Westmorland (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Westmorland (federal electoral district).

Westmorland
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Context: 1832–1868. Extract from 1837 result: the most central 'doubly' blue area
1918–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Appleby and Kendal
Replaced by	Penrith & The Border and Westmorland & Lonsdale
1290–1885
Seats	two
Replaced by	Appleby and Kendal

Westmorland was a constituency covering the county of Westmorland in the North of England, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency had two separate periods of existence.

Until 1885

It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For the string of elections from 1885 general election it split in two: Appleby and Kendal, both of which had been parliamentary boroughs but were reconstituted as county constituencies.

1918–1983

The constituency was recreated as a single-seater for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1983 general election.

In the boundary changes in 1983 the southern part of the constituency became part of the new seat of Westmorland and Lonsdale and the northern area was transferred to Penrith and The Border

Boundaries

The 1918 – 1983 seat corresponded to the county of Westmorland even after the abolition of the administrative county in 1974.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1290)

MPs 1290–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1290	Sir Richardus de Prestonne	Sir Williemus de Stirkland
1302	Thomas de Betham
1305	Sir Hugh de Lowther	Nicholas de Leyburne
1308–1309	Thomas de Betham
1309	Robert L'Angleys
1311–1312	Thomas de Betham
1311–1312	Robert L'Angleys
1313	Sir Matthew de Redman
1324	Sir Robertus de Sandeford
1328	Sir Nicholas de Preston
1331–1332	Sir Walter de Strickland
1341–1342	Sir Thomas de Musgrave
1343	Sir Richard de Preston	Sir Thomas de Musgrave
1344–1345	Sir Thomas de Musgrave
1353	Sir Richard de Preston (Jnr)
1355	William de Windesere
1357	Sir Matthew de Redman
1362	Sir John Preston
1363	James Pickering
1366	Sir John Preston	James Pickering
1368	Sir John Preston
1371	Sir John Preston
1377–c1400	Hugh Salkeld I
1382	Sir John Preston
1384	John de Mansergh
1386	Sir John Derwentwater	Robert Clibern [1]
1388 (Feb)	Sir Thomas Blenkinsop	Thomas Strickland [1]
1388 (Sep)	Robert de Sandford	Hugh Salkeld I [1]
1390 (Jan)	John Crackenthorpe	Hugh Salkeld I [1]
1390 (Nov)	Sir Christopher Moresby	Hugh Salkeld I [1]
1391	Sir William Curwen	William Thornburgh [1]
1393	John Crackenthorpe	Hugh Salkeld I [1]
1394	Sir William Curwen	William Thornburgh [1]
1395	Sir Walter Strickland	William Crackenthorpe I [1]
1397 (Jan)	John Lancaster	Hugh Salkeld I [1]
1397 (Sep)	Sir William Curwen	William Crackenthorpe I [1]
1399	Sir Thomas de Musgrave	John Crackenthorpe [1]
1401	William Thornburgh	Hugh Salkeld II [1]
1402	Sir William Threlkeld	(Sir) William Crackenthorpe I [1]
1404 (Jan)	Roland Thornburgh	Sir Richard Duckett [1]
1404 (Oct)	Sir Robert Leybourne	Thomas Strickland II [1]
1406	Sir John Beetham	(Sir) John Lancaster I [1]
1407	Sir Alan Pennington	Thomas Warcop [1]
1410
1411	Sir Robert Leybourne	Christopher Moresby [1]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Robert Crackenthorpe	John Hutton [1]
1414 (Apr)	Robert Mauchell	Richard Wharton [1]
1414 (Nov)	Thomas Warcop	William Thornburgh [1]
1415	Robert Warcop	Thomas Warcop [1]
1416 (Mar)	Roland Thornburgh	Robert Crackenthorpe [1]
1416 (Oct)
1417
1419	Roland Thornburgh	Robert Crackenthorpe [1]
1420	William Beauchamp	Thomas Greem II [1]
1421 (May)	Robert Warcop	Robert Preston [1]
1421 (Dec)	(Sir) John Lancaster I	William Blenkinsop [1]
1429	Thomas Strickland II
1431	Thomas Strickland II
1435	Sir Thomas Parr
1449	Sir Thomas Parr
1450	Sir Thomas Parr
1455	Sir Thomas Parr
1459	?Sir Thomas Parr
1467	William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal
1473	William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal
1510–1523	No Names Known [2]
1529	Sir William Musgrave	Thomas Blenkinsop [2]
1536
1539
1542	Sir James Leyburn	Nicholas Bacon [2]
1545	Sir Ingram Clifford	Sir James Leyburn [2]
1547	Sir Charles Brandon, died and replaced in January 1552 by Sir Robert Bowes	Thomas Warcop [2]
1553 (Mar)
1553 (Oct)	Thomas Fallowfield	Thomas Warcop [2]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Fallowfield	Thomas Warcop [2]
1554 (Nov)	Thomas Percy	Thomas Warcop [2]
1555
1558	Anthony Kempe	Thomas Sackville [2]
1559 (Jan)	Lancelot Lancaster	Thomas Warcop [3]
1562–1563	Walter Strickland	Gerard Lowther [3]
1571	Alan Bellingham	Thomas Warcop [3]
1572	Thomas Knyvet	Thomas Warcop [3]
1584	Francis Clifford	Thomas Warcop [3]
1586	Francis Clifford	Thomas Warcop [3]
1588 (Oct)	Francis Dacre	Thomas Warcop [3]
1593	Sir William Bowes	(Sir) Edward Denny [3]
1597 (Sep)	(Sir) Walter Harcourt	Henry Cholmley [3]
1601 (Oct)	George Wharton	Thomas Strickland [3]
1604–1611	Sir Richard Musgrave	Sir Thomas Strickland
1614	Lord Clifford	Sir Thomas Wharton
1621	Lord Clifford	Sir Thomas Wharton
1624	Sir John Lowther	Robert Strickland
1625	Sir John Lowther	Sir Henry Bellingham
1626	Sir John Lowther	Sir Henry Bellingham
1628	Sir John Lowther	John Lowther
1629–1640	No Parliament summoned

MPs 1640–1885

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		April 1640	Sir Philip Musgrave	Royalist	Sir Henry Bellingham	Royalist
		November 1640
		March 1643	Musgrave disabled to sit – seat vacant
		October 1645			Bellingham disabled to sit – seat vacant
		1646	Henry Lawrence		James Bellingham
		December 1648	Lawrence excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant		Bellingham not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
		1653	Westmorland was not separately represented in the Barebones Parliament. The following were nominated for The Four Northern Counties collectively: Major-General Charles Howard, Robert Fenwick, Henry Dawson, Henry Ogle
		1654	Jeremy Baynes		Christopher Lister
		1656	Thomas Burton
		January 1659			Thomas Wharton
		May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
		April 1660	Sir John Lowther		Sir Thomas Wharton
		1661	Sir Thomas Strickland		Sir Philip Musgrave
		1677	Sir John Lowther
		1678			Alan Bellingham
		1679	Christopher Philipson
		1681	Sir John Lowther
		January 1689			Henry Wharton
		December 1689			Goodwin Wharton	Whig
		1690			Sir Christopher Musgrave
		1695			Sir Richard Sandford
		1696	William Fleming
		January 1701	Sir Christopher Musgrave		Henry Graham
		December 1701	Sir Richard Sandford
		1702	Sir Christopher Musgrave
		1704	William Fleming
		1705	Robert Lowther
		1707			Michael Fleming
		1708	Daniel Wilson		James Grahme
		1722	Anthony Lowther
		1727			Daniel Wilson
		1741	Sir Philip Musgrave
		1747	Edward Wilson		John Dalston
		1754	Sir George Dalston
		1759			Robert Lowther
		1761	Sir James Lowther		John Upton
		1763	Robert Lowther
		1764	John Robinson
		1768			Thomas Fenwick
		1774	Sir James Lowther [4]	Tory	Sir Michael le Fleming	Tory [5]
		1775	James Lowther	Tory [5]
		1806			The Lord Muncaster	Tory [5]
		1812	Henry Lowther	Tory [5]
		1813			Viscount Lowther	Tory [5]
		1831			Alexander Nowell	Whig [5]
		1832			Viscount Lowther	Tory [5]
		1834		Conservative [5]		Conservative [5]
		1841			William Thompson	Conservative [5]
		1854			Earl of Bective	Conservative
		1868	William Lowther	Conservative
		1871			Earl of Bective	Conservative

MPs 1918–1983

Election		Member	Party
	1918	John Weston	Coalition Conservative
	1924	Oliver Stanley	Conservative
	1945	William Fletcher-Vane	Conservative
	1964	Michael Jopling	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Westmorland and Lonsdale

Election results 1290–1885

Election results taken from the History of Parliament Trust series.

Elections in the 18th century

General election 1715: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Daniel Wilson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	James Grahme	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1722: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Anthony Lowther	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	James Grahme	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

• Lowther appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in Ireland

By-Election 16 June 1726: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Anthony Lowther	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1727: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Anthony Lowther	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Daniel Wilson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1734: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Anthony Lowther	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Daniel Wilson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 28 May 1741: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Daniel Wilson	1,281	39.97	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Philip Musgrave	1,079	33.67	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Dalston	845	26.37	N/A

General election 1747: Westmorland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Edward Wilson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Dalston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Westmorland ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Lowther	Unopposed
	Tory	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 3,500
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Westmorland ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
	Whig	Alexander Nowell (MP)	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 3,500
	Tory hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Westmorland ^{[5] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Lowther	2,052	36.6
	Tory	Henry Lowther	1,948	34.7
	Whig	John Barham	1,611	28.7
Majority			337	6.0
Turnout			3,584	81.6
Registered electors			4,392
	Tory hold
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: Westmorland ^{[7] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,644
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Westmorland ^{[7] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,775
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Westmorland ^{[7] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,384
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

William Lowther was appointed Postmaster General of the United Kingdom and called to the House of Lords as Baron Lowther, causing a by-election.

By-election, 22 September 1841: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,078
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,062
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Thompson's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 31 March 1854: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,168
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,214
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,237
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Lowther's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 January 1868: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,240
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

Taylour succeeded to the peerage, becoming Marquess of Headfort and causing a by-election at which his son was elected unopposed.

By-election, 21 February 1871: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1874: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Lowther	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,177
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Westmorland ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Taylour	2,641	37.1	N/A
	Conservative	William Lowther	2,522	35.4	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Tufton	1,963	27.5	New
Majority			559	7.9	N/A
Turnout			4,545 (est)	83.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,442
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Election results 1918–1983

Westmorland election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Westmorland ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	John Weston	Unopposed
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Westmorland ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Weston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Unionist hold

General election 1923: Westmorland ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Weston	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Unionist hold

General election 1924: Westmorland ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Oliver Stanley	17,935	71.2	N/A
	Labour	Reginald Penrith Burnett	7,242	28.2	New
Majority			10,693	43.0	N/A
Turnout			25,177	80.2	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1929: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Oliver Stanley	17,101	49.6	−21.6
	Liberal	William Gretton Ward	13,223	38.3	New
	Labour	W. Bone	4,184	12.1	−16.1
Majority			3,878	11.3	−31.7
Turnout			34,508	81.9	+1.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Stanley	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold

General election 1935: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Stanley	22,634	68.5	N/A
	Labour	E V Short	10,417	31.5	New
Majority			12,217	37.0	N/A
Turnout			33,051	73.8	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Oliver Stanley
• Labour: R S Armstrong
• Liberal: Geoffrey Acland ^[10]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Fletcher-Vane	19,717	53.3	−15.2
	Labour	Harold Banning Richardson	9,674	26.1	−5.4
	Liberal	Geoffrey Acland	7,313	19.8	New
	Independent	Francis Basil Price-Heywood	306	0.8	New
Majority			10,043	27.1	−9.9
Turnout			37,010	77.0	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Fletcher-Vane	22,228	55.1	+1.8
	Liberal	Geoffrey Acland	9,054	22.5	+2.7
	Labour	Paul Wilson	9,031	22.4	−3.7
Majority			13,174	28.4	+1.3
Turnout			40,313	85.5	+8.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1951: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Fletcher-Vane	23,227	58.3	+3.2
	Labour	Paul Wilson	9,119	22.9	+0.5
	Liberal	Geoffrey Acland	7,493	18.8	−3.7
Majority			14,108	35.4	+7.0
Turnout			39,839	83.5	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 1955: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Fletcher-Vane	21,048	57.4	−0.9
	Labour	Ivor Ralph Million	7,901	21.6	−1.3
	Liberal	Geoffrey Acland	7,688	21.0	+2.2
Majority			13,147	35.8	+0.4
Turnout			36,637	77.6	−5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 1959: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Fletcher-Vane	20,676	55.8	−1.6
	Liberal	Geoffrey Acland	8,984	24.3	+3.3
	Labour	Corin Hughes-Stanton	7,359	19.9	−1.7
Majority			11,692	31.5	−4.3
Turnout			37,019	78.8	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.5

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	19,125	51.75
	Liberal	Aubrey Herbert	11,078	29.98
	Labour	Norman Plamping	6,752	18.27
Majority			8,047	21.77
Turnout			36,955	78.82
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	17,907	50.55
	Liberal	Alistair Bell	9,052	25.55
	Labour	John E Dayton	8,465	23.90
Majority			8,855	25.00
Turnout			35,424	75.46
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	21,253	55.3	+4.8
	Liberal	Gurney Pease	9,426	24.5	−1.0
	Labour	Roger Ward	7,757	20.2	−3.7
Majority			11,827	30.8	+5.8
Turnout			38,436	71.0	−4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	22,036	50.13
	Liberal	A Nixon	15,502	35.27
	Labour	PJ Hildrew	6,419	14.60
Majority			6,534	14.86
Turnout			43,957	79.27
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	20,559	50.85
	Liberal	BN Wates	12,844	31.77
	Labour	M Taylor	7,028	17.38
Majority			7,715	19.08
Turnout			40,431	72.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Westmorland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Jopling	25,274	56.62
	Liberal	K Hulls	12,867	28.83
	Labour	A Potts	6,497	14.55
Majority			12,407	27.79
Turnout			44,638	74.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 2 September 2011.
2. "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 2 September 2011.
3. "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 2 September 2011.
4. Sir James Lowther was also elected for Cumberland, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Westmorland in this Parliament
5. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 102–104. Retrieved 3 June 2019– via Google Books.
6. Escott, Margaret. "Westmorland". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
7. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 478–479. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
10. North Devon Journal, 16 Jun 1938

Sources

• D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)