Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Gainsborough
County constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Gainsborough in the East Midlands
County	Lincolnshire
Electorate	74,750 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Market Rasen, Caistor, and Gainsborough
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Gainsborough and Horncastle
1885–1983
Seats	One
Created from	North Lincolnshire
Replaced by	Gainsborough and Horncastle and Boothferry [2]

Gainsborough is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Sir Edward Leigh of the Conservative Party, who, since the 2024 general election, is the Father of the House. ^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

Gainsborough is a constituency located in Lincolnshire and is coterminous with the local government district of West Lindsey. It covers a large rural area north of the city of Lincoln. Its largest settlement is the market town of Gainsborough, which has a population of around 21,000. ^[3] The town has a history of industry, particularly ironworking, and currently falls within the top 10% most-deprived areas in England. ^[4] Other settlements in the constituency include the small towns of Market Rasen and Caistor and the villages of Saxilby, Nettleham, Welton and Scotter. The rural areas are agricultural and generally wealthier than Gainsborough. ^[4] House prices in the constituency are lower than the rest of the East Midlands and considerably lower than the national average. ^[5]

In general, residents of the constituency are older and more religious than the rest of the country. Levels of education, wealth and professional employment are similar to national averages. White people made up 97% of the population at the 2021 census. ^[5] At the local council level, Gainsborough and Market Rasen are mostly represented by Liberal Democrats whilst the rest of the constituency elected predominantly Conservatives (to the district council) or Reform UK (to the county council). Voters strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum with an estimated 62% voting in favour of Brexit compared to 52% nationwide. ^[5]

History

The constituency was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 that year, which lasted until it was reformed as Gainsborough and Horncastle on a boundary change for the 1983 election. That seat lasted until 1997, as from the mid-1990s population changes led to removal of Horncastle from the seat and recreation of the old seat with largely similar boundaries. The seat has elected Conservative MPs since 1924 and is a stronghold, as well as giving its MPs very long tenures, having been represented by only three people since 1924.

Boundaries

The constituency is named for its largest town of Gainsborough, on the western edge of the constituency.

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Lincoln, the Sessional Divisions of Epworth, Gainsborough, Lincoln, and the parish of Bracebridge.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Crowle and Gainsborough, and the Rural Districts of Gainsborough, Isle of Axholme, and Welton.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Gainsborough and Market Rasen, and the Rural Districts of Caistor, Gainsborough, Isle of Axholme, and Welton.

Constituency was abolished in 1983 and re-established in 1997

1997–2010: The District of West Lindsey, and the District of East Lindsey wards of Binbrook and Wragby.

2010–2024: The District of West Lindsey, and the District of East Lindsey ward of Wragby.

2024–present: The District of West Lindsey. ^[6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1983

North Lincolnshire prior to 1885

Year		Member	Party
	1885	Joseph Bennett	Liberal
	1886	Henry Eyre	Conservative
	1892	Joseph Bennett	Liberal
	1895	Emerson Bainbridge	Liberal
	1900	Seymour Fitzroy Ormsby-Gore	Conservative
	1906	Leslie Renton	Liberal
	1907		Liberal Unionist
	1910	George Jackson Bentham	Liberal
	1918	John Molson	Unionist
	1923	Richard Winfrey	Liberal
	1924	Harry Crookshank	Conservative
	1956 by-election	Marcus Kimball	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Gainsborough and Horncastle prior to 1997

Year		Member	Party
	1997	Sir Edward Leigh	Conservative

Elections

Gainsborough election results 1997–2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Gainsborough ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	16,636	35.6	−30.7
	Labour	Jess McGuire	13,104	28.1	+6.9
	Reform	Pat O'Connor	9,916	21.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rollings	5,001	10.7	+0.3
	Green	Vanessa Smith	1,832	3.9	New
	SDP	Tim Mellors	196	0.4	New
Majority			3,532	7.6	−37.4
Turnout			46,685	61.8	−5.1
Registered electors			75,836
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.8

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Gainsborough ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	33,893	66.4	+4.6
	Labour	Perry Smith	10,926	21.4	−7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rollings	5,157	10.1	+3.0
	Independent	Mary Cavill	1,070	2.1	New
Majority			22,967	45.0	+11.9
Turnout			51,046	66.9	−1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.95

General election 2017: Gainsborough ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	31,790	61.8	+9.1
	Labour	Catherine Tite	14,767	28.7	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rollings	3,630	7.1	+0.4
	Green	Victoria Pearson	1,238	2.4	−0.2
Majority			17,023	33.1	+1.7
Turnout			51,575	68.0	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.85

General election 2015: Gainsborough ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	25,949	52.7	+3.4
	Labour	David Prescott	10,500	21.3	+5.7
	UKIP	John Saxon [12]	7,727	15.7	+11.5
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rollings	3,290	6.7	−21.1
	Green	Geoff Barnes	1,290	2.6	New
	Lincolnshire Independent	Chris Darcel	505	1.0	New
Majority			15,449	31.4	+9.9
Turnout			48,261	67.3	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.15

General election 2010: Gainsborough ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	24,266	49.3	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Pat O'Connor	13,707	27.8	+1.8
	Labour	Jamie McMahon	7,701	15.6	−10.5
	UKIP	Steven Pearson	2,065	4.2	+0.1
	BNP	Malcolm Porter	1,512	3.1	New
Majority			10,559	21.5	+4.0
Turnout			49,251	68.3	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Gainsborough ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	20,040	43.9	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Heath	12,037	26.4	−0.3
	Labour	John Knight	11,744	25.7	−1.4
	UKIP	Steven Pearson	1,860	4.1	New
Majority			8,003	17.5	−1.6
Turnout			45,681	64.6	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0

General election 2001: Gainsborough ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	19,555	46.2	+3.1
	Labour	Alan Rhodes	11,484	27.1	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Taylor	11,280	26.7	−1.4
Majority			8,071	19.1	+4.8
Turnout			42,319	64.2	−10.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

Sir Edward Leigh

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Gainsborough ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh	20,593	43.1
	Labour	Paul Taylor	13,767	28.8
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Taylor	13,436	28.1	−1.5
Majority			6,826	14.3
Turnout			47,796	74.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1885–1979

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Bennett	4,955	56.3
	Conservative	Charles Alexander Sim	3,850	43.7
Majority			1,105	12.6
Turnout			8,805	79.3
Registered electors			11,107
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Eyre	4,123	50.5	+6.8
	Liberal	Joseph Bennett	4,038	49.5	−6.8
Majority			85	1.0	N/A
Turnout			8,161	73.5	−5.8
Registered electors			11,107
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Bennett	4,945	55.1	+5.6
	Conservative	Henry Eyre	4,037	44.9	−5.6
Majority			908	10.2	N/A
Turnout			8,982	77.8	+4.3
Registered electors			11,546
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.6

Emerson Bainbridge

General election 1895: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Emerson Bainbridge	5,077	54.1	−1.0
	Conservative	Edward Pearson	4,301	45.9	+1.0
Majority			776	8.2	−2.0
Turnout			9,378	71.8	−6.0
Registered electors			13,057
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seymour Fitzroy Ormsby-Gore	4,661	50.2	+4.3
	Liberal	Emerson Bainbridge	4,624	49.8	−4.3
Majority			37	0.4	N/A
Turnout			9,285	75.3	+3.5
Registered electors			12,328
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.3

Leslie Renton

General election 1906: Gainsborough ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Leslie Renton	5,922	53.9	+4.1
	Conservative	Charles Algernon Moreing	5,071	46.1	−4.1
Majority			851	7.8	N/A
Turnout			10,993	88.9	+13.6
Registered electors			12,370
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.1

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Gainsborough ^{[18] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Jackson Bentham	6,178	52.2	−1.7
	Conservative	Robert Henderson	5,663	47.8	+1.7
Majority			515	4.4	−3.4
Turnout			11,841	89.9	+1.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.7

General election December 1910: Gainsborough ^{[18] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Jackson Bentham	5,825	50.3	−1.9
	Conservative	Archibald Weigall	5,745	49.7	+1.9
Majority			80	0.6	−3.8
Turnout			11,570	87.9	−2.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.9

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: George Jackson Bentham
• Unionist: John Molson

General election 1918: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	John Molson	8,634	56.8	+7.1
	Liberal	George Jackson Bentham	6,556	43.2	−7.1
Majority			2,078	13.6	N/A
Turnout			15,190	55.2	−32.7
Registered electors			27,503
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.1
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Molson	9,015	42.7	−14.1
	Liberal	Joel Seaverns	7,216	34.2	−9.0
	Labour	James Read	4,884	23.1	New
Majority			1,799	8.5	−5.1
Turnout			21,115	77.6	+22.4
Registered electors			27,219
	Unionist hold		Swing	−2.6

Richard Winfrey

General election 1923: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Winfrey	9,694	47.1	+12.9
	Unionist	John Molson	7,841	38.1	−4.6
	Labour	James Read	3,039	14.8	−8.3
Majority			1,853	9.0	N/A
Turnout			20,574	75.4	−2.2
Registered electors			27,294
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+8.8

General election 1924: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Crookshank	10,281	47.1	+9.0
	Labour	F J Knowles	5,958	27.3	+12.5
	Liberal	Richard Winfrey	5,590	25.6	−21.5
Majority			4,323	19.8	N/A
Turnout			21,829	79.0	+3.6
Registered electors			27,619
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	−1.8

Arthur Neal

General election 1929: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Harry Crookshank	10,058	37.1	−10.0
	Liberal	Arthur Neal	9,991	36.9	+11.3
	Labour	George Deer	7,032	26.0	−1.3
Majority			67	0.2	−19.6
Turnout			27,081	79.7	−0.7
Registered electors			33,977
	Unionist hold		Swing	−10.7

Election in the 1930s

Henry Purchase

General election 1931: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	14,839	51.7	+14.6
	Liberal	Henry Purchase	8,009	27.9	−9.0
	Labour	George Deer	5,856	20.4	−5.6
Majority			6,830	23.8	+23.6
Turnout			28,704	83.2	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	12,597	44.8	−6.9
	Liberal	John Johnson Till Ferens	10,840	38.5	+10.6
	Labour	E Pittwood	4,698	16.7	−3.7
Majority			1,757	6.3	−17.5
Turnout			28,135	80.4	−2.8
	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: Harry Crookshank,
• Liberal: Margaret Wintringham

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	11,081	38.5	−6.3
	Labour	Gerald Samson Saville	9,436	32.8	+16.1
	Liberal	Roy Desmond Robinson	8,284	28.8	−9.7
Majority			1,645	5.7	−0.6
Turnout			28,801	75.2	−5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	17,066	41.4
	Labour	Gerald Samson Saville	14,890	36.1
	Liberal	Henry Ivan Spence	9,276	22.5
Majority			2,176	5.3
Turnout			41,232	83.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Gainsborough ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	19,915	49.1	+7.7
	Labour	Gordon RS Hawkins	16,074	39.6	+3.5
	Liberal	John Gregory	4,580	11.3	−11.2
Majority			3,841	9.5	+4.2
Turnout			40,569	80.1	−3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Gainsborough ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Crookshank	22,576	55.8	+6.7
	Labour	Gordon RS Hawkins	17,107	44.2	+4.6
Majority			4,469	11.6	+2.1
Turnout			39,683	76.8	−3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

1956 Gainsborough by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	12,836	40.8	−15.0
	Labour	Henry Walston	11,830	37.6	−6.6
	Liberal	Henry Ivan Spence	6,806	21.6	New
Majority			1,006	3.2	−8.4
Turnout			31,472
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	20,056	49.6	−6.2
	Labour	Henry Walston	13,247	32.8	−11.4
	Liberal	Roy Douglas	7,147	17.7	N/A
Majority			6,809	16.8	+5.2
Turnout			40,450	80.8	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	19,235	47.7	−1.9
	Labour	Douglas Poirier	12,126	30.1	−2.7
	Liberal	Roy Douglas	8,930	22.2	+4.5
Majority			7,109	17.6	+0.8
Turnout			40,291	78.2	−2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	18,770	47.2	−0.5
	Labour	Alan Day	14,904	37.5	+7.4
	Liberal	Geoffrey R S Stevenson	6,064	15.3	−6.9
Majority			3,866	9.7	−7.9
Turnout			39,738	75.8	−2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.95

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	22,163	50.2	+3.0
	Labour	Maurice P Tracy	14,454	32.7	−4.8
	Liberal	Roger Blackmore	7,543	17.1	+1.8
Majority			7,709	17.5	+7.8
Turnout			44,163	74.6	−1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	22,177	44.2	−6.0
	Liberal	Roger Blackmore	15,967	31.8	+14.7
	Labour	Terry J Lansbury	12,011	24.0	−8.7
Majority			6,210	12.4	−5.1
Turnout			50,155	82.0	+7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	19,163	41.5	−2.7
	Liberal	Roger Blackmore	15,195	32.9	+1.1
	Labour	Terry J Lansbury	11,797	25.6	+1.6
Majority			3,968	8.6	−3.8
Turnout			46,155	74.8	−7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Gainsborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Kimball	24,040	46.4	+4.9
	Liberal	Roger Blackmore	16,885	32.6	−0.3
	Labour	Willy Bach	10,335	20.0	−5.6
	Ind. Conservative	R E August	570	1.1	New
Majority			7,155	13.8	+5.2
Turnout			51,830	79.0	+4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Election results following boundary changes

For 1983 – 1992, see Gainsborough and Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire
• The town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. 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.

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – East Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
2. "'Gainsborough', Feb 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
3. "Gainsborough". City population. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
4. "Constituency data: Deprivation in England". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
5. "Seat Details - Gainsborough". electoralcalculus.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part I.
7. "Gainsborough – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
8. "Gainsborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
9. "UK Parliamentary General Election – 8 June 2017". West Lindsey District Council. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Gainsborough parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
12. "UKIP candidate John Saxon will challenge veteran Tory Sir Edward Leigh's seat in Gainsborough and Market Rasen". Lincolnshire Echo. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "UK > England > East Midlands > Gainsborough". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
15. "Election Data 2005". 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 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig
19. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
20. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
21. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
22. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
23. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
24. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.

Sources

• Craig, F W S (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)

External links

• Gainsborough UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Gainsborough UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Gainsborough UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Worthing West	Constituency represented by the father of the House 2024–	Incumbent

53°21′N0°30′W / 53.35°N 0.50°W / 53.35; -0.50