Everything about Stamford Uk Parliament Constituency totally explained
Stamford was a
constituency in the county of
Lincolnshire of the
House of Commons for the
Parliament of England to 1706 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 represented by two
Members of Parliament until 1868 when this was reduced to one.
Boundaries
The
parliamentary borough was based upon the town of
Stamford in the Parts of
Kesteven (a traditional sub-division of the county of
Lincolnshire).
When the borough constituency was abolished in 1885, the
Stamford (or South Kesteven) division of Lincolnshire was created. This included the town of Stamford and surrounding territory. The
county division was a considerably larger constituency than the borough one had been.
From the
1885 general election until the dissolution before the
1918 election the constituency was surrounded by to the north
Sleaford; to the east
Spalding; to the south east
Wisbech; to the south
North Northamptonshire; to the south west
Rutland; to the west
Melton and to the north west
Newark. The constituency of
Grantham was an enclave wholly surrounded by Stamford.
History
The
Victoria County History of the County of Lincoln includes some information about the representation of Stamford in early times.
Stamford, on the other hand, which had sent Nicholas de Burton and Clement de Melton to the Parliament of 1295, only exercised what its burghers probably regarded as an onerous privilege once in the reign of Edward II when in 1322 it elected Eustace Malherbe and Hugh de Thurleby.
A further paragraph relates the position before and after the borough began to send representatives regularly in 1467.
Stamford for some 150 years after the reign of Edward II apparently forbore to exercise its onerous privilege of returning members. In the seventeenth century it was afflicted with the usual controversy prevalent in small communities as to where the right of election lay, and the Committee of Privileges reported in 1661 'That the right of election was in such freemen only as paid scot and lot'.
Sedgwick explained in
The House of Commons 1715-1754 that before 1727 the
Bertie and
Cecil families each nominated one member. From 1727 the Cecil interest controlled both seats. An attempt was made by Savile Cust in 1734 to establish an electoral interest in the borough, but when this failed the Cecils were left with a secure
pocket borough.
Namier and Brooke in
The House of Commons 1754-1790 confirmed that before the
Reform Act 1832 the right of election was in the inhabitants of the
parliamentary borough paying
scot and lot, a local tax. They estimated the number of voters at about 500 (unchanged from Sedgwick's estimate for the earlier part of the century). In 1754-1790, despite the comparatively large electorate, the constituency was under the control of
the Earl of Exeter (the head of the senior branch of the House of Cecil) and elections were uncontested formalities.
The Reform Act replaced the scot and lot franchise with an occupation franchise, which slightly reduced the size of the electorate. This was because the value of the property occupation of which conferred a vote, was higher than that for houses upon which scot and lot became payable.
The area was strongly
Tory or
Conservative in politics. From 1801 until 1918 it only twice elected an MP from other parties (a
Whig in 1831 and a
Liberal in 1880). Elections before the
United Kingdom general election, 1874 were usually uncontested.
The borough had some distinguished representatives in the nineteenth century. It returned two of the three members of the triumvirate which attempted to lead the protectionist Tories in the House of Commons. The
Marquess of Granby had little to commend himself as a political leader, apart from the social prestige of being the heir to the
Duke of Rutland. He was briefly sole leader in 1848 before the triumvirate was created in the following year and continued until his resignation in 1851.
J.C. Herries had at least held senior ministerial office. Both the Stamford MPs were easily eclipsed by the rising star of their colleague
Benjamin Disraeli.
A more significant historical figure was Lord Robert Cecil (Viscount Cranborne 1865-1868) who represented the borough between 1853 and 1868. As the
Marquess of Salisbury he was the leading figure in the Conservative Party from the death of Disraeli in 1881 until he retired as Prime Minister in 1902.
Another leading Conservative with connections to the borough was
Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt the party leader in the House of Commons 1876-1885 (from 1881 at the same time as Salisbury was leader in the House of Lords). Northcote was a Stamford MP from 1858 to 1866.
Under the
Reform Act 1867 the borough electorate was expanded, but it lost one seat in Parliament from the
United Kingdom general election, 1868.
The
Representation of the People Act 1884 further expanded the electorate. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 abolished the borough constituency but created an expanded county division of the same name. These changes took effect with the
United Kingdom general election, 1885.
Under the
Representation of the People Act 1918 the electorate was again expanded, but the Stamford area was combined with the county of
Rutland in a new
Rutland and Stamford constituency.
Members of Parliament
1295-1322
- 1295: Nicholas de Burton, Clement de Melton
- 1322: Eustace Malherbe, Hugh de Thurleby
1467-1640
1543(?)-1553: William Cecil
1553: Richard Cooke
1559: William Cooke
1562-1581: (Sir) Thomas Cecil
1604-1611: Henry Hall
1604-1611: Sir Edward Cecil
1614: John Jay
1614-1622: (Sir) Richard Cecil
1621-1622: John Wingfield
1625-1626: Hon. Montagu Bertie
1628-1629: Thomas Hatton
1640-1868
1868-1918
Notes
Election notes
The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).
Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.
Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Namier and Brooke 1754-1790, Stooks Smith 1790-1832 and Craig from the United Kingdom general election, 1832. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information or differs from the other sources this is indicated in a note after the result.
Elections before 1715
Dates of Parliaments 1660-1715
Note:-
The MPs of the Parliament of England (elected 1705) and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain in 1707.
Election results 1715-1800
Elections in the 1710s
Elections in the 1720s
Succession of Cecil as 8th Earl of Exeter
Elections in the 1730s
Seat vacated when Noel was appointed to an office
Elections in the 1740s
Seat vacated when Burghley chose to sit for Rutland
Elections in the 1750s
Elections in the 1760s
Death of Chaplin
Seat vacated on the appointment of Brudenell to an office
Elections in the 1770s
Elections in the 1780s
Elections in the 1790s
Death of Howard
Election Results 1801-1918
Elections in the 1800s
Creation of Carysfort as a peer of the United Kingdom
Death of Leland
Succession of Bertie as the 9th Earl of Lindsey
Note (1809): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for two days
Elections in the 1810s
Note (1812): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for two daysNote (1818): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for one day
Elections in the 1820s
Elections in the 1830s
Note (1830): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for four daysNote (1831): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for three daysNote (1832): Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting and classified Chaplin and Finch as Tories and Gregory as a Whig candidate.
Note (1835): Stooks Smith classified Chaplin and Finch as Tory candidates.Note (1837): Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting and classified Chaplin and Granby as Tories and Langford as a Whig candidate. Langford retired before the poll.
Resignation of Chaplin
Note (1838): Stooks Smith classifies Clerk as a Tory.
Elections in the 1840s
Note (1841): Stooks Smith classified Clerk and Granby as Tory candidates.
Seat vacated on the appointment of Clerk as Master of the Mint
Note (1847): Stooks Smith was the source for the number of electors voting and classified all three candidates as Tories. Stooks Smith has a registered electorate figure of 613, but Craig's figure of 616 is used to calculate turnout.
Elections in the 1850s
Seat vacated on the appointment of Herries as President of the Board of Control for India
Resignation of Herries
Seat vacated on the appointment of Thesiger as Lord Chancellor and his elevation to the peerage as the 1st Baron Chelmsford
Seat vacated on the appointment of Inglis as Lord Justice Clerk with the Scottish judicial title of Lord Glencorse
Elections in the 1860s
Lord Robert Cecil became known by the courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne, following the death of his brother in 1865.
Resignation of Northcote, to contest North Devon, in 1866.
Seats vacated on the appointment of Cranborne as Secretary of State for India and Hay as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.
Succession of Cranborne as the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Succession of Ingestre as the 19th Earl of Shrewsbury
Constituency electorate expanded and representation reduced to one seat, by the Reform Act 1867 with effect from the United Kingdom general election, 1868.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s Electorate expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884 and parliamentary borough abolished and replaced by a county division (under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885) with substantial boundary changes; with effect from the United Kingdom general election, 1885.
Seat vacated on the appointment of Lawrance as a Justice of the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division).
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
Constitiuency abolished (1918}
Sources
Historical list of MPs
Further Information
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