to them as they sat first as Liberal Unionists then as Conservatives. In 1918 the hold on the constituency was briefly broken by Charles Frederick White standing for the Liberals, but the seat was regained in 1923. In a by-election in 1944, White's son, also called Charles Frederick White resigned as the official Labour nominee in order to stand against a party truce. He defeated the Conservative candidate, William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, and subsequently took the Labour whip in the Commons, holding the seat in the 1945 general election for Labour. The Conservatives regained the seat in the 1950 general election and have held it ever since. The closest they have come to losing was in the 1986 by-election when they held it by only 100 votes in a period of heavy unpopularity for the government.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[1] Party
1885 Lord Edward Cavendish Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1891 by-election Victor Christian William Cavendish Liberal Unionist
1908 by-election Earl of Kerry Liberal Unionist
1918 Charles Frederick White Liberal
1923 Marquess of Hartington Conservative
1938 by-election Henry Philip Hunloke Conservative
1944 by-election Charles Frederick White Independent Labour
1945 Labour
1950 Edward Wakefield Conservative
1962 by-election Aidan Crawley Conservative
1967 by-election James Scott-Hopkins Conservative
1979 Matthew Parris Conservative
1986 by-election Patrick McLoughlin Conservative
2010 Constituency abolished: see Derbyshire Dales

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 24,378 47.7 -0.3
Labour David Menon 13,625 26.6 -6.8
Liberal Democrat Ray Dring 11,408 22.3 +6.6
UKIP Michael Cruddas 1,322 2.6 +1.3
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 405 0.8 -0.1
Independent Martin Kyslun 5 0.0 N/A
Majority 10,753 21.0
Turnout 51,143 69.2
Conservative hold Swing +3.2
General Election 2001: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 24,280 48.0 +5.9
Labour Stephen Clamp 16,910 33.4 -0.1
Liberal Democrat Jeremy Beckett 7,922 15.7 -1.8
UKIP Stuart Bavester 672 1.3 +0.5
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 472 0.9 +0.4
Independent Robert Goodall 333 0.7 +0.5
Majority 7,370 14.6
Turnout 50,589 67.8 -10.5
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 23,945 42.1
Labour Stephen Clamp 19,060 33.5
Liberal Democrat Christopher Seeley 9,940 17.5
Referendum Party John Gouriet 2,499 4.4
Independent Green Godfrey Meynell 593 1.0
UKIP H. Price 484 0.9
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 281 0.5
Independent Back to Basics Martin Kyslun 81 0.1
Majority 4,885
Turnout 78.2
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1992: West Derbyshire[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 32,879 54.3 +1.2
Liberal Democrat RD Fearn 14,110 23.3 −11.9
Labour SJ Clamp 13,528 22.4 +10.7
Majority 18,769 31.0 +13.1
Turnout 60,517 85.0 +1.9
Conservative hold Swing +6.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 31,224 53.1
Liberal Chris Walmsley 20,697 35.2
Labour William Moore 6,875 11.7
Majority 10,527 17.9
Turnout 83.1
Conservative hold Swing
West Derbyshire by-election, 1986
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 19,896 39.5
Liberal Chris Walmsley 19,796 39.4
Labour William Moore 9,952 19.8
Rainbow Dream Ticket R. C. Sidwell 348 0.7
Independent R. Goodall 289 0.6
Majority 100 0.1
Turnout 71.9
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Parris 29,695 55.9
Liberal Viv Bingham 14,370 27.0
Labour J. S. March 9,060 17.1
Majority 15,325 28.9
Turnout 77.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Parris 21,478 52.6
Liberal P. Worboys 11,261 27.6
Labour W. Moore 8,134 19.9
Majority 10,217 25.0
Turnout 80.7
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 18,468 47.9
Liberal P. Worboys 10,622 27.6
Labour D. A. Townsend 9,456 24.5
Majority 7,846 20.4
Turnout 57.6
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 19,941 48.7
Liberal P. Worboys 11,481 28.0
Labour Fred Inglis 9,529 23.3
Majority 8,460 20.7
Turnout 61.8
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1970: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 22,692 61.9
Labour Fred Inglis 13,976 38.1
Majority 8,716 23.8
Turnout 76.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

West Derbyshire by-election, 1967
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 16,319
Liberal Aza Pinney 5,696
Labour Robin Corbett 5,284
Independent Robert Goodall 1,496
Majority 10,623
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1966: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 18,383 49.6
Labour P. Whitehead 13,791 37.2
Liberal M. V. Edwards 4,874 13.2
Majority 4,592 12.4
Turnout 83.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1964: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 16,825 44.2
Liberal Ronald Gardner-Thorpe 11,559 30.4
Labour J. Dilks 9,669 25.4
Majority 5,266 13.8
Turnout 85.8
Conservative hold Swing
West Derbyshire by-election, 1962
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 12,455
Liberal Ronald Gardner-Thorpe 11,235
Labour J. Dilks 9,431
Independent Raymond Gregory 1,433
Majority 1,220
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 22,034 61.3
Labour A. E. Kitts 13,925 38.7
Majority 8,109 22.6
Turnout 82.0
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 21,052 59.6
Labour R. B. Stirling 14,296 40.4
Majority 6,756 19.1
Turnout 80.0
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1951: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 22,223 58.8
Labour R. H. Lewis 15,578 41.2
Majority 6,645 17.6
Turnout 84.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1950: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 20,015 51.9
Labour N. Gratton 13,478 35.0
Liberal G. F. Strange 5,070 13.2
Majority 6,537 17.0
Turnout 87.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Charles Frederick White 18,331 48.8
Conservative William Aitken 18,175 48.4
Agriculturalist Robert Goodall 1,068 2.8
Majority 156 0.4
Turnout 81.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
West Derbyshire by-election, 1944
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Labour Charles Frederick White 16,336 57.7
Conservative Marquess of Hartington 11,775 41.5
Agriculturalist Robert Goodall 233 0.8
Majority 4,561 16.2
Turnout 65.4
Independent Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1930s

West Derbyshire by-election, 1938
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Philip Hunloke 16,740 48.6
Labour Charles Frederick White 11,216 32.5
Liberal M. Gray 6,515 18.9
Majority 5,524 16.1
Turnout 79.4
Conservative hold Swing

At the 1931 and 1935 general elections, Edward Cavendish was elected unopposed.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
  2. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 

Sources

Constituencies in the East Midlands (46)
Conservative (31)
Labour (15)