Wellingborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Wellingborough
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire.
Location of Northamptonshire within England.
County	Northamptonshire
Electorate	76,848 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Irchester
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Peter Bone (Conservative Party)
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Wellingborough is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Peter Bone, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

History

This seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Political history

Wellingborough's earliest years were left-leaning. Since the 1964 the seat has kept on producing examples of bellwether results and rarely showed itself to be safe for more than one government term. Departing from this are two years where the result has defied the most common result nationwide, by leaning towards the Conservative Party, in 1974 (twice) and in 2005.

Prominent frontbenchers

Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare was a Lloyd-Georgist National Liberal who served in junior minister roles through much of World War II including, briefly as the Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1940.

The lack of other senior positions is assisted by no majority having been gained by the winner which is in national terms generally shown to be insurmountable, see marginal seat.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Finedon, Irthlingborough, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, the Rural District of Wellingborough, and in the Rural District of Thrapston the civil parishes of Chelveston-cum-Caldecott, Hargrave, and Stanwick.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Irthlingborough, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, the Rural District of Wellingborough, and in the Rural District of Oundle and Thrapston the civil parishes of Chelveston-cum-Caldecott and Hargrave.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Higham Ferrers, the Urban Districts of Irthlingborough, Oundle, Raunds, Rushden, and Wellingborough, and the Rural Districts of Oundle and Thrapston, and Wellingborough.

1983-2010: The Borough of Wellingborough, and the District of East Northamptonshire wards of Higham Ferrers, Rushden East, Rushden North, Rushden South, and Rushden West.

2010-present: The Borough of Wellingborough wards of Brickhill, Castle, Croyland, Finedon, Great Doddington and Wilby, Hemmingwell, Irchester, North, Queensway, Redwell East, Redwell West, South, Swanspool, and Wollaston, and the District of East Northamptonshire wards of Higham Ferrers, Rushden East, Rushden North, Rushden South, and Rushden West.

The constituency is named after the town of Wellingborough and covers most of the Borough of Wellingborough local government district. The constituency also includes Rushden (a broad town) and Higham Ferrers, a large village in the neighbouring local government district of East Northamptonshire.

Higham Ferrers was itself a former borough constituency until its abolition as one of the rotten boroughs in 1832.

Constituency profile

Strengths in local industries here or in neighbouring Northampton and Kettering include in printing, logistics and distribution, automotive (assembly and design), construction, food processing and advanced engineering sectors. Despite this a decline in the traditional local industries such as quarrying, furniture making and textiles pushes workless claimants who were registered jobseekers in November 2012 higher than the national (and regional) average of 3.8%, at 4.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[2]	Party	Notes
	1918	Walter Robert Smith	Labour
	1922	Geoffrey Shakespeare	National Liberal	Secretary for Overseas Trade (1940)
	1923	William Cove	Labour
	1929	George Dallas	Labour
	1931	Archibald James	Conservative
	1945	George Lindgren	Labour
	1959	Michael Hamilton	Conservative
	1964	Harry Howarth	Labour	Died 1969
	1969 by-election	Sir Peter Fry	Conservative
	1997	Paul Stinchcombe	Labour
	2005	Peter Bone	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Wellingborough^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Bone	26,265	52.1	+3.8
	UKIP	Jonathan Munday[5]	9,868	19.6	+16.4
	Labour	Richard Garvie^1	9,839	19.5	-5.9
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Nelson	2,240	4.4	-12.7
	Green	Marion-Turner-Hawes	2,218	4.4	+3.5
Majority			16,397	32.5
Turnout			50,430	65.4	-1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

¹: After nominations were closed, Garvie was suspended from the Labour Party after he was convicted of fraud after buying £900 of train tickets with a closed bank account.^[6] He still appeared on ballot papers as Labour.

General Election 2010: Wellingborough^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Bone	24,918	48.2	+5.5
	Labour	Jayne Buckland	13,131	25.4	-16.0
	Liberal Democrat	Kevin Barron	8,848	17.1	+5.6
	UKIP	Adrian Haynes	1,636	3.2	+0.9
	BNP	Rob Walker	1,596	3.1	+3.1
	English Democrat	Terry Spencer	530	1.0	+1.0
	Green	Jonathan Hornett	480	0.9	+0.9
	TUSC	Paul Crofts	249	0.5	+0.5
	Independent	Gary Donaldson	240	0.5	+0.5
	Independent	Marcus Lavin	33	0.1	+0.1
Majority			11,787	22.8
Turnout			51,661	67.2	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Wellingborough^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Bone	22,674	42.8	+0.6
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	21,987	41.5	−5.3
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Church	6,147	11.6	+2.3
	UKIP	James Wrench	1,214	2.3	+0.6
	Veritas	Nicholas Alex	749	1.4	+1.4
	Socialist Labour	Andy Dickson	234	0.4	+0.4
Majority			687	1.3
Turnout			53,005	66.5	+2.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	2.9

General Election 2001: Wellingborough^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	23,867	46.8	+2.6
	Conservative	Peter Bone	21,512	42.2	-1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Gaskell	4,763	9.3	-0.1
	UKIP	Tony Ellwood	864	1.7	-0.4
Majority			2,355	4.6
Turnout			51,006	64.1	-10.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wellingborough^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Paul Stinchcombe	24,854	44.2	+10.3
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	24,667	43.8	-9.6
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Smith	5,279	9.4	-3.4
	UKIP	Tony Ellwood	1,192	2.1	N/A
	Natural Law	Annie Lorys	297	0.5	N/A
Majority			187	0.3
Turnout			56,289	74.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

General Election 1992: Wellingborough^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	32,302	53.4	+0.7
	Labour	Phil Sawford	20,486	33.9	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Julie Trevor	7,714	12.8	-7.4
Majority			11,816	19.5	-6.0
Turnout			60,502	81.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0%

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Wellingborough^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	29,038	52.7	+3.8
	Labour	J. Currie	14,968	27.2	+1.2
	Liberal	L.E. Stringer	11,047	20.1	-4.6
Majority			14,070	25.5	+2.6
Turnout			55,053
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3%

General Election 1983: Wellingborough^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	25,715	48.9	-3.4
	Labour	J.H. Mann	13,659	26.0	-8.9
	Liberal	L.E. Stringer	12,994	24.7	+12.9
	Independent	D.M.P. Garnett	228	0.4	+0.1
Majority			12,056	22.9	+5.5
Turnout			52,596
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8%

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	37,812	52.3	+9.5
	Labour	D.A. Forwood	25,278	34.9	-5.3
	Liberal	L.E. Stringer	8,506	11.8	-6.2
	National Front	S.F. Wright	529	0.7	+0.7
	Independent	D.M.P. Garnett	228	0.3	+0.3
Majority			12,534	17.4	+9.5
Turnout			72,353	81.25
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.4

General Election Oct 1974: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	29,078	42.8	+2.3
	Labour	J H Mann	27,320	40.2	+2.9
	Liberal	Penelope Jessel	11,500	17.0	-3.9
Majority			1,758	2.6	-0.5
Turnout			67,898	79.61
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3%

General Election Feb 1974: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	29,099	40.5	-11.7
	Labour	J.H. Mann	26,829	37.3	-10.5
	Liberal	Penelope Jessel	15,049	20.9	+20.9
	Independent Conservative	D.T. James	897	1.2	+1.2
Majority			2,720	3.1	-1.3
Turnout			71,874	85.00
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.6%

General Election 1970: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	27,459	52.2	-2.2
	Labour	J.H. Mann	25,107	47.8	8.0
Majority			2,532	4.4	-12.2
Turnout			52,566	81.34
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.1

Elections in the 1960s

Wellingborough By-election December 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Peter Fry	22,548	54.4	+6.8
	Labour	J.H. Mann	16,499	39.8	-7.8
	Independent	M.P. Coney	2,421	5.8	+5.8
Majority			6,049	14.6	+14.6
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	7.3

General Election 1966: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Howarth	24,705	52.4	+10.1
	Conservative	J.L. Leatham	22,472	47.6	+5.4
Majority			2,233	4.8	+4.7
Turnout			54,566	86.46	+1322
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.1 (from Lib)

General Election 1964: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Howarth	19,592	42.26	-7.17
	Conservative	Michael Hamilton	19,545	42.16	-8.51
	Liberal	P.A.J. Petit	7,227	15.59	+15.59
Majority			47	0.10
Turnout				87.11
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	11.9 (Con to Lib)

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Hamilton	22,964	50.67	+1.61
	Labour	George Samuel Lindgren	22,358	49.33	-1.61
Majority			606	1.34
Turnout				86.72
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	1.61

General Election 1955: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Samuel Lindgren	22,745	51.04	-1.35
	Conservative	Albert Arthur Jones	21,819	48.96	+1.35
Majority			926	2.08
Turnout				86.01
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.35

General Election 1951: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Samuel Lindgren	24,113	52.39	+5.29
	Conservative	F.R. Parsons	21,912	47.61	+19.15
Majority			2,201	4.78
Turnout				88.38
	Labour hold		Swing	+21.8 (from Lib)

General Election 1950: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Samuel Lindgren	21,640	47.10	-10.61
	Conservative	J. Sayer	13,075	28.46	-13.83
	Liberal	Edwin Thomas Malindine	11,227	24.44	+24.44
Majority			8,565	18.64
Turnout				89.51
	Labour hold		Swing	-17.53 (to Lib)

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Lindgren	22,416	57.71
	Conservative	Archibald James	16,426	42.29
Majority			5,990	15.42
Turnout				74.39
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archibald James	18,085	50.52
	Labour	George Dallas	17,713	49.48
Majority			372	1.04
Turnout				77.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archibald James	22,127	61.02
	Labour	George Dallas	14,137	38.98
Majority			7,990	22.03
Turnout				81.24
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

G. Dallas

General Election 1929: Wellingborough ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Dallas	15,300	42.2	+2.2
	Liberal	Richard Pattinson Winfrey	11,255	31.0	+2.2
	Unionist	Archibald William Henry James	9,703	26.8	-4.4
Majority			4,045	11.2	-+2.4
Turnout				83.3	-0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.0

General Election 1924: Wellingborough ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William George Cove	11,381	40.0
	Unionist	R A Raphael	8,900	31.2
	Liberal	H M Paul	8,223	28.8
Majority			2,481	8.8
Turnout				84.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Wellingborough ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William George Cove	11,175	42.1	-0.3
	Liberal	Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare	8,638	32.5	-25.1
	Unionist	Robert Massy-Dawson Sanders	6,747	25.4	n/a
Majority			2,537	9.6	24.8
Turnout				79.9
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+12.4

General Election 1922: Wellingborough ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare	14,995
	Labour	Walter Robert Smith	11,057
Majority
Turnout
	National Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918 Wellingborough^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Walter Robert Smith	10,290	52.5	n/a
	Liberal	Milner Gray	9,313	47.5	n/a
Majority				5.0	n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Labour win

• endorsed by Coalition Government

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northamptonshire

Notes and references

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
3. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
4. "Election 2015:Wellingborough Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
5. http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/wellingborough/
6. Francesca Gosling. "Labour's candidate for Wellingborough and Rushden Richard Garvie suspended after conviction for fraud". Nothampton Chronicle & Echo.
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. Wellingborough BBC News | Election 2010
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Sources

• A history of Britain's parliamentary constituencies / edited by Jacques A. Arnold. The constituencies of the county of Northamptonshire..

Coordinates: 52°18′N 0°42′W / 52.30°N 0.70°W