Darwen (UK Parliament constituency)

Darwen
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1983
Number of members one

Darwen was a county constituency in Lancashire, centred on the town of Darwen. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

During the 1920s, the constituency was a fiercely contested marginal between the Liberal and Conservative Parties, with the sitting MP defeated at each election. At the 1924 general election, it saw a 92.7% turnout, a record for an English constituency.

It was largely replaced by the new Rossendale & Darwen constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 James Gascoyne-Cecil Conservative
1892 Charles Philip Huntington Liberal
1895 Ald. John Rutherford Conservative
Jan 1910 Frederick George Hindle Liberal
Dec 1910 Ald. John Rutherford Conservative
1922 Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson Conservative
1923 Frederick Hindle Liberal
1924 Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson Conservative
1929 Sir Herbert Samuel Liberal
1935 Stuart Russell Conservative
1943 by-election Stanley Prescott Conservative
1951 Sir Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General Election December 1910[1]

Electorate 17,734

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Rutherford 8,384 50.6 +1.2
Liberal Frederick George Hindle 8,169 49.4 -1.2
Turnout 16,553 93.3 -2.9
Majority 215 1.2 2.4
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +1.2

A General Election was expected to take place in 1914/15. John Rutherford (Unionist) and Frederick Hindle (Liberal) were to be candidates.

General Election 1918:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Rutherford 9,014
Liberal Frederick Hindle 8,031
Labour John McGurk 5,211
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frank Bernard Sanderson 12,218
Liberal Frederick Hindle 11,944
Labour John McGurk 4,528
Majority 274
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1923:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frederick Hindle 14,242
Conservative Frank Bernard Sanderson 11,432
Labour George Thompson 3,527 12.1
Majority 2,810 9.7
Turnout
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1924:

Electorate 32,671

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson 13,017 43.0
Liberal Frederick Hindle 12,082 39.9
Labour Thomas Ramsden 5,188 17.1 +5.0
Majority 935 3.1
Turnout 92.7
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing
General Election 1929:

Electorate 41,664

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Rt Hon. Sir Herbert Louis Samuel 15,714 40.9
Conservative Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson 15,252 39.6
Labour Thomas Ramsden 7,504 19.5
Majority 462 1.3
Turnout 92.3
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Herbert Louis Samuel 18,923 48.85
Conservative Alan Crosland Graham 14,636 37.78
Labour Charles Rothwell 5,184 13.38
Majority 4,287 11.07
Turnout 92.18
Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1935:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stuart Hugh Minto Russell 15,299 41.11
Liberal Herbert Louis Samuel 14,135 37.99
Labour Frances Kerby 7,778 20.90
Majority 1,164 3.13
Turnout 89.91
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing

Elections in the 1940s

A General election was due to take place before the end of 1940, but was postponed due to the Second World War. By 1939, the following candidates had been selected to contest this constituency;

General Election 1939/40:
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stuart Hugh Minto Russell
Liberal Phillip Russell Rea
Labour Ronald Haines
Conservative hold Swing
Darwen by-election, 1943
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Robert Stanley Prescott 8,869 50.2 +9.1
Independent Liberal Honor Balfour 8,799 49.8 N/A
Majority 70 0.4 −2.7
Turnout 17,668 45.0 −43.9
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1945
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Robert Stanley Prescott 13,623 41.43
Labour Ronald Haines 11,282 34.31
Liberal Honor Balfour 7,979 24.26
Majority 2,341 7.12
Turnout 82.68
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Robert Stanley Prescott 17,903 48.5
Labour Ronald Haines 13,334 36.1
Liberal James Booth 5,656 15.3
Majority 4,569 12.4
Turnout 89.6
General Election 1951

Electorate 41,321

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 17,785 48.6
Labour Ronald Haines 14,605 39.9
Liberal Roy Francis Leslie 4,236 11.6
Majority 3,180 8.7
Turnout 88.6
General Election 1955
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 26,729 58.7
Labour Ronald Haines 18,813 41.3
Majority 7,916 17.4
Turnout 82.3
General Election 1959
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 27,483 59.0
Labour T. Park 19,141 41.0
Majority 8,342 17.9
Turnout 84.1

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964

Electorate 58,014

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 20,343 41.9
Labour George Robert Cryer 15,559 32.0
Liberal Stephen C. Holt 12,641 26.0
Majority 4,784 9.9
Turnout 48,543 83.7
General Election 1966

Electorate 59,066

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 20,598 42.2
Labour B. Whittam 18,863 38.6
Liberal Stephen C. Holt 9,339 19.1
Majority 1,735 3.6
Turnout 48,800 82.6

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 26,728 52.4
Labour B. Whittam 17,634 34.6
Liberal A. Cooper 6,663 13.1
Majority 9,094 17.8
Turnout 76.6
General Election Feb 1974
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 25,495 44.9
Labour Dale Campbell-Savours 16,185 28.5
Liberal A. Cooper 15,060 26.5
Majority 9,310 16.4
Turnout 81.0
General Election Feb 1974
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 23,577 43.6
Labour Dale Campbell-Savours 17,926 33.2
Liberal A. Cooper 12,572 23.2
Majority 5,651 10.4
Turnout 76.6
General Election 1979
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Fletcher-Cooke 30,789 52.6
Labour Louise Ellman 17,763 30.4
Liberal A. Cooper 9,928 17.0
Majority 13,026 22.3
Turnout 78.0

See also

References

  1. ↑ British parliamentary election results 1885-1918