Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)

Warrington was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. From 1832 to 1983 it returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Warrington
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Warrington in Lancashire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
1832–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Warrington North and Warrington South
Created from	Lancashire

History

The Warrington constituency covered the central part of the town of Warrington in Lancashire and surrounding area.

In 1983 it was abolished and replaced by Warrington North and Warrington South constituencies.

Boundaries

The Parliamentary Borough of Warrington was defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 as comprising:

The respective Townships of Warrington and Latchford; and also those two detached portions of the township of Thelwall which lie between the boundary of the township of Latchford and the River Mersey[1][2]

It was this area that was incorporated as a Municipal Borough in 1847.[3] The boundaries were unchanged until 1918 when the constituency was redefined as being identical with the area of the County Borough of Warrington.[4] The constituency boundaries were widened to reflect those of the County Borough in 1950, at the same time it was renamed as Warrington Borough Constituency.[5][6]

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
	1832	Edmund George Hornby	Whig[7]
	1835	John Ireland Blackburne	Conservative[7]
	1847	Gilbert Greenall	Conservative
	1868	Peter Rylands	Liberal
	1874	Gilbert Greenall	Conservative
	1880	John Gordon McMinnies	Liberal
	1885	Sir Gilbert Greenall	Conservative
	1892	Robert Pierpont	Conservative
	1906	Arthur Crosfield	Liberal
	1910	Harold Smith	Conservative
	1922	Alec Cunningham-Reid	Conservative
	1923	Charles Dukes	Labour
	1924	Alec Cunningham-Reid	Conservative
	1929	Charles Dukes	Labour
	1931	Noel Goldie	Conservative
	1945	Edward Porter	Labour
	1950	Hyacinth Morgan	Labour
	1955	Edith Summerskill	Labour
	1961	Thomas Williams	Labour
	1981	Doug Hoyle	Labour
1983		Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Warrington [8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Edmund George Hornby	203	53.6
	Tory	John Ireland Blackburne	176	46.4
Majority			27	7.1
Turnout			379	83.1
Registered electors			456
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Warrington [8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Ireland Blackburne	148	53.2	+6.8
	Radical	Charles Hindley[9]	130	46.8	N/A
Majority			18	6.5	N/A
Turnout			278	49.9	−33.2
Registered electors			557
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+6.8

General election 1837: Warrington [8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Ireland Blackburne	278	52.3	−0.9
	Whig	Edward Davies Davenport	254	47.7	N/A
Majority			24	4.5	−2.0
Turnout			532	83.8	+33.9
Registered electors			635
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.9

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Warrington [8][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Ireland Blackburne	Unopposed
Registered electors			633
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	327	52.3	N/A
	Whig	William Allcard[10]	298	47.7	N/A
Majority			29	4.6	N/A
Turnout			625	89.4	N/A
Registered electors			699
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	Unopposed
Registered electors			701
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	Unopposed
Registered electors			720
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	Unopposed
Registered electors			723
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	Unopposed
Registered electors			768
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Peter Rylands	1,984	50.3	N/A
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	1,957	49.7	N/A
Majority			27	0.7	N/A
Turnout			3,941	88.2	N/A
Registered electors			4,470
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	2,381	52.0	+2.3
	Liberal	Peter Rylands	2,201	48.0	−2.3
Majority			180	3.9	N/A
Turnout			4,582	91.2	+3.0
Registered electors			5,022
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.3

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Warrington [8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Gordon McMinnies	3,002	54.8	+6.8
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	2,473	45.2	−6.8
Majority			529	9.7	N/A
Turnout			5,475	92.5	+1.3
Registered electors			5,919
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.8

General election 1885: Warrington [11][12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	4,010	55.4	+10.2
	Liberal	William Crosfield	3,234	44.6	−10.2
Majority			776	10.8	N/A
Turnout			7,244	93.7	+1.2
Registered electors			7,730
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.2

General election 1886: Warrington [11][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert Greenall	3,717	53.6	−1.8
	Liberal	John Crosfield	3,216	46.4	+1.8
Majority			501	7.2	−3.6
Turnout			6,933	89.7	−4.0
Registered electors			7,730
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.8

Elections in the 1890s

Pierpoint

General election 1892: Warrington [11][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Pierpont	3,843	54.1	+0.5
	Liberal	Arthur Houston	3,258	45.9	−0.5
Majority			585	8.2	+1.0
Turnout			7,101	89.8	+0.1
Registered electors			7,906
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

General election 1895: Warrington [11][14][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Pierpont	4,001	54.6	+0.5
	Liberal	Percival Brown Scott	3,326	45.4	−0.5
Majority			675	9.2	+1.0
Turnout			7,327	86.7	−3.1
Registered electors			8,449
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Warrington [11][14][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Pierpont	4,468	57.5	+2.9
	Liberal	Arthur Crosfield	3,303	42.5	−2.9
Majority			1,165	15.0	+5.8
Turnout			7,771	83.0	−3.7
Registered electors			9,360
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

Crosfield

General election 1906: Warrington [11][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Arthur Crosfield	5,599	57.7	+15.2
	Conservative	Robert Pierpont	4,099	42.3	−15.2
Majority			1,500	15.4	N/A
Turnout			9,698	93.6	+10.6
Registered electors			10,365
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Warrington [15][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Arthur Crosfield	5,256	50.7	−7.0
	Conservative	Robert Pierpont	5,103	49.3	+7.0
Majority			153	1.4	−14.0
Turnout			10,359	95.8	+2.2
Registered electors			10,814
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.0

General election December 1910: Warrington [15][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Harold Smith	5,162	51.2	+1.9
	Liberal	Arthur Crosfield	4,916	48.8	−1.9
Majority			246	2.4	N/A
Turnout			10,078	93.2	−2.6
Registered electors			10,814
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.9

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;

• Unionist: Harold Smith
• Liberal:

General election 1918: Warrington[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	Harold Smith	10,403	43.7	−7.5
	Liberal	Peter Peacock	8,011	33.7	−15.1
	Labour	Isaac Brassington	5,377	22.6	N/A
Majority			2,392	10.0	+7.6
Turnout			23,791	70.2	−23.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.8
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Warrington[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Alec Cunningham-Reid	15,394	53.1	+9.4
	Labour	James Gregory	13,570	46.9	+24.3
Majority			1,824	6.2	-3.8
Turnout				84.7	+14.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	-7.4

General election 1923: Warrington[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Charles Dukes	12,984	43.6	-3.3
	Unionist	Alec Cunningham-Reid	12,314	41.3	-11.8
	Liberal	John Francis Crowley	4511	15.1	n/a
Majority			670	2.3	8.9
Turnout				86.1	+1.4
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+4.4

General election 1924: Warrington[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Alec Cunningham-Reid	16,788	52.4	+11.1
	Labour	Charles Dukes	15,251	47.6	+4.0
Majority			1,537	4.8	7.1
Turnout				91.0	+4.9
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+3.5

Garland

General election 1929: Warrington[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Charles Dukes	21,610	50.6	+3.0
	Unionist	Noel Goldie	18,025	42.2	-10.2
	Liberal	Alison Garland	3,070	7.2	n/a
Majority			3,585	8.4	13.2
Turnout				89.3	-1.7
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Noel Goldie	24,400	56.15
	Labour	Charles Dukes	19,055	43.85
Majority			5,345	12.30
Turnout				72.43
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Noel Goldie	21,324	50.7
	Labour	Edward Porter	20,720	49.3
Majority			604	1.4
Turnout				84.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Porter	22,265	62.9
	Conservative	Noel Goldie	13,110	37.1
Majority			9,155	25.9
Turnout				73.8

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Hyacinth Morgan	26,482	56.8
	Conservative	Francis Leslie Neep	17,730	38.0
	Liberal	James Campbell Park	1,899	4.1
	Communist	James Joseph Grady	496	1.1
Majority			8,752	18.8
Turnout				86.0

General election 1951: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Hyacinth Morgan	26,225	57.8
	Conservative	F Joan Crowther	17,623	38.8
	Liberal	James Campbell Park	1,537	3.4
Majority			8,602	18.9
Turnout				82.8

General election 1955: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edith Summerskill	22,721	57.1
	Conservative	Herbert Davies	17,075	42.9
Majority			5,646	14.2
Turnout				73.9

General election 1959: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edith Summerskill	22,890	56.3
	Conservative	Frank O Stansfield	17,791	43.7
Majority			5,099	12.5
Turnout				73.9

Elections in the 1960s

1961 Warrington by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	16,149	55.84	-0.46
	Conservative	Beata Brookes	9,149	32.08	-11.62
	Liberal	Frank Tetlow	3,623	12.53	+12.53
Majority			7,000	23.76	+11.26
Turnout			28,921	56.7	-20.2
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1964: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	20,551	57.1
	Conservative	William A Lowe	11,297	31.4
	Liberal	Michael Ford Pitts	4,119	11.5
Majority			9,254	25.7
Turnout				71.4
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1966: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	21,930	64.7
	Conservative	W Peter Adshead	8,918	26.3
	Liberal	Edward J Woods	3,070	9.1
Majority			13,012	38.4
Turnout				68.9
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	20,970	64.3	-0.4
	Conservative	Alfred B Gooch	11,647	35.7	+9.4
Majority			9,323	28.6	-9.8
Turnout			32,617	65.2	-3.7
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-4.9

General election February 1974: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	19,550	57.2	-7.1
	Conservative	JW Hayton	8,444	24.7	-11.0
	Liberal	FJ Deakin	6,187	18.1	+18.1
Majority			11,106	32.5	+3.9
Turnout			34,181	73.9	-8.7
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+3.9

General election October 1974: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	19,882	62.8	+5.6
	Conservative	JW Heaton	7,621	24.1	-0.6
	Liberal	FJ Deakin	4,158	13.1	-5.0
Majority			12,261	38.7	+6.2
Turnout			31,661	68.0	-5.9
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+3.1

General election 1979: Warrington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	19,306	61.6	-1.2
	Conservative	G Povey	9,032	28.8	+4.7
	Liberal	Iain Brodie Browne	2,883	9.1	-4.0
	Social Democrat (1979)	C Campbell	144	0.5
Majority			10,274	32.8	-5.9
Turnout			31,365	71.3	+3.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

1981 Warrington by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Doug Hoyle	14,280	48.4	– 13.3
	SDP	Roy Jenkins	12,521	42.4	N/A
	Conservative	Stanley Sorrell	2,102	7.1	– 21.7
	Ecology	Neil Chantrell	219	0.8	N/A
	United Democratic Labour Party	Daniel Hussey	149	0.5	N/A
	Citizen's Band Radio Party	Iain Leslie	111	0.4	N/A
	Independent Labour	John Fleming	53	0.2	N/A
	Social Democrat (1979)	Donald Kean	38	0.1	– 0.4
	Democratic Monarchist	Bill Boaks	14	0.1	N/A
	English Democratic Party	Harry Wise	11	0.0	N/A
	More Prosperous Britain	Tom Keen	10	0.0	N/A
Majority			1,759	6.0	– 26.8
Turnout			29,508	67.0	– 4.3
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (1832 c.64) Schedule O
2. The Maxima Charta of 1832, for England, Scotland and Ireland comprising the various statutes passed in the reign of William IV for amending the representation of the people in the commons House of Parliament, also the statutes which describe the boundaries. London: H Fisher, R Fisher & P Jackson. 1832. p. 101.
3. "No. 20621". The London Gazette. 10 July 1846. p. 2532.
4. Representation of the People Act 1918 (c. 64), Ninth Schedule: Redistribution of Seats
5. Representation of the People Act 1948 (c.65) First Schedule
6. Youngs, Frederic A, Jr. (1991). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.2: Northern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. 818. ISBN 0861931270.
7. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 188. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
8. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book)|format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
9. "Page 2". Morning Post. 8 January 1835. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Lancashire Election News". Manchester Times. 24 July 1847. p. 7. Retrieved 22 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
12. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
13. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
14. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
15. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 319. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 202. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 267. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)