Heywood (UK Parliament constituency)

Heywood
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	South East Lancashire
Replaced by	Heywood and Radcliffe

Heywood was a county constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom which existed between 1885 and 1918. ^[1] Created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was represented by one Member of Parliament. The constituency was abolished in 1918. ^[2]

The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies proposes to re-establish the seat in its revised proposal. ^[3]

Boundaries and History

This area had previously been represented as part of the South East Lancashire multi-seat division. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the former constituency into eight new single-member seats, one of which was designated South-East Lancashire, Heywood Division. ^[4]

The constituency comprised the Municipal Borough of Heywood, the cotton town of Ramsbottom, and a number of surrounding townships, namely: Ainsworth, Ashworth, Pilkington, Tottington Higher End and the rural part of the parish of Spotland. ^[5]

The constituency was mostly industrial but it included some agriculture. The town of Heywood was the most Liberal part of the constituency, having an engineering-based economy; Ramsbottom was more marginal politically. The countryside element of the constituency was Conservative inclined. Overall the division was Liberal 1885–1895, Liberal Unionist 1895–1904 and after a change of allegiance by the sitting MP was Liberal again from 1904 until the constituency was abolished in 1918.

The constituency adjoined Westhoughton to the west, Rossendale to the north, Middleton and Rochdale to the east as well as Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth, Bury, and another part of the Middleton constituency to the south.

The Representation of the People Act 1918 abolished this constituency. The successor seat was Heywood and Radcliffe.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Isaac Hoyle	Liberal
	1892	Thomas Snape	Liberal
	1895	George Kemp	Liberal Unionist
	1904		Liberal
	1906	Sir Edward Holden, Bt	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Harold Thomas Cawley	Liberal
	1915 by-election	Albert Illingworth	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished: see Heywood and Radcliffe

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Kenyon

General election 1885: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Isaac Hoyle	4,538	53.4
	Conservative	James Kenyon	3,955	46.6
Majority			583	6.8
Turnout			8,493	91.6
Registered electors			9,269
	Liberal win (new seat)

Lawson

General election 1886: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Isaac Hoyle	4,206	52.8	−0.6
	Conservative	John Lawson	3,762	47.2	+0.6
Majority			444	5.6	−1.2
Turnout			7,968	86.0	−5.6
Registered electors			9,269
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Snape	4,366	53.8	+1.0
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Henry Hayes Lawrence, 2nd Baronet	3,745	46.2	−1.0
Majority			621	7.6	+2.0
Turnout			8,111	87.7	+1.7
Registered electors			9,251
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.0

Kemp

General election 1895: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	George Kemp	4,489	53.3	+7.1
	Liberal	Thomas Snape	3,933	46.7	−7.1
Majority			556	6.6	N/A
Turnout			8,422	90.2	+2.5
Registered electors			9,334
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	George Kemp	4,657	51.2	−2.1
	Liberal	Edward Holden	4,431	48.8	+2.1
Majority			226	2.4	−4.2
Turnout			9,088	90.7	+0.5
Registered electors			10,022
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-2.1

Holden

General election 1906: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Holden	5,351	55.8	+7.0
	Liberal Unionist	Mervyn Manningham-Buller	4,245	44.2	−7.0
Majority			1,106	11.6	N/A
Turnout			9,596	91.7	+1.0
Registered electors			10,463
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 1910s

Cawley

General election January 1910: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Thomas Cawley	5,809	55.0	−0.8
	Conservative	Mervyn Manningham-Buller	4,750	45.0	+0.8
Majority			1,059	10.0	−1.6
Turnout			10,559	93.1	+1.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.8

General election December 1910: Heywood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Thomas Cawley	5,430	53.9	−1.1
	Conservative	Robert A L Hutchinson	4,641	46.1	+1.1
Majority			789	7.8	−2.2
Turnout			10,071	88.8	−4.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.1

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;

• Liberal: Harold Thomas Cawley
• Unionist: Thomas Fermor-Hesketh ^[7]

Illingworth

1915 Heywood by-election ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Holden Illingworth	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

References

1. "Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832" (PDF). British Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2022.
2. Water-supply Paper. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1931.
3. "North West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
4. Schedule 7: Counties at Large, Number of Members and Names and Contents of Divisions, Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (C.23)
5. F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.II: Northern England, London, 1991
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
7. Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 18 May 1914

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Social Geography of British Elections 1885–1910. by Henry Pelling (Macmillan 1967)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)