Bedford is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Fuller of the Conservative Party.[n 2]
Constituency profile and boundaries summary
Bedford is a marginal seat between the Labour Party and the Conservatives. The main settlement is Bedford, a well-developed town centre with a considerable amount of social housing relative to Bedfordshire and higher poverty index but on a fast train link to London and other destinations, the town is at the north end of the Thameslink service to Brighton and is not far from Milton Keynes which has a larger economy. The smaller and contiguous town of Kempston is also in the constituency.
Latest boundary review
The seat was established in its current form in 1997, restoring a centuries-old seat. Following the latest review of parliamentary representation in Bedfordshire, the Boundary Commission for England made only minor changes to each of the existing constituencies.
The seat is made up of the following electoral wards of the Borough of Bedford:
- Brickhill, Castle, Cauldwell, De Parys, Goldington, Harpur, Kempston Central and East, Kempston North, Kempston South, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Putnoe, Queens Park.
History
Bedford was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295. The constituency was originally a parliamentary borough electing two members of parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons, and consisted of the five parishes making up the town of Bedford.
Before the Reform Act of 1832, the right to vote was exercised by all freemen and burgesses of the town (whether or not they lived within the borough boundaries) and by all householders who were not receiving alms. This was a fairly wide franchise for the period, but potentially subject to abuse since the Corporation of the borough had unlimited power to create freemen. The Corporation was usually under the influence of the Dukes of Bedford, but their influence usually fell well short of making Bedford a pocket borough.
In 1768 a majority of the corporation apparently fell out with the then Duke, and decided to free the borough from his influence. They elected a Huntingdonshire squire,[n 3] Sir Robert Bernard, as Recorder of the borough, and made 500 new freemen, mostly Bernard's Huntingdonshire neighbours or tenants. As there were only 540 householders, this gave him the effective power to choose Bedford's MPs; at the next election the defeated candidates petitioned against the result, attempting to establish that so many non-residents should not be allowed to vote, but the Commons dismissed the petition and confirmed the right of all the freemen, however created, to vote.
Bernard cemented his control with the creation of hundreds of further freemen in the next few years; at around the same period he lent the Corporation ยฃ950, and it is not unreasonable to assume this was payment for services rendered. However, in 1789, the young Duke of Bedford managed to regain the Corporation's loyalty, and had 350 of his own retainers made freeman.
Even at other periods, the influence of the Dukes of Bedford seems sometimes to have been more nominal than real. In the 1750s and 1760s, before Bernard's intervention, there was generally an amicable agreement that the Duke should nominate one MP and the Corporation (representing the interests of the town) the other; but it seems that on occasion the Duke had to be flexible to retain the semblance of local deference towards him, and that his "nominee" had in reality been imposed upon him. Nor was the outcome invariably successfully predetermined: at the 1830 election the result was decided by a single vote โ the defeated candidate being Lord John Russell, who was not only one of the Whig leaders but The Duke of Bedford's son.
In 1831, the population of the borough was 6,959, and contained 1,491 houses. This was sufficient for Bedford to retain both its MPs under the Great Reform Act, with its boundaries unaltered. The reformed franchise introduced in 1832 gave the borough 1,572 inhabitants qualified to vote. The town was growing, and Bedford retained its borough status until the 1918 election, although under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, its representation was reduced to a single member. On the eve of the First World War its population was just under 40,000, of whom 6,500 could vote.
In 1918 the borough was abolished, but town's name was applied to the county constituency into which it was placed. The new constituency (strictly speaking The Bedford division of Bedfordshire) covered the northern end of the county and included Kempston and Eaton Socon together with the surrounding rural area. A boundary change which came into effect at the 1950 election reduced its size somewhat, part of the Bedford Rural District including Eaton Socon being transferred to the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
In 1983, further boundary changes took Kempston out of the constituency, and its name was changed to North Bedfordshire, although it was recognisably still the same constituency and Bedford itself was still much its largest component. The following boundary review, effective from the 1997 general election, restored the Bedford name.
In the latest boundary changes, the constituency lost all the rural settlements and villages to the Mid Bedfordshire and North East Bedfordshire constituencies. This means that the Bedford Constituency is now solely formed from the towns of Bedford and Kempston.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1295โ1660
- Constituency created (1295)
Parliaments of King Edward I
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
29th | 30 September 1295+ | 1295 | 27 November 1295 | 4 December 1295 | John Cullebere | Simon de Holand |
30th | 26 August 1296 | 1296 | 3 November 1296 | 29 November 1296 | unknown | unknown |
33rd | 6 October 1297 | 1297 | 15 September 1297 | 14 October 1297 | unknown | unknown |
34th | 15 March 1298 | March 1298 | 30 March 1298 | ... | unknown | unknown |
35th | 10 April 1298 | 1298 | 25 May 1298 | ... | Thomas Halyday | Robert de Sywell |
39th | 29 December 1299 | 1299/00 | 6 March 1300 | 20 March 1300 | John Wymond | William Benne |
40th | 26 September 1300 | 1300/01 | 20 January 1301 | 30 January 1301 |
42nd | 14 July 1302 | 1302 | 14 October 1302 | 21 October 1302 | Simon le Tanner | Robert de Sywell |
43rd | 12 November 1304 | 1304/05 | 28 February 1305 | 20 March 1305 | John Halyday | William Costyn |
45th | 5 April 1306 | 1306 | 30 May 1306 | 30 May 1306 | Simon de Wilshamstead | Geoffrey le Blund |
46th | 3 November 1306 | 1306/07 | 20 January 1307 | 19 March 1307 | William Costyn | John le Marescal |
Parliaments of King Edward II
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 26 August 1307 | 1307 | 13 October 1307 | 16 October 1307 | William Bonum | John atte Wal |
2nd | 19 January 1308 | 1308 | 3 March 1308 | ... | unknown | unknown |
5th | 4 March 1309 | 1309 | 27 April 1309 | 13 May 1309 | Gilbert de Holm | John le Marescal |
8th | 16 June 1311 | 1311 | 8 August 1311 | ... | John Halyday | Geoffrey Clogon (Glogon) |
... | 1311 | 12 November 1311 | 18 December 1311 | William Costyn (Costantyn) |
9th | 3 June 1312 | 1312 | 20 August 1312 | 16 December 1312 | Roger Cullebere |
10th | 8 January 1313 | 1313 | 18 March 1313 | 9 May 1313 | Thomas de Norfolk | John atte Wal |
11th | 23 May 1313 | 1313 | 8 July 1313 | 27 July 1313 |
12th | 26 July 1313 | 1313 | 23 September 1313 | 15 November 1313 |
13th | 29 July 1314 | 1314 | 9 September 1314 | 27/28 September 1314 | William Costantyn |
14th | 24 October 1314 | 1314/15 | 20 January 1315 | 9 March 1315 | Geoffrey Glogon |
15th | 16 October 1315 | 1315/16 | 27 January 1316 | 20 February 1316 | no return |
16th | 24โ25 August 1318 | 1318 | 20 October 1318 | 9 December 1318 | Henry Oliver | Geoffrey de Blunham |
17th | 20 March 1319 | 1319 | 6 May 1319 | 25 May 1319 | Simon de Bydenham | Ralph le Collere |
19th | 5 August 1320 | 1320 | 6 October 1320 | 25/26 October 1320 | Richard de Cave | Thomas Halyday |
20th | 15 May 1321 | 1321 | 15 July 1321 | 22 August 1321 | John de Soham | Richard le Ussher |
21st | 14 March 1322 | 1322 | 2 May 1322 | 19 May 1322 | Simon de Knightwyk | William Costantyn |
22nd | 18 September 1322 | 1322 | 14 November 1322 | 29 November 1322 | Richard de Cave |
23rd | 20 November 1323 | 1323/24 | 23 February 1324 | 18 March 1324 | Thomas Halyday | Roger atte Wal |
24th | 6 May 1325 | 1325 | 25 June 1325 | ... | unknown | unknown |
25th | 10 October 1325 | 1325 | 18 November 1325 | 5 December 1325 | unknown | unknown |
26th | 28 October 1326 | 1326/27 | 7 January 1327 | 20 January 1327 | Hugh Balle | Hugh Cok |
1377โ1427
Year | First member | Second member |
1377 (Jan) | Thomas Jordan [3] | |
1380 (Jan) | Thomas Jordan [3] | |
1381 | John Wright [4] |
1382 | Roger Kempston [5] | |
1384 (Apr) | William Clerevaux[6] | |
1385 | William Clerevaux [6] | Thomas Frereman |
1386 | William Clerevaux | Thomas Bedford |
1388 (Feb) | William Clerevaux | Thomas Frereman |
1388 (Sep) | Roger Kempston | William Barber |
1390 (Jan) | William Clerevaux | Thomas Frereman |
1390 (Nov) | | |
1391 | Henry West | John Wright |
1393 | Thomas Bedford | John Tyringham |
1394 | Thomas Bedford | William Cotterstock |
1395 | Thomas Bedford | William Cotterstock |
1397 (Jan) | Thomas Bedford | William Cotterstock |
1397 (Sep) | Thomas Jordan | William Brown |
1399 | Richard Bethewater | Ralph Pyrewelle |
1401 |
1402 | Thomas Bedford | Roger Tunstall |
1404 (Jan) |
1404 (Oct) |
1406 | John Grey | John Kent |
1407 |
1410 |
1411 |
1413(Feb) |
1413 (May) | Thomas Bedford | William Cotterstock |
1414 (Apr) |
1414 (Nov) | William Dowe | William Wallyngton |
1415 |
1416 (Mar) |
1416 (Oct) |
1417 | John Frepurs | Richard Marston |
1419 | John Lyt.. | |
1420 | Thomas Hunt | William Hunt |
1421 (May) | Thomas Ferrour | John Leighton |
1421 (Dec) | Thomas Bole | Thomas Kempston |
1427 | John Frepurs[7] | |
Parliaments of King Edward IV
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 23 May 1461 | 1461 | 4 November 1461 | 6 May 1462 | unknown | unknown |
2nd | 22 December 1462 | 1462/63 | 29 April 1463 | 28 March 1465 | unknown | unknown |
3rd | 28 February 1467 | 1467 | 3 June 1467 | 7 June 1468 | John Boston | William Colet, jnr. |
4th | 19 August 1472 | 1472 | 6 October 1472 | 14 March 1475 | Thomas Adams |
5th | 20 November 1477 | 1477/78 | 16 January 1478 | 26 February 1478 | William Colet |
6th | 15 November 1482 | 1482/83 | 20 January 1483 | 18 February 1483 | unknown | unknown |
Parliament of King Richard III
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 9 December 1483 | 1483/84 | 23 January 1484 | 20 February 1484 | unknown | unknown |
Parliaments of King Henry VII
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 15 September 1485 | 1485 | 7 November 1485 | c. 4 March 1486 | unknown | unknown |
2nd | ... | 1487 | 9 November 1487 | c. 18 December 1487 | unknown | unknown |
3rd | ... | ?1488/89 | 13 January 1489 | 27 February 1490 | unknown | unknown |
4th | 12 August 1491 | 1491 | 17 October 1491 | 5 March 1492 | unknown | unknown |
5th | 15 September 1495 | 1495 | 14 October 1495 | 21โ22 December 1495 | unknown | unknown |
6th | 20 November 1496 | 1496/97 | 16 January 1497 | 13 March 1497 | unknown | unknown |
7th | ... | ?1503/04 | 25 January 1504 | c. 1 April 1504 | unknown | unknown |
Parliaments of King Henry VIII
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 17 October 1509 | 1509/10 | 21 January 1510 | 23 February 1510 | unknown | unknown |
2nd | 28 November 1511 | 1511/12 | 4 February 1512 | 4 March 1514 | unknown | unknown |
3rd | 23 November 1514 | 1514/15 | 5 February 1515 | 22 December 1515 | unknown | unknown |
4th | ... | 1523 | 15 April 1523 | 13 August 1523 | unknown | unknown |
5th | 9 August 1529 | 1529 | 3 November 1529 | 14 April 1536 | John Baker | William Bourne |
6th | 27 April 1536 | 1536 | 8 June 1536 | 18 July 1536 | unknown | unknown |
7th | 1 March 1539 | 1539 | 28 April 1539 | 24 July 1540 | William Johnson | unknown |
8th | 23 November 1541 | 1541/42 | 16 January 1542 | 28 March 1544 | William Johnson | Michael Thrayle |
9th | 1 December 1544 | 1544/45 | 23 November 1545 | 31 January 1547 | George Blagge | Henry Parker |
Parliaments of King Edward VI
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 2 August 1547 | 1547 | 4 November 1547 | 15 April 1552 | Gerard Harvey alias Smart | George Wright |
2nd | 5 January 1553 | 1553 | 1 March 1553 | 31 March 1553 | Thomas Leigh | William Godolphin |
Parliaments of Queen Mary I
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 14 August 1553 | 1553 | 5 October 1553 | 5 December 1553 | Edmund Mordaunt | Thomas Leigh |
2nd | 17 February 1554 | 1554 | 2 April 1554 | 3 May 1554 |
3rd | 3 October 1554 | 1554 | 12 November 1554 | 16 January 1555 | William Hall | John Williams |
4th | 3 September 1555 | 1555 | 21 October 1555 | 9 December 1555 | unknown | unknown |
5th | 6 December 1557 | 1557/58 | 20 January 1558 | 17 November 1558 | George Gascoigne | Thomas Leigh |
Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth I
No. | Summoned | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member | 2nd member |
1st | 5 December 1558 | 28 December 1558 | 23 January 1559 | 8 May 1559 | Thomas Leigh | George Gascoigne |
2nd | 10 November 1562 | 1562/63 | 11 January 1563 | 2 January 1567 | Oliver St John | John Burgoyne |
3rd | ... | 1571 | 2 April 1571 | 29 May 1571 | Henry Cheeke | Robert Hatley |
4th | 28 March 1572 | 1572 | 8 May 1572 | 19 April 1583 | Henry Cheeke | Michael Hawtry |
5th | 12 October 1584 | 1584 | 23 November 1584 | 14 September 1585 | John Puckering | Nicholas Potts |
6th | 15 September 1586 | 1586 | 15 October 1586 | 23 March 1587 | William Boteler | Thomas Snagge |
7th | 18 September 1588 | 1588/89 | 4 February 1589 | 29 March 1589 | John Pigott |
8th | 4 January 1593 | 1593 | 18 February 1593 | 10 April 1593 | Humphrey Winch |
9th | 23 August 1597 | 1597 | 24 October 1597 | 9 February 1598 | Oliver Luke |
10th | 11 September 1601 | 7 October 1601 | 27 October 1601 | 19 December 1601 | Thomas Fanshawe |
Parliaments of King James I
Parliaments of King Charles I
Parliaments of the Protectorate
No. | Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | 1st member |
1st | July 1654 | 3 September 1654 | 22 January 1655 | Bulstrode Whitelocke |
4 November 1654 | Henry Chester |
2nd | 1656 | 17 September 1656 | 4 February 1658 | Thomas Margets |
3rd | 1659 | 27 January 1659 | 22 April 1659 | Thomas Margets Samuel Browne |
MPs 1660โ1885
- Reduced to one member (1885)
MPs 1885โ1983
MPs since 1997
Notes
- โ A double return was made for Kelying and Sir Samuel Luke; Kelyng was allowed to sit
- โ A double return was made for Christie and Sir William Francklyn in 1690; Christie was allowed to sit
- โ Declared elected and Brace unseated on petition
- โ Declared elected and Sparrow unseated on petition
- โ At the election of 1837, Stuart was initially declared elected, but on petition his election was declared void and after scrutiny of the votes his opponent Crawley was declared elected instead
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Election in the 1940s
Election in the 1930s
Election in the 1920s
Election in the 1910s
F.G. Kellaway
- endorsed by the Coalition Government
General Election 1914/15
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
F.G. Kellaway
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
See also
Notes
- โ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- โ 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.
- โ a 5th baronet, the lowest order of nobility
References
- โ "Bedford: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- โ "Electorate Figures โ Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- 1 2 "JORDAN, Thomas, of Bedford.". historyofparliamentonline.org.
- โ "WRIGHT, John, of Bedford.". historyofparliamentonline.org.
- โ "KEMPSTON, Roger, of Bedford.". historyofparliamentonline.org.
- 1 2 "CLEREVAUX, William, of Bedford.". historyofparliamentonline.org.
- โ "FREPURS, John, of Bedford.". historyofparliamentonline.org.
- โ Double return for April 1640 -William Boteler taken off
- 1 2 3 4 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs โ Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
- โ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- โ "Ben Foley to contest Bedford & Kempston Constituency for Greens". Bedfordshire News.
- โ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- โ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- โ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- โ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
Sources
- Beatson, Robert (1807). A chronological register of both houses of the British Parliament, Volume II.
- F. W. S. Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832โ1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
- F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918โ1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
- Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition โ London: St Martin's Press, 1961)
- T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 โ England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
- Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig โ Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
- The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)