Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)

Hereford
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Hereford in Herefordshire.
Location of Herefordshire within England.
County	Herefordshire
Major settlements	Hereford
1918–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hereford and South Herefordshire, North Herefordshire
1295–1918
Number of members	1295–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Hereford was, until 2010, a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1918, it had elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Previously, Hereford had been a parliamentary borough which from 1295 to 1885 had elected two MPs, using the bloc vote system in contested elections. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the borough's representation had been reduced to one seat at the 1885 general election, and for the 1918 general election the borough was abolished and replaced with a county division which carried the same name but covered a wider geographical area.

History

Hereford sent two representatives to Parliament from the beginning of the reign of Edward I. Although a county town, the early elections were always held at a different location from those of the shire, the former taking place at the Guildhall, the latter in the castle.

In 1885 representation was reduced to one Member.

Journalist Robin Day stood as the Liberal candidate in the 1959 General Election.

From 1931 until 1997, Hereford was held by the Conservative Party, before being taken by Paul Keetch of the Liberal Democrats at the 1997 general election. Keetch served as the Liberal Democrats' spokesman for defence from October 1999 until May 2005, and announced on 17 November 2006 that he would not be standing at the next election.

Following the review by the Boundary Commission for England of parliamentary representation in Herefordshire, taking effect at the 2010 general election, two parliamentary constituencies have been allocated to the county. The Hereford seat has been abolished and replaced by the Hereford and South Herefordshire seat, while the remainder of the county is covered by the North Herefordshire seat. ^[1]

Boundaries

In its final form, the Hereford constituency contained the city of Hereford and most of South Herefordshire, including Ross-on-Wye but excluding Ledbury and Much Marcle both of which were in the Leominster constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
Jan. 1377	Richard Nash[2]
1378	Thomas Whitefield[2]
1379	Richard Nash[2]
Jan.1380	Richard Nash[2]
1381	Richard Nash[2]
Oct. 1383	Richard Nash[2]
1386	John Wych	Henry Catchpole I[3]
1388 (Feb)	William Jonet	Thomas Chippenham I[3]
1388 (Sep)	William Jonet	William Breinton[3]
1390 (Jan)	John Wych	James Nash[3]
1390 (Nov)	Henry Catchpole II	James Nash[3]
1391	Thomas Buryton	John Prophet[3]
1393	Thomas Buryton	John Wych[3]
1394
1395	Hugh Wigan	William Speed[3]
1397 (Jan)	Hugh Wigan	James Nash[3]
1397 (Sep)	Hugh Wigan	Thomas Buryton[3]
1399	James Nash	Thomas Buryton[3]
1401	Hugh Wigan	Thomas Whitefield[3]
1402	Thomas Chippenham I	John Troney[3]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Henry Chippenham	Hugh Wigan[3]
1407	Hugh Wigan	Roger ...feld[3]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Henry Chippenham	George Breinton[3]
1414 (Apr)	John Wilton	Richard Strange[3]
1414 (Nov)	Henry Chippenham	George Breinton[3]
1415
1416 (Mar)	Henry Chippenham	George Breinton[3]
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Wilton	John Orchard[3]
1419	Richard Strange	John Abrahall[3]
1420	Thomas Chippenham II	John Falk[3]
1421 (May)	William Buryton	Richard Strange[3]
1421 (Dec)	Henry Chippenham	Nicholas Chippenham[3]
1426	Thomas Chippenham
1429	Thomas Chippenham	William Buryton [4]
1431	Thomas Chippenham[5]	William Buryton[4]
1432	William Buryton[4]
1437	William Buryton[4]
1510
1512	Roland Brydges	Reginald Mynors[6]
1515	Roland Brydges	Reginald Mynors[6]
1523	?
1529	Richard Warnecombe	Thomas Havard[6]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	Richard Warnecombe	Thomas Havard[6]
1545	?
1547	Thomas Havard	William Berkeley, died and replaced Jan 1552 by John Warnecombe[6]
1553 (Mar)	Hugh Welshe	?[6]
1553 (Oct)	Sir John Price	Thomas Havard[6]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Havard	Thomas Bromwich[6]
1554 (Nov)	William Smothye	Leonard Boldyng[6]
1555	Hugh Gebons	Morgan Owgan[6]
1558	Henry Dudeston	John Gibbs[6]
1558/1559	John Kerry	Thomas Church[7]
1562/1563	Thomas Webbe, died and replaced 1566 by John Hyde	Henry Green[7]
1571	James Warnecombe	Thomas Church[7]
1572 (Apr)	James Warnecombe	Gregory Price[7]
1584	Gregory Price	James Boyle[7]
1586 (Sep)	Gregory Price	Thomas Jones[7]
1588	Gregory Price	Nicholas Garnons[7]
1593	Gregory Price	Thomas Mallard[7]
1597	Gregory Price	Anthony Pembridge[7]
1601	Walter Hurdman	Thomas Jones[7]
1604	Walter Hurdman	John Hoskins
1614	John Hoskins	John Warden
1621–1622	James Rodd	Richard Weaver
1624	Sir James Clerke	Richard Weaver
1625	Sir James Clerke	Richard Weaver
1626	Sir James Clerke	Richard Weaver
1628	The Viscount Scudamore	John Hoskins
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1885

Event		First member[8]	First party		Second member[8]	Second party
April 1640		Richard Weaver			Richard Seaborne
November 1640		Richard Weaver	Parliamentarian		Richard Seaborne	Royalist
1642		James Scudamore	Royalist
May 1643	Scudamore disabled from sitting – seat vacant
January 1644				Seaborne disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1646		Bennet Hoskyns			Edmund Weaver[9]
December 1648	Hoskyns excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Hereford was unrepresented in Barebone's Parliament
1654		Bennet Hoskyns		Hereford had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		Colonel Wroth Rogers
January 1659		Nathan Rogers			Roger Bosworth
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Herbert Westfaling			Roger Bosworth
November 1660					Sir Henry Lingen
April 1661		Sir Edward Hopton
September 1661		Herbert Westfaling
1662					Roger Vaughan
1673					The Viscount Scudamore
1679		Bridstock Harford			Paul Foley	Country Whig
1681		Herbert Aubrey
1685					Thomas Geers
January 1689		Sir William Gregory			Paul Foley	Country Whig
June 1689		Henry Cornewall
1695		James Morgan
1698		Hon. James Brydges
1699					Samuel Pytts
1701					Thomas Foley
1715		The Viscount Scudamore
1717		Herbert Rudhale Westfaling
1722					William Mayo
1723					James Wallwyn
1727		Marquess of Carnarvon			Thomas Geers[10]
1734		Thomas Foley			Sir John Morgan
1741		Edward Cope Hopton			Thomas Geers Winford
1747		Lieutenant General Henry Cornewall			Daniel Leighton
1754		Charles Fitzroy Scudamore			John Symons	Tory
1764					John Scudamore
1768		(Sir) Richard Symons[11]
April 1784		Earl of Surrey[12]	Whig
July 1784		Robert Philipps
1785		James Walwyn
1796					John Scudamore, junior
1800		Thomas Powell Symonds
1805					Richard Philip Scudamore
1818					Viscount Eastnor
1819		Richard Philip Scudamore
1826		Edward Bolton Clive	Whig
1832					Robert Biddulph	Whig
1837					Daniel Higford Davall Burr	Conservative
July 1841					Henry William Hobhouse	Whig
October 1841					Robert Pulsford	Whig
1845		Sir Robert Price, Bt	Whig
1847					Henry Morgan-Clifford	Whig
1857		George Clive	Whig
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1865					Richard Baggallay	Conservative
1868[13]					John William Shaw Wylie	Liberal
1869		Edward Clive	Liberal		Chandos Wren-Hoskyns	Liberal
1871		George Arbuthnot	Conservative
1874		Evan Pateshall	Conservative		George Clive	Liberal
1878		George Arbuthnot	Conservative
1880		Joseph Pulley	Liberal		Robert Reid	Liberal
1885	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1885–2010

Event		Member[8]	Party
	1885	Joseph Pulley	Liberal
	1886	Sir Joseph Russell Bailey	Conservative
	1892	William Grenfell	Liberal
	1893 by-election	Charles Wallwyn Radcliffe Cooke	Conservative
	1900	John Stanhope Arkwright	Conservative
	1912 by-election	Professor William Hewins	Liberal Unionist
	1918	Charles Thornton Pulley	Coalition Conservative
	1921 by-election	Samuel Roberts	Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1929	Frank Owen	Liberal
	1931	James Thomas	Conservative
	1956 by-election	David Gibson-Watt	Conservative
	1974	Sir Colin Shepherd	Conservative
	1997	Paul Keetch	Liberal Democrat
	2010	Constituency abolished: see Hereford and South Herefordshire

Notes

1. ↑ "Final recommendations for Parliamentary constituencies in the county of Herefordshire". Boundary Commission for England. 7 January 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/nash-%28ash%29-richard-13945
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 19 September 2011. 
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/buryton-william
5. ↑ http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/chippenham-thomas-ii
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 19 September 2011. 
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 19 September 2011. 
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)
9. ↑ It is not known for certain whether Weaver sat after Pride's Purge: a "Mr Weaver" was re-admitted and Edmund Weaver appears in one list of members of the Rump, but he is not listed in the House of Commons Journals, and Brunton & Pennington suggest he has probably been confused with John Weaver, MP for Stamford (who was certainly a member)
10. ↑ Later adopted the surname Winford
11. ↑ Created a baronet, May 1774
12. ↑ Surrey was also elected for Carlisle, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hereford
13. ↑ On petition, the election of 1868 was declared void and a by-election was held

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Keetch	20,285	43.3	+2.4
	Conservative	Virginia Taylor	19,323	41.2	+2.5
	Labour	Tom Calver	4,800	10.2	-4.9
	Green	Brian Lunt	1,052	2.2	-0.5
	UKIP	Christpher Kingsley	1,030	2.2	-0.5
	Independent	Peter Morton	404	0.9	N/A
Majority			962	2.1	-0.1
Turnout			46,894	65.3	+0.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−0.1

General Election 2001: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Keetch	18,244	40.9	-7.1
	Conservative	Virginia Taylor	17,276	38.7	+3.4
	Labour	David Hallam	6,739	15.1	+2.6
	UKIP	Clive Easton	1,184	2.7	N/A
	Green	David Gillett	1,181	2.6	N/A
Majority			968	2.2	-10.4
Turnout			44,624	65.2	-10.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Keetch	25,198	47.9
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	18,550	35.3
	Labour	Chris Chappell	6,596	12.6
	Referendum Party	Clive Easton	2,209	4.2
Majority			6,648	12.6
Turnout			52,553	75.2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1992: Hereford[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	26,727	47.2	−0.3
	Liberal Democrat	Gwynoro Jones	23,314	41.2	−3.6
	Labour	Ms. JE Kelly	6,005	10.6	+2.9
	Green	CT Mattingly	596	1.1	+1.1
Majority			3,413	6.0	+3.3
Turnout			56,642	81.3	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	24,865	47.50
	Liberal	CF Green	23,452	44.80
	Labour	VS Woodell	4,031	7.70
Majority			1,413	2.70
Turnout				78.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	23,334	48.07
	Liberal	C Green	21,057	43.38
	Labour	J Evans	3,690	7.60
	Ecology	V Murray	463	0.95
Majority			2,277	4.69
Turnout				75.79
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	23,012	47.74
	Liberal	CF Green	18,042	37.43
	Labour	IR Adshead	7,150	14.83
Majority			4,970	10.31
Turnout				78.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Shepherd	17,060	38.92
	Liberal	CB Tannant Nash	15,948	36.39
	Labour	MK Prendergast	10,820	24.69
Majority			1,112	2.54
Turnout				75.79
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	18,676	41.31
	Liberal	CB Tannant Nash	15,238	33.70
	Labour	IE Geffen	11,299	24.99
Majority			3,438	7.60
Turnout				78.89
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Hereford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	22,011	53.20
	Labour	GD Purnell	14,410	34.83
	Liberal	TR Crowther	4,953	11.97
Majority			7,601	18.37
Turnout				73.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Hereford Electorate: 50,853
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	17,529	44.60
	Labour	Michael K Prendergast	14,782	37.61
	Liberal	Kenneth Vaus	6,996	17.80
Majority			2,747	6.99
Turnout				77.30
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Hereford Electorate: 49,462
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	17,780	45.45
	Labour	Thomas J. H. Bishop	12,020	30.72
	Liberal	Kenneth Vaus	9,322	23.83
Majority			5,760	14.72
Turnout				79.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Hereford Electorate: 45,340
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	17,763	49.3
	Liberal	Robin Day	10,185	28.3
	Labour	John W Wardle	8,097	22.4
Majority			7,578	21.0
Turnout			36,045	79.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hereford by-election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	12,129	44.3	-7.5
	Liberal	Humphrey Frank Owen	9,979	36.4	+11.6
	Labour	Bryan Capewell Stanley	5,277	19.3	-4.1
Majority			2,150	17.9
Turnout			27,385
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Hereford Electorate: 44,242
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	18,058	51.8
	Liberal	Humphrey Frank Owen	8,658	24.8
	Labour	E.L.P. Seers	8,154	23.4
Majority			9,400	27.0
Turnout			34,870	78.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Hereford Electorate: 44,579
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	21,204	61.3
	Labour	William Pigott	13,396	38.7
Majority			7,808	22.6
Turnout				77.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Hereford Electorate: 44,059
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	18,314	51.6
	Labour	William Pigott	11,185	31.5
	Liberal	Cllr. Albert Edward Farr	5,965	16.8
Majority			7,129	20.1
Turnout				80.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Hereford Electorate: 48,574
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	17,439	51.8
	Labour	William Pigott	8,359	24.8
	Liberal	Archibald Pellow Marshall	7,871	23.4
Majority			9,080	27.0
Turnout				69.3
	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: James Purdon Lewes Thomas, Liberal: Archibald Pellow Marshall.

Election in the 1930s

General Election 14 November 1935: Hereford Electorate: 39,484
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	18,234	61.84
	Liberal	Walter Leslie Dingley	8,853	30.03
	Labour	George Clarke	2,397	8.13
Majority			9,381	31.82
Turnout				74.67
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 27 October 1931: Hereford Electorate: 38,033 Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	19,418	60.90
	Liberal	Humphrey Frank Owen	12,465	39.10
Majority			6,953	21.81
Turnout				83.85
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Election in the 1920s

General Election 30 May 1929 Electorate 36,984
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Humphrey Frank Owen	14,208	48.7
	Conservative	Frederic Carnegie Romilly	13,087	44.8
	Labour	Henry Cooper	1,901	6.5
Majority			1,121	3.9
Turnout				78.9

General Election 29 October 1924 Electorate 29,083
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Samuel Roberts	13,210	60.6	+5.3
	Liberal	John Howard Whitehouse	8,604	39.4	-0.6
Majority			4,606
Turnout

General Election 6 December 1923 Electorate 28,538
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Samuel Roberts	11,448	55.3	-20.9
	Liberal	John Howard Whitehouse	8,280	40.0	+40.0
	Labour	Sydney Box	981	4.7	-19.1
Majority			3,168
Turnout

General Election 15 November 1922 Electorate 27,774
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Samuel Roberts	13,138	76.2
	Labour	James Jonas Dodd	4,094	23.8
Majority				62.0
Turnout

Hereford by-election, 1921 Electorate 27,316
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Samuel Roberts	9,670	56.6
	Liberal	Ernest Wilfred Langford	7,411	43.4
Majority
Turnout				62.5

Election in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918: Electorate 28,246
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Thornton Pulley	11,680	75.8
	Labour	Sydney Box	3,730	24.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire

External links

• UK Constituency Maps
• Hereford Liberal Democrats
• Hereford Conservatives
• Labour in Herefordshire
• UKIP West Midlands
• Herefordshire Green Party

Notes and references

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)

Constituencies in the West Midlands (59) Conservative (33) Aldridge-Brownhills Bromsgrove Burton Cannock Chase Dudley South Halesowen and Rowley Regis Hereford and South Herefordshire Kenilworth and Southam Lichfield Ludlow Meriden Mid Worcestershire North Herefordshire North Shropshire North Warwickshire Nuneaton Redditch Rugby Shrewsbury and Atcham South Staffordshire Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stone Stourbridge Stratford-on-Avon Sutton Coldfield Tamworth The Wrekin Warwick and Leamington West Worcestershire Wolverhampton South West Worcester Wyre Forest Labour (24) Birmingham, Edgbaston Birmingham, Erdington Birmingham, Hall Green Birmingham, Hodge Hill Birmingham, Ladywood Birmingham, Northfield Birmingham, Perry Barr Birmingham, Selly Oak Coventry North East Coventry North West Coventry South Dudley North Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke-on-Trent Central Stoke-on-Trent North Stoke-on-Trent South Telford Walsall North Walsall South Warley West Bromwich East West Bromwich West Wolverhampton North East Wolverhampton South East Liberal Democrats (2) Birmingham, Yardley Solihull West Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (2) UKIP (3)

Coordinates: 52°00′N 2°42′W / 52.0°N 2.7°W / 52.0; -2.7