Cockermouth was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295, and again from 1641, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was a parliamentary borough represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868, and by one member from 1868 to 1885. The name was then transferred to a county constituency electing one MP from 1885 until 1918.

Notable MPs have included the regicide, Francis Allen.

The borough constituency (until 1885)

Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo

Until the Great Reform Act of 1832, the constituency consisted solely of the market town of Cockermouth in Cumberland. It first returned members to the Model Parliament of 1295, but its franchise then seems to have lapsed until 1641, when the Long Parliament passed a resolution (15 February 1641) to restore its ancient privileges.

The right of election in Cockermouth was vested in the burgage tenants of the borough, of whom there were about 300 in 1832. Cockermouth was considered a pocket borough, with the vast majority of the voters being under the influence of the Lowther family.

At the time of the 1831 census, the borough included just over 1,000 houses and had a population of 4,536. The Reform Act expanded the boundaries to bring in the neighbouring parishes of Eaglesfield, Brigham, Papcastle and Bridekirk, and part of Dovenby, increasing the population to 6,022 and encompassing 1,325 houses. This made the borough big enough to retain both its members. However, in the next wave of reform, introduced at the 1868 general election, one of Cockermouth's two seats was withdrawn, and in 1885 the borough was abolished altogether, although the name was transferred to the surrounding county constituency.

The county constituency (1885-1918)

The Cockermouth constituency created in 1885, strictly speaking The Cockermouth Division of Cumberland, was a compact division stretching westwards from Cockermouth to the sea, and including the much larger town of Workington. There was a significant Irish vote, and the Conservative victory in 1885 and subsequent Liberal gain of the seat in 1886 have been attributed to Parnell's shift of support from the one party to the other.

The constituency was divided between the new Workington and Penrith and Cockermouth divisions of Cumberland from 1918.

Members of Parliament

Cockermouth re-enfranchised by Parliament in Nov 1640

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Cockermouth ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Waugh	582	60.5	+3.9
	Conservative	Robert Webster[28]	380	39.5	−3.9
Majority			202	21.0	+7.8
Turnout			962	87.9	+4.9
Registered electors			1,094
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1885: Cockermouth ^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles James Valentine	3,845	50.1	+10.6
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	3,835	49.9	−10.6
Majority			10	0.2	N/A
Turnout			7,680	80.5	−7.4
Registered electors			9,538
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.6

Wilfrid Lawson

General election 1886: Cockermouth ^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	4,130	56.9	+7.0
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Frazer Curwen[31]	3,126	43.1	−7.0
Majority			1,004	13.8	N/A
Turnout			7,256	76.1	−4.4
Registered electors			9,538
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Cockermouth ^[29][30][32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Randles	4,276	51.3	+2.8
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	4,067	48.7	−2.8
Majority			209	2.6	N/A
Turnout			8,343	76.6	−4.2
Registered electors			10,897
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.8

General election 1906: Cockermouth ^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	5,349	52.8	+4.1
	Conservative	John Randles	4,786	47.2	−4.1
Majority			563	5.6	N/A
Turnout			10,135	86.6	+10.0
Registered electors			11,700
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.1

Frederick Guest

1906 Cockermouth by-election^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Randles	4,593	46.2	−1.0
	Liberal	Frederick Guest	3,903	39.3	−13.5
	Labour	Robert Smillie	1,436	14.5	New
Majority			690	6.9	N/A
Turnout			9,932	84.9	−1.7
Registered electors			11,700
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Cockermouth ^[29][33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Randles	4,579	45.2	−1.0
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	3,638	35.9	−3.4
	Labour	James Percy Whitehead	1,909	18.9	+4.4
Majority			941	9.3	+2.4
Turnout			10,126	89.4	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.2

Lawson

General election December 1910: Cockermouth ^[29][33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Wilfrid Lawson	5,003	52.7	+16.8
	Conservative	John Randles	4,492	47.3	+2.1
Majority			511	5.4	N/A
Turnout			9,495	83.8	−5.6
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.4

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Wilfrid Lawson
• Unionist: Daniel Johnston Mason
• Labour:Thomas Cape

1916 Cockermouth by-election^[29][34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Bliss	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal hold

References

• 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)
• F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Michael Kinnear, "The British Voter" (London: Batsford, 1968)
• J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• "The Constitutional Yearbook, 1913" (London: National Unionist Association, 1913)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)