West Derbyshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of West Derbyshire in Derbyshire for the 2005 general election
Outline map
Location of Derbyshire within England
CountyDerbyshire
Major settlementsBakewell, Matlock, Wirksworth
1885–2010
SeatsOne
Created fromNorth Derbyshire
Replaced byDerbyshire Dales

West Derbyshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885, until it was replaced by the Derbyshire Dales constituency in the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. It was a safe Conservative seat for most of its existence.

Boundaries

This was the only really safe Conservative seat in Derbyshire, consisting mostly of rural villages and tourist towns like Bakewell and Matlock; Labour's only strengths were in Wirksworth and Masson, not enough to end the long-standing Conservative representation of this seat.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Derbyshire, the Boundary Commission for England created a new constituency of Derbyshire Dales based on the existing West Derbyshire constituency.

History

Historically associated with the Cavendish family, the seat and its predecessors were usually represented by one of the future Dukes of Devonshire or their relatives from 1580 until the Second World War. When the Cavendish family left the Liberals over Irish Home Rule the seat stayed loyal to them as they sat first as Liberal Unionists then as Conservatives. In 1918 the hold on the constituency was briefly broken by Charles Frederick White standing for the Liberals, but the seat was regained in 1923. In a by-election in 1944, White's son, also called Charles Frederick White resigned as the official Labour nominee in order to stand against the wartime party truce. He defeated the Conservative candidate, William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, and subsequently took the Labour whip in the Commons, holding the seat in the 1945 general election for Labour. The Conservatives regained the seat in the 1950 general election and have held it ever since. The closest they have come to losing was in the 1986 by-election when they held it by only 100 votes in a period of heavy unpopularity for the government of Margaret Thatcher.

Members of Parliament

YearMember[1]Whip
1885 Lord Edward CavendishLiberal
1886Liberal Unionist
1891Victor CavendishLiberal Unionist
1908Earl of KerryLiberal Unionist
1918Charles WhiteLiberal
1923Marquess of HartingtonUnionist
1938Henry HunlokeConservative
1944 Charles White Jr.Independent Labour
1945Labour
1950Edward WakefieldConservative
1962Aidan CrawleyConservative
1967James Scott-HopkinsConservative
1979Matthew ParrisConservative
1986Patrick McLoughlinConservative
2010 Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: West Derbyshire [2][3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Cavendish 5,020 54.8
Conservative Frederic Charles Arkwright 4,138 45.2
Majority 882 9.6
Turnout 9,158 88.8
Registered electors 10,310
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: West Derbyshire [2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Edward Cavendish Unopposed
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

1891 West Derbyshire by-election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold
General election 1892: West Derbyshire [3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish 5,961 68.3 N/A
Liberal Hugh MacDermot 2,768 31.7 New
Majority 3,193 36.6 N/A
Turnout 8,729 73.0 N/A
Registered electors 11,956
Liberal Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 1895: West Derbyshire [3][6][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Derbyshire [3][6][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold
1900 West Derbyshire by-election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold
General election 1906: West Derbyshire [3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Victor Cavendish 5,283 52.8 N/A
Liberal Edward Hinmers 4,724 47.2 New
Majority 559 5.6 N/A
Turnout 10,007 87.5 N/A
Registered electors 11,443
Liberal Unionist hold Swing N/A
1908 West Derbyshire by-election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: West Derbyshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 5,974 54.8 +2.0
Liberal Edward Hinmers 4,925 45.2 −2.0
Majority 1,049 9.6 +4.0
Turnout 10,899 91.1 +3.6
Registered electors 11,962
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +2.0
White
General election December 1910: West Derbyshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 5,624 55.2 +0.4
Liberal Charles White 4,564 44.8 −0.4
Majority 1,060 10.4 +0.8
Turnout 10,188 85.2 −5.9
Registered electors 11,962
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +0.4

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

White
General election 1918: Derbyshire West[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles White 10,752 55.6 +10.8
C Unionist Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 8,592 44.4 −10.8
Majority 2,160 11.2 N/A
Turnout 19,344 66.0 −19.2
Registered electors 29,323
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +10.8
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Derbyshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles White 13,060 50.2 −5.4
Unionist Edward Cavendish 12,973 49.8 +5.4
Majority 87 0.4 −10.8
Turnout 26,033 86.1 +20.1
Registered electors 30,231
Liberal hold Swing −5.4
General election 1923: Derbyshire West [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Edward Cavendish 13,419 50.9 +1.1
Liberal William Christopher Mallison 12,966 49.1 −1.1
Majority 453 1.8 N/A
Turnout 26,385 84.9 −1.2
Registered electors 31,067
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +1.1
General election 1924: Derbyshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Edward Cavendish 15,324 56.9 +6.0
Liberal William Christopher Mallison 11,612 43.1 −6.0
Majority 3,712 13.8 +12.0
Turnout 26,936 84.8 −0.1
Registered electors 31,757
Unionist hold Swing +6.0
General election 1929: Derbyshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Edward Cavendish 16,760 49.7 −7.2
Liberal William Christopher Mallison 13,277 39.4 −3.7
Labour William Wilkinson 3,660 10.9 New
Majority 3,483 10.3 −3.5
Turnout 33,697 83.2 −1.6
Registered electors 40,487
Unionist hold Swing −1.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Cavendish Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1935: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Cavendish Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing
1938 West Derbyshire by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Hunloke 16,740 48.6 N/A
Labour Charles White 11,216 32.5 New
Liberal Milner Gray 6,515 18.9 New
Majority 5,524 16.1 N/A
Turnout 34,471 79.4 N/A
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;

Elections in the 1940s

1944 West Derbyshire by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Labour Charles White 16,336 57.7 N/A
Conservative Marquess of Hartington 11,775 41.5 N/A
Agriculturalist Robert Goodall 233 0.8 New
Majority 4,561 16.2 N/A
Turnout 28,344 65.4 N/A
Independent Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1945: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Charles White 18,331 48.8 +16.3
Conservative William Aitken 18,175 48.4 −0.2
Agriculturalist Robert Goodall 1,068 2.8 N/A
Majority 156 0.4 N/A
Turnout 37,574 81.7 +2.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 20,015 51.9 +3.5
Labour N. Gratton 13,478 35.0 −13.8
Liberal George Frederick Strange 5,070 13.2 New
Majority 6,537 16.9 N/A
Turnout 33,563 87.5 +5.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1951: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 22,223 58.8 +6.9
Labour Ronald Lewis 15,578 41.2 +6.2
Majority 6,645 17.6 +0.7
Turnout 37,801 84.4 −3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1955: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 21,052 59.6 +0.8
Labour Robert B. Stirling 14,296 40.4 −0.8
Majority 6,756 19.2 +1.6
Turnout 35,348 80.0 −4.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wakefield 22,034 61.3 +1.7
Labour Albert E. Kitts 13,925 38.7 −1.7
Majority 8,109 22.6 +3.5
Turnout 35,959 82.0 +2.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1962 West Derbyshire by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 12,455 36.0 −25.3
Liberal Ronald Gardner-Thorpe 11,235 32.5 New
Labour John Dilks 9,431 27.2 −11.5
Independent Raymond Gregory 1,433 4.1 New
Majority 1,220 3.5 −19.1
Turnout 34,554
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 16,825 44.2 −18.1
Liberal Ronald Gardner-Thorpe 11,559 30.4 N/A
Labour John Dilks 9,669 25.4 −13.3
Majority 5,266 13.8 −8.8
Turnout 38,053 85.8 +3.8
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Aidan Crawley 18,383 49.6 +5.4
Labour Phillip Whitehead 13,791 37.2 +11.8
Liberal Peggy Edwards 4,874 13.2 −17.2
Majority 4,592 12.4 −1.4
Turnout 37,048 83.4 −2.4
Conservative hold Swing
1967 West Derbyshire by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 16,319 56.7 +7.1
Liberal Michael Aza Pinney 5,696 19.8 +6.6
Labour Robin Corbett 5,284 18.3 −18.9
Independent Robert Goodall 1,496 5.2 New
Majority 10,623 36.9 +24.5
Turnout 28,795 64.5 −18.9
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 22,692 61.9 +12.3
Labour Fred Inglis 13,976 38.1 +0.9
Majority 8,716 23.8 +11.4
Turnout 36,668 76.7 −6.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 19,941 48.7 −13.2
Liberal Peter Worboys 11,481 28.0 New
Labour Fred Inglis 9,529 23.3 −14.8
Majority 8,460 20.7 −3.1
Turnout 40,951 61.8 −14.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Scott-Hopkins 18,468 47.9 −0.8
Liberal Peter Worboys 10,622 27.6 −0.4
Labour David Townsend 9,456 24.5 +1.2
Majority 7,846 20.3 −0.4
Turnout 38,546 57.6 −4.2
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: West Derbyshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Parris 21,478 52.6 +4.7
Liberal Peter Worboys 11,261 27.6 0.0
Labour William Moore 8,134 19.9 −4.6
Majority 10,217 25.0 +4.7
Turnout 40,873 80.7 +23.1
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: West Derbyshire[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Parris 29,695 55.9 +3.3
Liberal Viv Bingham 14,370 27.0 −0.6
Labour John March 9,060 17.1 −2.8
Majority 15,325 28.9 +3.9
Turnout 53,125 77.4 −3.3
Conservative hold Swing
1986 West Derbyshire by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 19,896 39.5 −16.4
Liberal Christopher Walmsley 19,796 39.4 +12.4
Labour William Moore 9,952 19.8 +2.7
Rainbow Dream Ticket R. C. Sidwell 348 0.7 New
Independent Robert Goodall 289 0.6 New
Majority 100 0.1 −28.8
Turnout 50,281 71.9 −5.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: West Derbyshire[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 31,224 53.1 −2.8
Liberal Christopher Walmsley 20,697 35.2 +8.2
Labour William Moore 6,875 11.7 −5.4
Majority 10,527 17.9 −11.0
Turnout 58,796 83.1 +5.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: West Derbyshire[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 32,879 54.3 +1.2
Liberal Democrats RD Fearn 14,110 23.3 −11.9
Labour Stephen J Clamp 13,528 22.4 +10.7
Majority 18,769 31.0 +13.1
Turnout 60,517 85.0 +1.9
Conservative hold Swing +6.6
General election 1997: West Derbyshire[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 23,945 42.1
Labour Stephen J Clamp 19,060 33.5
Liberal Democrats Christopher Seeley 9,940 17.5
Referendum John Gouriet 2,499 4.4 New
Independent Green Godfrey Meynell 593 1.0 New
UKIP Hugh Price 484 0.9 New
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 281 0.5 New
Independent Back to Basics Martin Kyslun 81 0.1 New
Majority 4,885 8.6
Turnout 56,883 78.2
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: West Derbyshire[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 24,280 48.0 +5.9
Labour Stephen J Clamp 16,910 33.4 −0.1
Liberal Democrats Jeremy Beckett 7,922 15.7 −1.8
UKIP Stuart Bavester 672 1.3 +0.4
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 472 0.9 +0.4
Independent Robert Goodall 333 0.7 New
Majority 7,370 14.6 +6.0
Turnout 50,589 67.8 −10.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2005: West Derbyshire[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 24,378 47.7 −0.3
Labour David Menon 13,625 26.6 −6.8
Liberal Democrats Ray Dring 11,408 22.3 +6.6
UKIP Michael Cruddas 1,322 2.6 +1.3
Monster Raving Loony "The Flying Brick" Delves 405 0.8 −0.1
Independent Martin Kyslun 5 0.0 New
Majority 10,753 21.0 +6.4
Turnout 51,143 69.2 +1.4
Conservative hold Swing +3.2

See also

Notes and references

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
  2. 1 2 British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  4. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  6. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  7. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  8. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  9. ↑ British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 by FWS Craig
  10. ↑ Derby Daily Telegraph, 10 Jan 1938
  11. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  15. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

53°06′N 1°39′W / 53.10°N 1.65°W / 53.10; -1.65

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