West Denbighshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Denbighshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Denbighshire
Replaced by	Denbigh

West Denbighshire, formally called the Western Division of Denbighshire, was a county constituency in Denbighshire, in North Wales. 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.

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when the two-member Denbighshire constituency was divided into and Eastern and Western divisions. It was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William Cornwallis-West	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	Sir John Roberts	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: West Denbighshire ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Cornwallis-West	4,586	60.5
	Conservative	Charles Salusbury Mainwaring	2,992	39.5
Majority			1,594	21.0
Turnout			7,578	85.2
Registered electors			8,899
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: West Denbighshire ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Cornwallis-West	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

Herbert Roberts

General election 1892: West Denbighshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	4,612	66.9	New
	Liberal Unionist	William Cornwallis West	2,279	33.1	N/A
Majority			2,333	33.8	N/A
Turnout			6,891	69.5	N/A
Registered electors			9,915
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: West Denbighshire ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	4,481	60.9	−6.0
	Conservative	Thomas Alured Wynne-Edwards	2,878	39.1	+6.0
Majority			1,603	21.8	−12.0
Turnout			7,359	82.3	+12.8
Registered electors			8,941
	Liberal hold		Swing	−6.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Denbighshire ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Herbert Roberts

General election 1906: West Denbighshire ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: West Denbighshire ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	5,854	67.4	N/A
	Conservative	Samuel Thompson	2,829	32.6	New
Majority			3,025	34.8	N/A
Turnout			8,683	87.5	N/A
Registered electors			9,920
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election December 1910: West Denbighshire ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Roberts	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

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: John Roberts
• Unionist: W. Henry Williams ^[9]

References

1. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
2. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. Liverpool Daily Post 29 Jun 1914

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)