Dorking (UK Parliament constituency)

Dorking
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Location of Surrey within England.
County Surrey
Major settlements Dorking and Horley
1950–1983
Number of members One
Replaced by Mole Valley
East Surrey (Horley only)
Created from East Surrey or 'Reigate', Epsom and Guildford

Dorking was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Dorking and Horley in Surrey. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 – 1983. In the eight elections during its 33 year lifetime it was held by three Conservatives successively.

History

The seat was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 and first contested at the 1950 general election.[1][2] It was abolished prior to the 1983 general election.[3]

Boundaries

The seat was defined as consisting of:

In 1983 parliamentary boundaries were realigned to those of the districts created in 1974: Dorking (the town) became part of Mole Valley District, and just over half of the previous area was transferred to the Mole Valley seat for national elections which took in land to the north from elsewhere. The southern area including Horley transferred to a new definition of East Surrey.[3]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1950 Sir Gordon Touche Conservative
1964 Sir George Sinclair Conservative
1979 Keith Wickenden Conservative
1983constituency abolished: see Mole Valley; Guildford

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Dorking
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gordon Cosmo Touche 22,096 59.2 N/A
Labour J D Richard 11,114 29.8 N/A
Liberal George Gordon Grant Francis 4,128 11.1 N/A
Majority 10,982 29.4 N/A
Turnout 37,338 83.4 N/A
Conservative gain, as new
General Election 1951: [4]

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
Labour
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: [5]

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
Labour
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1959: [6]

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
Labour
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: [7]

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election 1966: [8]

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour
Conservative
Liberal
Majority
Turnout
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: [9]

Electorate 58,973

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir George Evelyn Sinclair 25,393 59.0 +5.2
Labour W. John Fahy 10,523 24.5 -3.9
Liberal John Arnold Baker 7,103 16.5 -1.3
Majority 14,870 34.6
Turnout 43,019 72
Conservative hold Swing +4.6

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Representation of the People Act 1948, C.65, First Schedule, Parliamentary Constituencies.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Youngs, Frederic A, Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 765–766. ISBN 0901050679.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/417)
  4. ↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  5. ↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  6. ↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  7. ↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  8. ↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  9. ↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig