South Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

For the constituency in the south of Northampton, see Northampton South (UK Parliament constituency).

South Northamptonshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Northamptonshire in Northamptonshirefor the 2010 general election
Location of Northamptonshire within England
County	Northamptonshire
Electorate	87,516 (2018) [1]
Major settlements	Brackley, King's Sutton, Towcester
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of Parliament	Andrea Leadsom (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Daventry
1950–1974
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Daventry
Created from	Daventry and Kettering
1832–1918
Number of members	1832–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Replaced by	Daventry
Created from	Northamptonshire

South Northamptonshire is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 recreation by Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative who served as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy until 13 February 2020. She was Leader of the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019, and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2017. ^{[n 2]} The seat of South Northamptonshire is considered a Conservative safe seat with having elected a Conservative MP at every election for 110 Years. Current Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom was re-elected in 2019 with an increased majority.

Constituency profile

This is a rural seat around Towcester and Brackley but also includes the southern edge of Northampton. There is a significant motorsport sector including Silverstone. ^[2] Incomes and house prices are above average for the UK. ^[3]

History

Before 2010, the constituency existed from 1832 to 1918, and from 1950 to 1974, however on different boundaries during each period. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election from 1832, until the representation was reduced in 1885 to one member elected by the first past the post system.

Prominent members

Three names feature prominently among the area's Commons members, the 3rd and 5th Earl Spencer (during their tenures as MP having a courtesy title only, Viscount Althorp – Althorp is a major country house in the seat, well known as the childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales); Edward Fitzroy (son of Lord Southampton), Speaker of the House of Commons from 1928 until his death in 1943; and lastly, Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne who on accomplishment of a peerage sat for the final two years of his life as the historic equivalent of the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom with additional functions, the Lord Chancellor.

In the 19th century history of the seat the Cartwright family (with three members) lived in the stately home Aynhoe Park near Banbury.

History of boundaries

The seat was abolished in 1918 to form the new constituency of Daventry, then recreated in 1950 caused by a relatively short-lived abolition of Daventry. In 1974 the constituency was almost wholly swallowed up by a reborn Daventry, which on wide boundaries saw substantial population growth.

This called for recreation in 2010 whereby most of the electoral wards were taken from the former version of the Daventry seat.

Present bordering constituencies

The constituency is bordered by Daventry and Northampton South to the north, Wellingborough to the north east, Milton Keynes North and Milton Keynes South to the south east, Buckingham to the south, Banbury to the south west and Kenilworth and Southam to the west.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1832–1885: The Hundreds of Kings Sutton, Chipping Warden, Greens Norton, Cleley, Towcester, Fawsley, Wymersley, Spelhoe, Nobottle Grove, and Guilsborough. ^[4]

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Brackley and Towcester, and part of the Sessional Division of Daventry.

1950–1974: The Boroughs of Daventry and Brackley, and the Rural Districts of Brackley, Daventry, Northampton, and Towcester.

2010–present: The District of South Northamptonshire wards of Astwell, Blakesley, Blisworth, Brackley East, Brackley South, Brackley West, Chase, Cogenhoe, Collingtree, Cosgrove, Courteenhall, Deanshanger, Grafton, Kings Sutton, Kingthorn, Little Brook, Middleton Cheney, Salcey, Silverstone, Steane, Tove, Towcester Brook, Towcester Mill, Wardoun, Washington, Whittlewood, and Yardley, and the Borough of Northampton wards of East Hunsbury, Nene Valley, and West Hunsbury.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election	1st Member [5] [6]		1st Party	2nd Member [5]		2nd Party
1832		Viscount Althorp	Whig [7]		William Ralph Cartwright	Tory [7]
1834						Conservative [7]
1835		Sir Charles Knightley, Bt	Conservative [8] [7]
1846 by-election					Cpt. Richard Howard-Vyse [n 3]	Conservative
1852		Rainald Knightley	Conservative
1857					Viscount Althorp	Whig [9] [10]
1858 by-election					Col. Henry Cartwright	Conservative
1868					Fairfax Cartwright	Conservative
1881 by-election					Pickering Phipps	Conservative
1885	Redistribution of Seats Act: reduced to one member

MPs 1885–1918

Year		Member [5]	Party
	1885	Sir Rainald Knightley	Conservative
	1892	David Guthrie [n 4]	Liberal
	1895	Hon. Edward Douglas-Pennant	Conservative
	1900	Hon. Edward FitzRoy	Conservative
	1906	Archibald Grove	Liberal
	1910	Hon. Edward FitzRoy	Conservative
	1917		National Party
	1918		Unionist
	1918	Constituency abolished, but revived in 1950

MPs 1950–1974

Election		Member [5]	Party	Notes
	1950	Reginald Manningham-Buller	Conservative	Resigned 1962 on being raised to the peerage
	1962 by-election	Arthur Jones	Conservative
	February 1974	Constituency abolished, but revived in 2010

MPs since 2010

Election		Member [5]	Party
	2010	Andrea Leadsom	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Northamptonshire ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrea Leadsom	41,755	62.4	-0.1
	Labour	Gen Kitchen	13,994	20.9	-6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Lofts	7,891	11.8	+6.2
	Green	Denise Donaldson	2,634	3.9	+1.8
	Independent	Josh Phillips	463	0.7	+0.2
	Independent	Stuart McCutcheon	171	0.3	New
Majority			27,761	41.5	+6.3
Turnout			66,908	73.7	-2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.15

General election 2017: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrea Leadsom [13]	40,599	62.5	+2.4
	Labour	Sophie Johnson [14]	17,759	27.3	+10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Lofts [15]	3,623	5.6	-0.3
	UKIP	Nigel Wickens	1,363	2.1	-11.4
	Green	Denise Donaldson	1,357	2.1	-1.6
	Independent	Josh Philips	297	0.5	New
Majority			22,840	35.2	-8.2
Turnout			64,998	75.9	+4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.15

General election 2015: South Northamptonshire ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrea Leadsom	36,607	60.1	+4.9
	Labour	Lucy Mills	10,191	16.7	-0.6
	UKIP	Roger Clark	8,204	13.5	+9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Snowdon	3,613	5.9	-15.1
	Green	Damon Boughen	2,247	3.7	+2.6
Majority			26,416	43.4	+9.2
Turnout			60,862	71.1	-1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.75

General election 2010: South Northamptonshire ^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrea Leadsom	33,081	55.2	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Scott Collins	12,603	21.0	+3.9
	Labour	Matthew May	10,380	17.3	-11.4
	UKIP	Barry Mahoney	2,406	4.0	+1.4
	English Democrat	Tony Tappy	735	1.2	New
	Green	Marcus Rock	685	1.1	New
Majority			20,478	34.2
Turnout			59,890	73.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Jones	29,070	51.16
	Labour	Gordon Roberts	21,131	37.18
	Liberal	Peter Smout	6,626	11.66	New
Majority			7,939	13.98
Turnout			56,827	77.87
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Jones	25,023	52.84
	Labour	Graham Ridge	22,332	47.16
Majority			2,691	5.68
Turnout			47,355	82.18
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Jones	24,823	54.27
	Labour	Ivor Wilde	20,916	45.73
Majority			3,907	8.54
Turnout			45,739	83.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

1962 South Northamptonshire by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Jones	14,921	41.15	-15.83
	Labour	Ivor Wilde	14,004	38.62	-4.40
	Liberal	N. Picarda	7,002	19.31	New
	Independent	P. Buchan	332	0.9	New
Majority			917	2.53	-11.43
Turnout			36,259
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Manningham-Buller	24,226	56.98
	Labour	Arthur Richardson	18,292	43.02
Majority			5,934	13.96
Turnout			42,518	82.72
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Manningham-Buller	21,497	55.35
	Labour	Ronald Lewis	17,339	44.65
Majority			4,158	10.70
Turnout			38,836	81.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Manningham-Buller	21,282	53.59
	Labour	Dennis Webb	18,434	46.41
Majority			2,848	7.18
Turnout			39,716	85.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: South Northamptonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Manningham-Buller	18,612	47.62
	Labour	Dennis Webb	16,852	43.12
	Liberal	Llewellyn Evans	3,620	9.26
Majority			1,760	4.50
Turnout			39,084	87.10
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election results 1868–1918

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	2,522	34.4	−0.3
	Conservative	Fairfax Cartwright	2,505	34.2	+1.3
	Liberal	Frederick John FitzRoy	2,305	31.4	−0.9
Majority			200	2.8	+2.2
Turnout			4,819 (est)	76.0 (est)	−3.4
Registered electors			6,338
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fairfax Cartwright	Unopposed
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,029
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fairfax Cartwright	Unopposed
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,093
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Cartwright's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 15 Feb 1881: Northamptonshire South (1 seat) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pickering Phipps	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,093
	Conservative hold

General election 1885: Northamptonshire South ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	4,074	50.4	N/A
	Liberal	Maurice Fitzgerald	4,012	49.6	New
Majority			62	0.8	N/A
Turnout			8,086	83.9	N/A
Registered electors			9,636
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Northamptonshire South ^{[21] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	4,003	52.1	+1.7
	Liberal	James Carmichael	3,687	47.9	−1.7
Majority			316	4.2	+3.4
Turnout			7,690	79.8	−4.1
Registered electors			9,636
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Northamptonshire South ^{[21] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Guthrie	3,930	50.3	+2.4
	Conservative	Thomas Leslie-Melville-Cartwright	3,882	49.7	−2.4
Majority			48	0.6	N/A
Turnout			7,812	84.4	+4.6
Registered electors			9,251
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.4

Douglas-Pennant

General election 1895: Northamptonshire South ^{[21] [23] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Douglas-Pennant	4,553	57.8	+8.1
	Liberal	David Guthrie	3,324	42.2	−8.1
Majority			1,229	15.6	N/A
Turnout			7,877	86.2	+1.8
Registered electors			9,134
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Northamptonshire South ^{[21] [23] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward FitzRoy	4,174	56.9	−0.9
	Liberal	Archibald Grove	3,166	43.1	+0.9
Majority			1,008	13.8	−1.8
Turnout			7,340	81.8	−4.4
Registered electors			8,976
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.9

Grove

General election 1906: Northamptonshire South ^{[21] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Archibald Grove	4,136	52.0	+8.9
	Conservative	Charles Douglas-Pennant	3,814	48.0	−8.9
Majority			322	4.0	N/A
Turnout			7,950	88.1	+6.3
Registered electors			9,023
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.9

Elections in the 1910s

Kellaway

General election January 1910: Northamptonshire South ^{[24] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward FitzRoy	4,565	53.6	+5.6
	Liberal	Frederick Kellaway	3,955	46.4	−5.6
Majority			610	7.2	N/A
Turnout			8,520	91.7	+3.6
Registered electors			9,290
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.6

General election December 1910: Northamptonshire South ^{[24] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward FitzRoy	4,340	53.1	−0.5
	Liberal	Arthur Augustus Thomas	3,827	46.9	+0.5
Majority			513	6.2	−1.0
Turnout			8,167	87.9	−3.8
Registered electors			9,290
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.5

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;

• Unionist: Edward FitzRoy
• Liberal: Arthur Augustus Thomas ^[25]

Election results 1832–1868

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Ralph Cartwright	Unopposed
	Whig	John Spencer	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,425
	Tory win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Ralph Cartwright	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles Knightley	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,463
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1837: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Ralph Cartwright	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles Knightley	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,626
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Ralph Cartwright	2,436	42.8	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Knightley	2,324	40.9	N/A
	Whig	Henry FitzRoy	925	16.3	New
Majority			1,399	24.6	N/A
Turnout			3,305 (est)	72.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,589
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Cartwright resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 February 1846: Northamptonshire South ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Howard-Vyse	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Knightley	2,272	39.2	−1.7
	Conservative	Richard Howard-Vyse	2,064	35.6	−7.2
	Whig	Anthony Henley [26]	1,460	25.2	+8.9
Majority			604	10.4	−14.2
Turnout			3,628 (est)	76.7 (est)	+4.7
Registered electors			4,729
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Howard-Vyse	1,833	47.9	+12.3
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	1,833	47.9	+8.7
	Whig	John Houghton [27]	164	4.3	−20.9
Majority			1,669	43.6	+33.2
Turnout			1,997 (est)	43.7 (est)	−33.0
Registered electors			4,568
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.6

General election 1857: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Spencer	2,107	37.4	+33.1
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	1,932	34.3	−13.6
	Conservative	Richard Howard-Vyse	1,593	28.3	−19.6
Majority			175	3.1	N/A
Turnout			3,870 (est)	82.8 (est)	+39.1
Registered electors			4,675
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+33.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.1

Spencer succeeded to the peerage, becoming 5th Earl Spencer and causing a by-election.

By-election, 20 February 1858: Northamptonshire South ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Cartwright	1,983	51.1	−11.5
	Whig	Anthony Henley [28]	1,899	48.9	+11.5
Majority			84	2.2	N/A
Turnout			3,882	83.0	+0.2
Registered electors			4,675
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−11.5

General election 1859: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Cartwright	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,955
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Northamptonshire South (2 seats) ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rainald Knightley	2,206	34.7	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Cartwright	2,092	32.9	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick FitzRoy	2,054	32.3	New
Majority			38	0.6	N/A
Turnout			4,203 (est)	79.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,293
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northamptonshire

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.
3. Later a member for Windsor: November 4, 1863 – July 11, 1865
4. This source ^[11]

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. UK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/northamptonshiresouth/
3. Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Northamptonshire+South
4. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)
6. "Northamptonshire Southern 1832-1918 (Hansard)". hansard.millbanksystems.com.
7. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  232–233. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
8. Millbank Systems – reference to government on the opposition benches, July 1836
   Note that at this time party affiliations were only beginning to become more rigid.
9. "Lincolnshire Chronicle" . 10 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Bell's Weekly Messenger" . 4 April 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Hansard at Millbank Systems has no debates from November–December 1892 but from this source it seems David Guthrie never spoke in Parliament.
12. "Northamptonshire South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
13. Leadsom, Andrea [@andrealeadsom] (28 April 2017). "Delighted and honoured to be readopted as Conservative candidate for South Northamptonshire this evening! #GE2017pic.twitter.com/5JqJfH8nu6" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "General Election". southnorthantslabour.com.
15. "Chris Lofts". 25 January 2017.
16. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. Statement of Persons Nominated, South Northamptonshire Council
18. "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Northamptonshire South". news.bbc.co.uk.
19. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885(e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.{{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
20. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
21. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
22. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
23. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
24. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
25. Northampton Mercury 10 Apr 1914
26. "Which is the Low Party?" . Northampton Mercury. 7 August 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 17 May 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
27. "Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette" . 17 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
28. "The Parliament" . London Evening Standard. 3 February 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

Coordinates: 52°06′N1°03′W / 52.10°N 1.05°W / 52.10; -1.05