Holland with Boston (UK Parliament constituency)

Holland with Boston
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lincolnshire
1918–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Boston and Skegness and South Holland and the Deepings
Created from	Boston, Spalding

Holland with Boston was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The constituency was created in 1918 and abolished in 1997. By the time of its abolition, it was a safe Conservative seat. However, Holland with Boston had been held by both the Liberal and Labour parties before the Second World War.

From 1885 to 1918 the parliamentary borough of Boston returned one MP, while the Lincolnshire county division of Spalding, in the south-east of the historic county, elected another MP. In 1918 these two seats were merged to form this constituency.

When created in 1918 the constituency had the same boundaries as the traditional sub-division of the historic county known as the Parts of Holland, which had become an administrative county in 1889.

In 1997 the constituency was abolished and replaced by two new constituencies, Boston and Skegness and South Holland and The Deepings.

Boundaries

1918-1974: The county of the Parts of Holland.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Boston, the Urban District of Spalding, and the Rural Districts of Boston, East Elloe, and Spalding.

1983-1997: The Borough of Boston, and the District of South Holland wards of Donington, Fleet, Gedney, Holbeach Hurn, Holbeach St John, Holbeach Town, Long Sutton, Moulton, Sutton Bridge, The Saints, and Whaplode.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1918	William Stapleton Royce	Labour
	1924 by-election	Arthur Wellesley Dean	Conservative
	1929 by-election	Sir James Blindell	Liberal
	1931		National Liberal
	1937 by-election	Sir Herbert Butcher	National Liberal
	1950		National Liberal & Conservative
	1966	Sir Richard Body	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Boston and Skegness and South Holland and the Deepings

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Holland with Boston^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Stapleton Royce	8,788	39.8	n/a
	Unionist	Maj. Ernest A Crossley Belcher	7,718	35.0	n/a
	Liberal	Maj. Arthur George Villiers Peel	5,557	25.2	n/a
Majority			1,070	4.8	n/a
Turnout				55.2	n/a
	Labour win

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Holland with Boston^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Stapleton Royce	12,489	39.1	-0.7
	Unionist	Sir Henry William Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy	11,898	37.3	+2.3
	Liberal	Ewan Siegfried Agnew	7,535	23.6
Majority			591	1.8	-3.0
Turnout				76.9	+21.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.5

General Election 1923: Holland with Boston ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Stapleton Royce	15,697	54.1	+15.0
	Unionist	Arthur Wellesley Dean	13,331	45.9	+8.6
Majority			2,366	8.2	+6.4
Turnout				68.8	-8.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

By-election 1924: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Arthur Wellesley Dean	12,907	39.6	−6.3
	Labour	Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton	12,101	37.1	−17.0
	Liberal	Richard Pattinson Winfrey	7,596	23.3	N/A
Majority			806	2.5	N/A
Turnout			32,604	77.2	+8.4
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1924: Holland with Boston^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Arthur Wellesley Dean	15,459	47.5
	Labour	George Rivers Blanco White	10,689	32.8
	Liberal	Richard Pattinson Winfrey	6,413	19.7
Majority			4,770	14.7
Turnout				75.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

Holland with Boston by-election, 1929

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	James Blindell	13,000	38.1	+18.4
	Labour	George Rivers Blanco White	9,294	27.3	−5.5
	Unionist	Frederick James Van den Berg	8,257	24.2	−23.3
	Agricultural Party	F.W. Dennis	3,541	10.4	N/A
Majority			3,706	10.8
Turnout			34,092	75.6	−0.2
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	15.9

General Election 1929: Holland with Boston^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	James Blindell	19,792	43.8
	Unionist	Frederick James Van den Berg	15,877	35.1
	Labour	Charles Edward Snook	9,556	21.1
Majority			3,915	8.7
Turnout				81.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Holland with Boston^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	James Blindell	30,375	77.5
	Labour	Herbert John Harvey Parker	8,840	22.5
Majority			21,535	54.9
Turnout			39,215	68.5
	Liberal National hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Holland with Boston^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	James Blindell	25,162	65.5
	Labour	EE Reynolds	13,264	34.5
Majority			11,898	31.0
Turnout				63.6
	Liberal National hold		Swing

Holland with Boston by-election, 1937

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	Herbert Butcher	21,846	60.0	−5.5
	Labour	E.E. Reynolds	14,556	40.0	+5.5
Majority			7,290	20.0	−11.0
Turnout			36,396	59.4	−4.2
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−5.5

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;

• Liberal National: Herbert Butcher
• Labour: E Kennedy^[9]
• Br4itish Union: Miss Sylvia Morris

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Holland with Boston^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	Herbert Butcher	26,939	55.9
	Labour	A.E. Monks	21,263	44.1
Majority			5,676	11.8
Turnout				72.9
	Liberal National hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Herbert Walter Butcher	30,336	53.9
	Labour	Horace W. Lee	22,374	39.8
	Liberal	Raymond D Blankley	3,500	6.2
Majority			7,962	14.1
Turnout			68,411	82.1
	National Liberal hold		Swing

• Stood as 'National Liberal & Conservative' from 1950 onwards.

General Election 1951: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Herbert Walter Butcher	31,683	57.9	+4.0
	Labour	Miss Janet A Walters	22,994	42.0	+2.2
Majority			8,689	15.8
Turnout			69,453	78.7
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Sir Herbert Walter Butcher	28,412	53.2	−0.7
	Labour	William A Rippon	19,329	39.8	−3.6
	Liberal	Cyril Valentine	5,581	10.4	N/A
Majority			9,083	17.0
Turnout			70,040	76.1
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Sir Herbert Walter Butcher	29,013	53.5	+0.3
	Labour	John DT Williamson	17,839	32.9	−6.9
	Liberal	Cyril Valentine	7,334	13.5	+3.1
Majority			11,174	20.6
Turnout			70,588	76.7
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Sir Herbert Walter Butcher	29,082	55.3	+1.8
	Labour	Walter Long	23,451	44.6	+11.7
Majority			5,631	10.7
Turnout			71,064	73.9
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	26,683	50.3	−5.0
	Labour	Robert H. Hickman	26,367	49.7	+5.1
Majority			316	0.6
Turnout			53,050	74.9	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	33,580	58.0	+7.7
	Labour	Robert N.H. Sackur	24,241	41.9	−7.8
Majority			9,339	16.1
Turnout			77,245	74.8	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	30,561	47.6	−10.4
	Labour	M Cornish	18,180	28.3	−13.6
	Liberal	GR Stephenson	15,466	24.0	N/A
Majority			12,381	19.2
Turnout			79,775	80.4	+5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	28,145	47.6	+0.8
	Labour	M Cornish	19,461	33.5	+5.2
	Liberal	GR Stephenson	10,476	18.0	−6.0
Majority			8,684	14.9
Turnout			80,454	72.1	−8.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	35,440	55.5	+7.9
	Labour	M Fox	17,908	28.0	−5.5
	Liberal	J Wright	10,480	16.4	−1.6
Majority			17,532	27.4
Turnout			85,578	74.5	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	24,962	55.2	−0.3
	Liberal	Mrs. Carole Le Brun	13,226	29.2	+12.8
	Labour	JA Moore	6,970	15.4	−12.6
Majority			11,736	25.9
Turnout			63,562	71.0	−3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Holland with Boston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	27,412	57.8	+2.6
	Liberal	Mrs. Carole Le Brun	9,817	20.7	−8.5
	Labour	John Duncomb Hough	9,734	20.4	+5.1
	Independent	David James	405	0.8	N/A
Majority			17,595	37.1
Turnout			65,539	72.2	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Holland with Boston^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body	29,159	55.1	−2.8
	Labour	John Duncomb Hough	15,328	29.0	+8.4
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel J. Ley	8,434	15.9	−4.8
Majority			13,831	26.1	−11.0
Turnout			52,921	77.9	+5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire
• Holland with Boston by-election, 1924
• Holland with Boston by-election, 1929
• Holland with Boston by-election, 1937

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
4. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
9. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
11. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Sources

• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk.htm Area Studies, UK: politics, elections and government in Britain
• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.