Plymouth Drake (UK Parliament constituency)

Plymouth Drake was a borough constituency in the city of Plymouth, in Devon. It elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system of election.

Plymouth Drake
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Plymouth Drake in Devon, showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997.
CountyDevon
1974 (1974)–1997
Number of membersOne
Replaced byPlymouth Sutton
Created fromPlymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport
1918–1950
Number of membersOne
Replaced byPlymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport
Created fromPlymouth

History

The first Drake constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election. For most of this time it was held by the Conservative Party. It was a Labour gain in the Attlee landslide of 1945, although it had been held by Labour once before, in the 1929–31 Parliament.

The second incarnation of the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election. For the whole of its 23-year existence it was represented by just one MP, Dame Janet Fookes of the Conservative Party. It was always a marginal seat during this period, but Dame Janet managed to survive many strong challenges at each general election she fought, including winning with a majority of just 34 in October 1974 – making Drake the most marginal Conservative seat at that election. She served as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd from 1992 until she retired from the Commons in 1997.

The constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, with its wards being transferred to the redrawn constituency of Plymouth Sutton, which was gained by the Labour Party in the Blair landslide of that year. Most of the territory of Drake is now covered by the constituency of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Drake, Mount Edgcumbe, Mutley, Pennycross, St Peter, Stoke, and Valletort.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, Honicknowle, Pennycross, Tamerton, Trelawny, and Whitleigh.

1983–1997: The City of Plymouth wards of Compton, Drake, St Peter, Stoke, Sutton, and Trelawny.

In its 1918 and 1983 incarnations the constituency included Plymouth city centre, which was transferred in 1997 to Plymouth Sutton and in 2010 to Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950
ElectionMember[1]Party
1918Arthur BennConservative
1929James MosesLabour
1931Frederick GuestConservative
1937 by-electionHenry GuestConservative
1945Hubert MedlandLabour
1950 constituency abolished

MPs 1974–1997
ElectionMember[1]Party
Feb 1974Janet FookesConservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Plymouth Sutton

Election results

Elections in the 1910s
Arthur Benn
General election 1918: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
C Unionist Arthur Benn 17,188 73.4
Liberal Thomas Dobson 6,225 26.6
Majority 10,963 46.8
Turnout 23,413
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1922: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Arthur Benn 11,698 43.9 -29.5
Labour James Gorman 8,359 31.4 n/a
Liberal Samuel John Robins 6,594 24.7 -1.9
Majority 3,339 12.5 -34.3
Turnout 26,651
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1923: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Arthur Benn 12,345 43.7 -0.2
Labour James Moses 11,849 41.9 +10.5
Liberal Edward Ernest Henry Atkin 4,082 14.4 -10.3
Majority 496 1.8 -10.7
Turnout 77.9
Unionist hold Swing -5.3
General election 1924: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Arthur Benn 14,669 48.1 +4.4
Labour James Moses 12,161 39.9 -2.0
Liberal Solomon Stephens 3,645 12.0 -2.4
Majority 2,508 8.2 +6.4
Turnout 30,475
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1929: Plymouth Drake [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Moses 16,684 44.3
Unionist Arthur Benn 14,673 39.0
Liberal Hugh MacDonald Pratt 6,309 16.7
Majority 2,011 5.3
Turnout 80.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Plymouth Drake[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Frederick Guest 25,063 66.4
Labour James Moses 12,669 33.6
Majority 12,394 32.8
Turnout 37,732 79.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Plymouth Drake[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Frederick Guest 21,446 58.3
Labour James Moses 15,368 41.7
Majority 6,078 16.5
Turnout 36,814 74.8
Conservative hold Swing
1937 Plymouth Drake by-election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Henry Guest 15,778 58.82
Labour Geoffrey Garratt 11,044 41.18
Majority 4734 17.65
Turnout 26,822
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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;

General election 1945: Plymouth Drake[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Hubert Medland 15,070 50.9
Conservative Henry Guest 12,871 43.4
Common Wealth Edgar John Trout 1,681 5.7 n/a
Majority 2,199 7.4
Turnout 71.6
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election February 1974: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 18,417 42.82
Labour FK Taylor 15,806 36.75
Liberal ME Castle 8,784 20.42
Majority 2,611 6.07
Turnout 78.04
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 17,287 41.26
Labour BW Fletcher 17,253 41.18
Liberal ME Castle 7,354 17.55
Majority 34 0.08
Turnout 75.41
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Plymouth Drake
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 21,759 50.60
Labour BW Fletcher 17,515 40.73
Liberal A Puttick 3,452 8.03
National Front C Bradbury 279 0.65
Majority 4,244 9.87
Turnout 77.19
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1983: Plymouth Drake[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 19,718 50.64
SDP W Fitzgerald 11,133 28.59
Labour S Creswell 7,921 20.34
BNP C Bradbury 163 0.42
Majority 8,585 22.05
Turnout 74.33
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Plymouth Drake[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 16,195 41.30
SDP David Astor 13,070 33.33
Labour David Jamieson 9,451 24.10
Green Tracey Barber 493 1.26
Majority 3,125 7.97
Turnout 76.60
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1992: Plymouth Drake[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Janet Fookes 17,075 43.7 +2.4
Labour Co-op P Telford 15,062 38.6 +14.5
Liberal Democrats VA Cox 5,893 15.1 −18.2
SDP DM Stanbury 476 1.2 +1.2
Green AE Harrison 441 1.1 −0.1
Natural Law TJ Pringle 95 0.2 N/A
Majority 2,013 5.2 −2.8
Turnout 39,042 75.6 −1.0
Conservative hold Swing −6.0
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See also

Notes and references
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
  2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  4. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  7. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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