Penistone (UK Parliament constituency)

Penistone was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Penistone in Yorkshire and surrounding countryside. 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.

Penistone
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
1918–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Barnsley West & Penistone and Sheffield Hillsborough
Created from	Hallamshire and Holmfirth

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Clayton West, Denby and Cumberworth, Gunthwaite and Ingbirchworth, Hoyland Swaine, Kirkburton, Penistone, Shelley, Shepley, Skelmanthorpe, Stocksbridge, and Thurlstone, and the Rural Districts of Penistone and Wortley.

1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Denby Dale, Dodworth, Hoyland Nether, Kirkburton, Penistone, and Stocksbridge, and the Rural Districts of Penistone and Wortley.

1955–1983: The Urban Districts of Dodworth, Hoyland Nether, Penistone, and Stocksbridge, and the Rural Districts of Penistone and Wortley.

The area formerly covered by this constituency was then placed mostly in the Barnsley West and Penistone constituency and partly in the Sheffield Hillsborough constituency.

Following a later boundary review, the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency which came into force at the 2010 general election roughly covered a similar area to the old Penistone constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sydney Arnold	Liberal
	1921 by-election	William Gillis	Labour
	1922	William Pringle	Liberal
	1924	Rennie Smith	Labour
	1931	Clifford Glossop	Conservative
	1935	Henry McGhee	Labour
	1959 by-election	John Mendelson	Labour
	1978 by-election	Allen McKay	Labour
1983		constituency abolished: see Barnsley West and Penistone

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Allen McKay	28,010	49.1	-5.1
	Conservative	Ian James Dobkin	18,309	32.1	+8.1
	Liberal	David Chadwick	10,772	18.9	-2.7
Majority			9,701	17.0	-13.2
Turnout				78.9
	Labour hold		Swing

1978 Penistone by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Allen McKay	19,424	45.5	-8.7
	Conservative	Ian James Dobkin	14,053	32.9	+8.9
	Liberal	David Chadwick	9,241	21.6	-0.2
Majority			5,371	12.6	-17.6
Turnout			42,718
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	27,146	54.2
	Conservative	G. C. W. Harris	12,011	24.0
	Liberal	David Chadwick	10,900	21.8
Majority			15,135	30.2
Turnout				74.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	27,797	49.7
	Conservative	A. D. Wilkinson	14,084	25.2
	Liberal	David Chadwick	13,140	23.5
	Campaign for Social Democracy	M. Eaden	867	1.6
Majority			13,713	24.5
Turnout				84.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1970: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	31,615	58.7
	Conservative	Alan Pickup	14,897	27.7
	Liberal	Derick Mirfin	7,347	13.6
Majority			16,718	31.0
Turnout				73.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	31,419	62.3
	Conservative	Bryan Askew	11,817	23.4
	Liberal	Ronald Swinden	7,191	14.3
Majority			19,602	38.9
Turnout				78.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	29,784	58.1
	Conservative	Bryan Askew	13,095	25.6
	Liberal	Ronald Swinden	8,372	16.3
Majority			16,689	32.6
Turnout				81.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	31,117	61.1
	Conservative	John Bedford Deby	19,809	38.9
Majority			11,308	22.2
Turnout				83.0
	Labour hold		Swing

1959 Penistone by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Mendelson	25,315	64.1	+1.8
	Conservative	John Bedford Deby	14,196	35.9	−1.8
Majority			11,119	28.1	+3.4
Turnout			39,511
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

General election 1955: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Henry McGhee	29,432	62.3
	Conservative	Laurence B. Fulton	17,796	37.7
Majority			11,636	24.6
Turnout				80.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Henry McGhee	36,169	64.2
	Conservative	Denton Hinchcliffe	20,145	35.8
Majority			16,024	28.5
Turnout				85.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Henry McGhee	34,979	62.0
	Conservative	Denton Hinchcliffe	16,128	28.6
	Liberal	Anthony F Smith	5,316	9.4
Majority			18,851	33.4
Turnout				87.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Henry McGhee	40,180	65.8
	Conservative	R. G. Davies	20,869	34.2
Majority			19,311	31.6
Turnout				75.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Henry McGhee	23,869	53.5
	Conservative	Clifford Glossop	20,783	46.5
Majority			3,086	7.0
Turnout				73.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1931: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Clifford Glossop	19,556	47.7
	Labour	Rennie Smith	14,584	35.6
	Liberal	Thomas Neville	6,821	16.7
Majority			4,972	12.1
Turnout				81.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rennie Smith	17,286	45.2	+6.7
	Unionist	Francis George Bibbings	10,640	27.9	−6.2
	Liberal	Ashley Mitchell	10,277	26.9	−0.5
Majority			6,646	17.3	+12.9
Turnout			38,203	81.6	+1.0
Registered electors			46,810
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.5

General election 1924: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rennie Smith	10,997	38.5	+5.0
	Unionist	Charles Hodgkinson	9,718	38.5	+4.5
	Liberal	William Pringle	7,799	27.4	−9.5
Majority			1,279	4.4	N/A
Turnout			28,514	80.6	+8.8
Registered electors			35,358
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.3

General election 1923: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Pringle	9,164	36.9	+1.1
	Labour	Rennie Smith	8,329	33.5	−0.2
	Unionist	Charles Hodgkinson	7,369	29.6	−0.9
Majority			835	3.4	+1.3
Turnout			24,862	71.8	−1.3
Registered electors			34,612
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.7

William Pringle

General election 1922: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Pringle	8,924	35.8	−3.6
	Labour	William Gillis	8,382	33.7	N/A
	Unionist	Charles Hodgkinson	7,600	30.5	−5.7
Majority			542	2.1	−1.1
Turnout			24,906	73.1	+14.7
Registered electors			34,071
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.1

1921 Penistone by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Gillis	8,560	36.2	N/A
	Liberal	William Pringle	7,984	33.7	−5.7
	Coalition Liberal	James Peace Hinchcliffe	7,123	30.1	N/A
Majority			576	2.5	N/A
Turnout			23,667	71.7	+13.3
Registered electors			32,988
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

Sydney Arnold

General election 1918: Penistone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sydney Arnold	7,338	39.4	N/A
C	Unionist	Phillip Gatty Smith	6,744	36.2	N/A
	Independent Labour	Frederick William Southern	4,556	24.4	N/A
Majority			594	3.2	N/A
Turnout			18,638	58.4	N/A
Registered electors			31,928
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 1)
• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources (Election results since 1951)