Swindon (UK Parliament constituency)

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Swindon
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County Wiltshire
1918–1997
SeatsOne
Created from Cricklade
Replaced by Swindon South, Swindon North

Swindon was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Swindon in Wiltshire, England.

Contents

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from the 1918 general election until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.

It was then replaced by the two new constituencies of North Swindon and South Swindon.

History

Swindon was a predominantly Conservative seat in its early history, though Labour first won the seat in 1929 and gained the seat in a 1934 by-election before losing it to the Conservatives in the general election the following year.

From 1945 until 1983 however, Swindon became a increasingly safe seat for the Labour Party, one of the party's few electoral strongholds in Southern England, being one of the most important historic railway towns in the country regarding the production and manufacture related to the industry. In the 1840s a greenfield site near the market town was transformed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) with its large works factory. The scale of the GWR's influence on Swindon reached its peak in the second quarter of the 20th century, though production gradually wound down, the works closing in 1986.

Swindon diversified its local economy, known for being a regional centre for business, and home to many technological and pharmaceutical companies, becoming more reliant on the service sector, gradually swinging more towards the Conservative Party in the 1980s.


The Conservatives gained the seat in 1983 in their landslide victory, and held the seat until 1997 when Swindon was divided into two constituencies (Swindon North, Swindon South), which were both gained by Labour in the general election of that year.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Swindon, and the part of the Rural District of Highworth which was not included in the Devizes constituency.

1950–1983: The Borough of Swindon.

1983–1997: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Central, Dorcan, Eastcott, Gorse Hill, Lawns, Moredon, Park, Toothill, Walcot, Western, and Whitworth.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [1] Party
1918 Sir Frederick William Young Coalition Conservative
1922 Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks Conservative
1929 Christopher Addison Labour
1931 Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks Conservative
1934 by-election Christopher Addison Labour
1935 Wavell Wakefield Conservative
1945 Thomas Reid Labour
1955 Francis Noel-Baker Labour
1969 by-election Christopher Ward Conservative
1970 David Stoddart Labour
1983 Simon Coombs Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Swindon South and Swindon North

Elections

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Swindon [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Unionist Frederick William Young 10,18048.4
Labour Joseph Compton 8,39339.9
Liberal Harry Walker2,46011.7
Majority1,7878.5
Turnout 21,03367.0
Registered electors 31,406
Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Swindon [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 14,886 56.4 +8.0
Labour Joseph Compton 11,50243.6+3.7
Majority3,38412.8+4.3
Turnout 26,38880.0+13.0
Registered electors 33,000
Unionist hold Swing +2.2
General election 1923: Swindon [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 12,625 45.1 −11.3
Labour Holford Knight 9,12132.6−11.0
Liberal Walter Leslie Rocke [5] 6,23122.3New
Majority3,50412.5−0.3
Turnout 27,97782.8+0.8
Registered electors 33,787
Unionist hold Swing −0.2
General election 1924: Swindon [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 15,602 55.1 +10.0
Labour R. H. Tawney 12,69844.9+12.3
Majority2,90410.2−2.3
Turnout 28,30081.0−1.8
Registered electors 34,938
Unionist hold Swing −1.2
General election 1929: Swindon [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Christopher Addison 16,885 43.6 −1.3
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 14,72438.1−17.0
Liberal Frank Crane Thornborough 7,06018.3New
Majority2,1615.5N/A
Turnout 38,66985.5+4.5
Registered electors 45,250
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +7.9

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Reginald Mitchell Banks 22,756 55.89
Labour Christopher Addison 17,96244.11
Majority4,79411.78N/A
Turnout 40,71885.53
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
1934 Swindon by-election [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Christopher Addison 20,902 53.4 +8.3
Conservative Wavell Wakefield 18,25346.6−8.3
Majority2,6496.8N/A
Turnout 39,15581.8−3.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1935: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wavell Wakefield 20,732 51.20
Labour Christopher Addison 19,75748.80
Majority9752.40
Turnout 40,48984.26
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Thomas Reid 27,545 62.34
Conservative AM Gibb16,64137.66
Majority10,90424.68N/A
Turnout 44,18673.90
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Thomas Reid 21,976 51.47
Conservative Geoffrey Tritton 13,69732.08
Liberal Doreen Gorsky 6,72615.75New
Communist Irving Gradwell2950.69New
Majority8,27919.39
Turnout 42,69487.19
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Thomas Reid 23,980 57.02
Conservative Geoffrey Tritton 18,07242.98
Majority5,90814.04
Turnout 42,05289.00
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 21,926 54.93
Conservative Patrick William Medd [9] 17,98745.07
Majority3,9399.86
Turnout 39,91380.02
Labour hold Swing
General election 1959: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 24,087 54.42
Conservative Gordon L Pears20,17845.58
Majority3,9098.84
Turnout 44.26579.99
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 26,464 60.06
Conservative Norman George Reece16,65137.79
Communist Irving Gradwell9442.14New
Majority9,81322.27
Turnout 44,05974.77
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 25,966 61.35
Conservative Norman George Reece15,52336.67
Communist Irving Gradwell8381.98
Majority10,44324.68
Turnout 42,32773.51
Labour hold Swing
1969 Swindon by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Christopher Ward 16,843 41.73 +5.06
Labour David Stoddart 16,36540.54−20.81
Liberal Christopher Layton6,19315.34New
Communist Judith Gradwell5181.28−0.70
Young Socialist Frank Willis4461.10New
Majority4781.19N/A
Turnout 40,365
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +12.9

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Stoddart 25,731 55.52 −5.83
Conservative Christopher Ward 20,15543.49+6.82
Communist Judith Gradwell4560.98−1.00
Majority5,57612.03−12.64
Turnout 46,34275.49
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Stoddart 24,093 47.92
Conservative GCM Young15,38430.60
Liberal R Hubbard10,56421.01New
Workers Revolutionary K Blakeney2400.48New
Majority8,70917.32
Turnout 50,28180.89
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Stoddart 24,124 51.84
Conservative JN Gripper13,85429.77
Liberal R Hubbard8,34917.94
Workers Revolutionary K Blakeney2060.44
Majority10,27022.07
Turnout 46,53373.98
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Swindon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Stoddart 25,218 50.19
Conservative N Hammond19,31938.45
Liberal Gudrun Claire Ziegler Collis5,70911.36
Majority5,89911.74
Turnout 50,34676.41
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Swindon [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 22,310 39.16
Labour David Stoddart 20,91536.71
Alliance Derek J Scott13,74324.12
Majority1,3952.45N/A
Turnout 56,96874.15
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1987: Swindon [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 29,385 43.84
Labour Jean Gabrielle Johnston24,52836.59
Alliance Derek John Scott13,11419.57
Majority4,8577.25
Turnout 67,02777.80
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Swindon [12] [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 31,749 43.3 −0.5
Labour JP D’Avila28,92339.4+2.8
Liberal Democrats SR Cordon11,73716.0−3.6
Green JV Hughes6470.9New
Raving Loony Green GiantCR Gillard2360.3New
Independent VF Farrar780.1New
Majority2,8263.9−3.3
Turnout 73,37081.5+3.7
Conservative hold Swing −1.7

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  3. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  4. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  5. ↑ 'ROCKE, Col Walter Leslie', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 Sept 2017
  6. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  7. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  8. ↑ F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49, p.498
  9. ↑ 'MEDD, His Honour Patrick William', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 Sept 2017
  10. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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