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. | |
County | Devon |
1974–1997 | |
Number of members | One |
Replaced by | Plymouth Sutton |
Created from | Plymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport |
1918–1950 | |
Number of members | One |
Replaced by | Plymouth Sutton and Plymouth Devonport |
Created from | Plymouth |
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
Election | Member[1] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1918 | Arthur Benn | Conservative | |
1929 | James Moses | Labour | |
1931 | Frederick Guest | Conservative | |
1937 by-election | Henry Guest | Conservative | |
1945 | Hubert Medland | Labour | |
1950 | constituency abolished |
MPs 1974–1997
Election | Member[1] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
Feb 1974 | Janet Fookes | Conservative | |
1997 | constituency abolished: see Plymouth Sutton |
Election results
Elections in the 1910s
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
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 |
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 |
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 |
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
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 | ||||
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 |
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;
- Conservative: Henry Guest
- Labour: Leonard Matters[3]
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
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 |
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 |
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
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 |
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
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 |
Notes and references
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
- Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
- "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.