Dorking (UK Parliament constituency)

Dorking was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Dorking and Horley in Surrey. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 – 1983. In the eight elections during its 33-year lifetime it was held by three Conservatives successively.

Dorking
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Location of Surrey within England
County	Surrey
Major settlements	Dorking and Horley
1950–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Mole Valley, Esher and Reigate[1]
Created from	Reigate and Guildford

History

The seat was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 and first contested at the 1950 general election.[2][3] It was abolished prior to the 1983 general election.[4]

Boundaries

The Urban District of Dorking, the Rural District of Dorking and Horley, and in the Rural District of Guildford the parishes of Albury, East Clandon, East Horsley, Effingham, Ockham, Ripley, St Martha, Send, Shere, West Clandon, West Horsley, and Winsley.

In 1983 parliamentary boundaries were realigned to those of the local government districts created in 1974: the town of Dorking became part of Mole Valley district, and just over half of the previous area was transferred to the Mole Valley seat for national elections which took in territory to the north from elsewhere. Horley transferred to the redrawn Reigate seat.[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Sir Gordon Touche	Conservative
	1964	Sir George Sinclair	Conservative
	1979	Keith Wickenden	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Dorking

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gordon Touche	22,096	59.2	N/A
	Labour	Julian D Richard	11,114	29.8	N/A
	Liberal	George Gordon Grant Francis	4,128	11.1	N/A
Majority			10,982	29.4	N/A
Turnout			37,338	83.4	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

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General election 1951: Dorking [5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gordon Touche	24,416	65.85
	Labour	Julian D Richard	12,664	34.15
Majority			11,752	31.70
Turnout			37,080
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Dorking [5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gordon Touche	24,451	67.19
	Labour	Robert Patrick E Walsh	11,942	32.81
Majority			12,509	34.38
Turnout			36,393
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Dorking [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gordon Touche	24,564	60.3	-6.9
	Labour	Stanley R Mills	9,605	23.6	-8.8
	Liberal	Wilfred Sydney Watson	6,582	16.1	New
Majority			14,959	36.7	+2.2
Turnout			40,751
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Dorking [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sinclair	23,862	55.6	-4.7
	Labour	Douglas Sidney Tilbé	9,806	22.9	-0.7
	Liberal	Wilfred Sydney Watson	8,773	20.4	+4.3
	Patriotic Party	Barbara Davies	476	1.1	New
Majority			14,056	32.7	-4.0
Turnout			42,917
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Dorking [5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sinclair	23,087	53.8	-1.8
	Labour	Betty Dunmore	12,201	28.4	+5.5
	Liberal	George H Kahan	7,629	17.8	-2.6
Majority			10,886	25.4	-7.3
Turnout			42,917	79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Dorking [5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sinclair	25,393	59.0	+5.2
	Labour	W. John Fahy	10,523	24.5	−3.9
	Liberal	John Baker	7,103	16.5	−1.3
Majority			14,870	34.6	+9.2
Turnout			43,019	72.0	-7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.6

General election February 1974: Dorking [7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sinclair	24,803	51.4	-7.6
	Liberal	G S A Andrews	14,490	30.0	-13.5
	Labour	J R Spiers	8,961	18.6	+2.1
Majority			10,313	21.4	-13.2
Turnout			48,254	82.6	+10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Dorking [7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sinclair	22,403	50.6	-0.8
	Liberal	G S A Andrews	12,098	27.4	-2.6
	Labour	Jane Chapman	9,714	22.0	+3.4
Majority			10,305	23.2	+1.8
Turnout			44,215	75.0	-7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Dorking [7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Keith Wickenden	29,003	61.43	+10.83
	Liberal	R Hope	9,240	19.57	-7.83
	Labour	JAS Weir	8,970	19.0
Majority			19,763	41.86
Turnout			47,213	77.87
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.33

References

1. "'Dorking', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
2. Representation of the People Act 1948, C.65, First Schedule, Parliamentary Constituencies.
3. Youngs, Frederic A, Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 765–766. ISBN 0901050679.
4. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/417)
5. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
6. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
7. British parliamentary election results, 1974-1983 by FWS Craig

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)