Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Gainsborough
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire for the 2010 general election.
Location of Lincolnshire within England.
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	73,795 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Market Rasen and Gainsborough
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Edward Leigh (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Gainsborough and Horncastle
Created from	North Lincolnshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Gainsborough is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Edward Leigh, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 that year, which lasted until it was reformed as Gainsborough and Horncastle on a boundary change for the 1983 election. That seat lasted until 1997, as from the mid nineties population changes led to removal of Horncastle from the seat and recreation of the old seat with largely similar boundaries.

Boundaries

This constituency is named for its largest town of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, on the west edge of the constituency, and comprises the West Lindsey district, and the Wragby ward of the East Lindsey district.

Constituency profile

This relatively vast rural seat north of Lincoln is named after the small market town at its western boundary. Market Rasen known for its racecourse is the largest town, in the east. Regeneration projects are attempting to reduce pockets of severe deprivation in the constituency, but most of the area is affluent, albeit remote from many major cities, the closest conurbation is the city of Lincoln to the immediate south. Though arable farming dominates the landscape and noteworthy pig farming industry, see Lincolnshire sausages, agriculture is in decline and the service/creative sector dominates.^[1] The seat has elected Conservative MPs since 1924 and is a stronghold.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1885	Joseph Bennett	Liberal
1886	Henry Eyre	Conservative
1892	Joseph Bennett	Liberal
1895	Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge	Liberal
1900	Seymour Fitzroy Ormsby-Gore	Conservative
1906	Leslie Renton	Liberal
1907	Leslie Renton	Liberal Unionist
Jan 1910	George Jackson Bentham	Liberal
1918	John Elsdale Molson	Coalition Conservative
1922	John Elsdale Molson	Conservative
1923	Sir Richard Winfrey	Liberal
1924	Harry Crookshank	Conservative
1956 by-election	Marcus Kimball	Conservative
1983	Sir Edward Leigh	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Geoff Barnes^[2]
	Lincolnshire Independents	Chris Darcel
	Conservative	Edward Leigh^[3]
	Labour	David Prescott^[4]
	Liberal Democrat	Lesley Rollings
	UKIP	John Saxon^[5]

General Election 2010: Gainsborough^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	24,266	49.3	+5.4
	Liberal Democrat	Pat O'Connor	13,707	27.8	+1.8
	Labour	Jamie McMahon	7,701	15.6	-10.5
	UKIP	Steven Pearson	2,065	4.2	+0.1
	BNP	Malcolm Porter	1,512	3.1	+3.1
Majority			10,559	21.4
Turnout			49,251	68.3	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	20,040	43.9	-2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Adrian Heath	12,037	26.4	-0.3
	Labour	John Knight	11,744	25.7	-1.4
	UKIP	Steven Pearson	1,860	4.1	+4.1
Majority			8,003	17.5
Turnout			45,681	64.6	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.0

General Election 2001: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	19,555	46.2	+3.1
	Labour	Alan Rhodes	11,484	27.1	-1.7
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Taylor	11,280	26.7	-1.5
Majority			8,071	19.1
Turnout			42,319	64.2	-10.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	20,593	43.1
	Labour	Paul Taylor	13,767	28.8
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Taylor	13,436	28.1	-1.5
Majority			6,826	14.3
Turnout				74.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections results following boundary changes

For 1983 - 1992, see Gainsborough and Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	24,040	46.4
	Liberal	Roger B Blackmore	16,885	32.6
	Labour	William S Bach	10,335	20.0
	Independent Conservative	R E August	570	1.1
Majority			7,155	13.6
Turnout				79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	19,163	41.5
	Liberal	Roger B Blackmore	15,195	32.9
	Labour	T Lansbury	11,797	25.6
Majority			3,968	8.6
Turnout				74.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	22,177	44.2
	Liberal	Roger B Blackmore	15,967	31.8
	Labour	T Lansbury	12,011	24.0
Majority			6,210	12.4
Turnout				82.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	22,163	50.2
	Labour	Maurice P Tracy	14,454	32.7
	Liberal	Roger B Blackmore	7,543	17.1
Majority			7,709	17.5
Turnout				74.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	18,770	47.2
	Labour	Alan Day	14,904	37.5
	Liberal	Geoffrey R S Stevenson	6,064	15.3
Majority			3,866	9.7
Turnout			39,738	75.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.95

General Election 1964: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	19,235	47.7
	Labour	Douglas Rene Louis Maroel Poirier	12,126	30.1
	Liberal	Dr Roy I Douglas	8,930	22.2
Majority			7,109	17.6
Turnout				78.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Gainsborough Electorate 50,051
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	20,056	49.6
	Labour	Henry David Leonard George Walston	13,247	32.8
	Liberal	Dr Roy Ian Douglas	7,147	17.7
Majority			6,809	16.8
Turnout			40,450	80.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gainsborough by-election, 1956 Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Richard Kimball	12,836	40.8
	Labour	Henry David Leonard George Walston	11,830	37.6
	Liberal	Henry I Spence	6,806	21.6
Majority			1,006	3.2
Turnout			31,472
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	22,576	55.8
	Labour	G R Hawkins	17,107	44.2
Majority			4,469	11.6
Turnout				76.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	19,915	49.1
	Labour	G R S Hawkins	16,074	39.6
	Liberal	John Gregory	4,580	11.3
Majority			3,841	9.5
Turnout				80.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Gainsborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	17,066	41.4
	Labour	Gerald Samson Saville	14,890	36.1
	Liberal	Henry Ivan Spence	9,276	22.5
Majority			2,176	5.3
Turnout				83.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945 Electorate 38,290
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Capt. Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	11,081	38.5
	Labour	Gerald Samson Saville	9,436	32.8
	Liberal	Capt. Roy Desmond Robinson	8,284	28.8
Majority			1,645	5.7
Turnout				75.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1939/40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Conservative: Harry Crookshank,
Liberal: Margaret Wintringham

Election in the 1930s

General Election 1935 Electorate 35,004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	12,597	44.8
	Liberal	John Johnson Till Ferens	10,840	38.5
	Labour	E Pittwood	4,698	16.7
Majority			1,757	6.2
Turnout				80.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Henry Purchase

General Election 1931 Electorate 33,977
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	14,839	51.7
	Liberal	Henry George Purchase	8,009	27.9
	Labour	George Deer	5,856	20.4
Majority			6,830	23.8
Turnout			28,704	83.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

Arthur Neal

General Election 1929
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	10,058	37.1
	Liberal	Arthur Neal	9,991	36.9
	Labour	George Deer	7,032	26.0
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Frederick Comfort Crookshank	10,281	47.1	+9.0
	Labour	F J Knowles	5,958	27.3	+12.5
	Liberal	Sir Richard Winfrey	5,590	25.6	-21.5
Majority			4,323	19.8	28.8
Turnout			21,829	79.0	+3.6
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.0

Sir R. Winfrey

General Election 1923
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Richard Winfrey	9,694	47.1
	Unionist	John Elsdale Molson	7,841	38.1
	Labour	James Read	3,039	14.8
Majority			1,853	9.0
Turnout			20,574	75.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing

General Election 1922
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Elsdale Molson	9,015
	Liberal	Joel Herbert Seaverns	7,216
	Labour	James Read	4,884
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918 Electorate 27,503
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Elsdale Molson	8,634	56.8
	Liberal	George Jackson Bentham	6,556	43.2
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

A # denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

↑ 2001 Census
↑ http://eastmidlands.greenparty.org.uk/elections-candidates.html
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/gainsborough-2015.html
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-30493795
↑ "UKIP candidate John Saxon will challenge veteran Tory Sir Edward Leigh's seat in Gainsborough and Market Rasen". Lincolnshire Echo. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
↑ Gainsborough, UKPollingReport
↑ "UK > England > East Midlands > Gainsborough". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.

Sources

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)

Coordinates: 53°21′N 0°30′W / 53.35°N 0.50°W / 53.35; -0.50

Constituencies in the East Midlands (46)

Conservative (30)	Amber Valley Boston and Skegness Bosworth Broxtowe Charnwood Daventry Derbyshire Dales Erewash Gainsborough Grantham and Stamford Harborough High Peak Kettering Lincoln Loughborough Louth and Horncastle Mid Derbyshire Newark Northampton North Northampton South North West Leicestershire Rushcliffe Rutland and Melton Sherwood Sleaford and North Hykeham South Derbyshire South Holland and The Deepings South Leicestershire South Northamptonshire Wellingborough

Labour (16)	Ashfield Bassetlaw Bolsover Chesterfield Corby Derby North Derby South Gedling Leicester East Leicester South Leicester West Mansfield North East Derbyshire Nottingham East Nottingham North Nottingham South

East Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (1) UKIP (2)