Skipton (UK Parliament constituency)

Skipton
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
Major settlements	Skipton
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Skipton & Ripon, Pendle, Ribble Valley Westmorland & Lonsdale and Keighley^[1]
Created from	Northern West Riding of Yorkshire

Skipton was a county constituency centred on the town of Skipton in Yorkshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished nearly a hundred years later, for the 1983 general election. It was then partly replaced by the new Skipton and Ripon constituency.

Boundaries

1885-1918: Part of the Wapentake of Skipton and Ewecross.

1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Barnoldswick, Earby, and Skipton, and the Rural Districts of Bowland, Sedbergh, Settle, and Skipton.

1950-1983: The Urban Districts of Barnoldswick, Earby, and Skipton, the Rural Districts of Bowland, Sedbergh, and Settle, and part of the Rural District of Skipton.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Mathew Wilson	Liberal
	1886	Walter Morrison	Liberal Unionist
	1892	Charles Savile Roundell	Liberal
	1895	Walter Morrison	Liberal Unionist
	1900	Frederick Whitley Thomson	Liberal
	1906	William Clough	Liberal
	1918	Richard Foulis Roundell	Conservative
	1924	Ernest Roy Bird	Conservative
	1933 by-election	George William Rickards	Conservative
	1944 by-election	Hugh McDowall Lawson	Common Wealth
	1945	Burnaby Drayson	Conservative
	1979	John Watson	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Skipton & Ripon

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Skipton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	±
	Liberal	Sir Mathew Wilson	5,059	n/a
	Conservative	SC Lister	4,269	n/a
Majority				n/a
Turnout				n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

Walter Morrison

General Election 1886: Skipton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,423
	Liberal	Sir Mathew Wilson	4,289
Majority			134
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

C.S. Roundell

General Election 1892: Skipton^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Charles Savile Roundell	4,700
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,608
Majority			92
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

J.A. Farrer

General Election 1895: Skipton^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	4,902
	Liberal	James Anson Farrer	4,763
Majority			139
Turnout
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Skipton^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Frederick Whitley Thomson	5,139	50.7
	Liberal Unionist	Walter Morrison	5,007	49.3
Majority			132	1.4
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

William Clough

General Election 1906: Skipton^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	William Clough	5,834	51.0
	Conservative	Richard Foulis Roundell	5,601	49.0
Majority			233	2.0
Turnout				90.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Skipton^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	William Clough	6,579
	Conservative	Richard Foulis Roundell	6,071
Majority			508
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Skipton^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	William Clough	6,151
	Conservative	Richard Foulis Roundell	6,100
Majority			51
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Liberal: William Clough
Unionist: Richard Foulis Roundell

General Election 1918: Skipton^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Richard Foulis Roundell	12,599	55.0
	Liberal	William Anderton Brigg	10,318	45.0
Majority			2,281	10.0
Turnout				64.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

Sir Harry Verney

General Election 1922: Skipton^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Richard Foulis Roundell	13,251	41.7	-13.3
	Liberal	Sir Harry Calvert Williams Verney	10,228	32.3	-12.7
	Labour	Thomas Snowden	8,229	26.0	n/a
Majority				9.4
Turnout				85.2	+21.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-0.3

General Election 1923: Skipton^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Richard Foulis Roundell	12,676	39.9	-1.8
	Liberal	Sir Harry Calvert Williams Verney	11,285	35.6	+3.3
	Labour	Octavius George Willey	7,767	24.5	-1.5
Majority			1,391	4.3	-5.1
Turnout				83.6	-1.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.6

General Election 1924: Skipton^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Roy Bird	14,924	46.0	+6.1
	Liberal	Thomas Woffenden	8,947	27.5	-8.1
	Labour	Octavius George Willey	8,626	26.5	+2.0
Majority			5,977	18.5	+14.2
Turnout				83.8	+0.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	+7.1

General Election 1929: Skipton^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Roy Bird	16,588	39.5	-6.5
	Labour	John Percival Davies	13,088	31.2	+4.7
	Liberal	Thomas Woffenden	12,320	29.3	+1.8
Majority			3,500	8.3	-10.2
Turnout				83.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.6

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Skipton^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ernest Roy Bird	28,013	68.2
	Labour	John Percival Davies	13,053	31.8
Majority			14,960
Turnout				80.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Skipton by-election, 1933
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George William Rickards	18,136	43.0	-25.2
	Labour	John Percival Davies	14,157	33.5	+1.7
	Liberal	Robert Coventry Denby	9,219	21.8	+21.8
	Communist	James Rushton	704	1.7	+1.7
Majority			3,979	9.4
Turnout			42,216	82.7	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-13.5

General Election 1935: Skipton^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George William Rickards	22,847	56.2
	Labour	John Percival Davies	17,788	43.8
Majority			5,059	12.4
Turnout			40,635	79.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

Conservative: George William Rickards
Labour: John Percival Davies^[17]

Elections in the 1940s

Skipton by-election, 1944
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Common Wealth	Lt. Hugh McDowall Lawson	12,222	44.8
	Conservative	Harry Riddiough	12,001	44.0
	Independent Labour	Joseph Toole	3,029	11.1
Majority			221	0.8
Turnout			27,252	54.9
	Common Wealth gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1945: Skipton^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	17,905	41.5
	Labour	John Percival Davies	15,704	36.4
	Liberal	Eric Townsend	9,546	22.1
Majority			2,201	5.1
Turnout			43,155	80.1
	Conservative gain from Common Wealth		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950:^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	22,254	49.2
	Labour	Thomas J. Roberts	16,290	36.0
	Liberal	Eric Arthur Greenwood	6,689	14.8
Majority			5,964	13.2
Turnout			45,233	88.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951:^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	26,024	59.0
	Labour	Edgar Hewitt	18,064	41.0
Majority			7,960	18.1
Turnout			44,088	86.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955:^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	25,101	61.2
	Labour	Vincent P. Richardson	15,919	38.8
Majority			9,182	22.4
Turnout			41,020	82.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959:^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	20,278	48.3
	Labour	Frank Oswald Hooley	11,178	26.6
	Liberal	Kathleen Claire Graham	10,543	25.1	N/A
Majority			9,100	21.7
Turnout			41,999	85.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Skipton^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	18,561	46.2
	Labour	Roderick MacSween	11,715	29.2
	Liberal	Wilfrid E.H. Pickard	9,886	24.6
Majority			8,846	17.1
Turnout			40,162	84.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Skipton^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	17,532	45.1
	Labour	Gordon A. Knott	13,276	34.1
	Liberal	Wilfrid E.H. Pickard	8,104	20.8
Majority			4,256	10.9
Turnout			38,912	82.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Skipton^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	20,817	51.3
	Labour	Kenneth Targett	12,011	29.6
	Liberal	Mrs. Jean Y.L. Burns	7,733	19.1
Majority			8,806	21.7
Turnout			40,561	78.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Skipton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	19,301	43.3
	Liberal	Kathleen Claire Brooks	17,185	38.6
	Labour	T.V. Wheeler	8,079	18.1
Majority			2,116	4.8
Turnout			44,565	85.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Skipton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Burnaby Drayson	17,882	41.3
	Liberal	Kathleen Claire Brooks	17,232	39.9
	Labour	C.G. Burks	8,109	18.8
Majority			590	1.4
Turnout			43,223	82.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Skipton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Grenville Bernard Watson	23,177	51.2
	Liberal	Kathleen Claire Brooks	17,484	38.6
	Labour	Brian Michael Selby	4,632	10.2
Majority			5,693	12.6
Turnout			45,293	84.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

↑ "'Skipton', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
↑ Liberal Year Book, 1908
↑ Liberal Year Book, 1908
↑ Liberal Year Book, 1908
↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.