Stowmarket (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Stowmarket
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
County Suffolk
Major settlements Stowmarket
18851918
SeatsOne
Created from East Suffolk and West Suffolk
Replaced by Bury St Edmunds

Stowmarket was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Stowmarket in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Contents

History

The North-Western or Stowmarket Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Western Division of Suffolk and included the towns of Stowmarket and Newmarket. It was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the majority of the Division was absorbed into the new Bury St Edmunds Division of West Suffolk, with a small area in the east, including Stowmarket itself, transferred to the Eye Division of East Suffolk.

Boundaries

As Bury St Edmunds formed a separate Parliamentary Borough, only non-resident freeholders of the Borough were entitled to vote in this constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Felix Cobbold Liberal
1886 Edward Greene Conservative
1891 by-election Sydney Stern Liberal
1895 Ian Malcolm Conservative
1906 George Hardy Liberal
Jan. 1910 Frank Goldsmith Conservative
1918 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Felix Cobbold Felix Cobbold.jpg
Felix Cobbold
General election 1885: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Felix Cobbold 4,606 57.0
Conservative Thomas Thornhill 3,47543.0
Majority 1,13114.0
Turnout 8,08176.3
Registered electors 10,587
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Edward Greene 3,906 53.7 +10.7
Liberal Edward Buxton 3,36346.3−10.7
Majority 5437.4N/A
Turnout 7,26968.77.6
Registered electors 10,587
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +10.7

Elections in the 1890s

Greene's death caused a by-election.

1891 Stowmarket by-election [2] [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Sydney Stern 4,346 51.3 +5.0
Conservative Edward Greene 4,13248.75.0
Majority 2142.6N/A
Turnout 8,47874.5+5.8
Registered electors 11,375
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +5.0
General election 1892: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Sydney Stern 4,630 50.8 +4.5
Conservative Gerald Cadogan 4,48649.24.5
Majority 1441.6N/A
Turnout 9,11682.5+13.8
Registered electors 11,045
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +4.5
General election 1895: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ian Malcolm 5,144 58.2 +9.0
Liberal Henry de Rosenbach Walker 3,70141.89.0
Majority 1,44316.4N/A
Turnout 8,84580.81.7
Registered electors 10,942
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +9.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ian Malcolm 4,431 59.1 +0.9
Liberal JC Horobin3,06840.9−0.9
Majority 1,36318.2+1.8
Turnout 7,49970.4−10.4
Registered electors 10,651
Conservative hold Swing +0.9
George Hardy George Hardy.jpg
George Hardy
General election 1906: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal George Hardy 4,801 51.1 +10.2
Conservative Walter Guinness 4,58848.910.2
Majority 2132.2N/A
Turnout 9,38985.6+15.2
Registered electors 10,971
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +10.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Frank Goldsmith 5,311 53.2 +4.3
Liberal George Hardy 4,66646.8−4.3
Majority 6456.4N/A
Turnout 9,97789.2+3.6
Registered electors 11,190
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +4.3
General election December 1910: Stowmarket [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Frank Goldsmith 4,995 51.0 2.2
Liberal Robert Leatham Barclay4,80449.0+2.2
Majority 1912.04.4
Turnout 9,79987.61.6
Registered electors 11,190
Conservative hold Swing 2.2

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;

References

  1. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 393. ISBN   9781349022984.
  3. Page 153 Constitutional Year Book 1915
  4. Bury Free Press 21 Mar 1914

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