East Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

East Somerset
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Somerset
1885–1918
Number of members One
Replaced by Wells and Yeovil
1832–1885
Number of members Two
Type of constituency County constituency
Created from Somerset

East Somerset was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1832 and 1918.

From 1832 to 1885, it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc vote system of election. From 1885 to 1918, a different constituency of the same name returned one MP, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Somerton and Wincanton, and part of the Sessional Divisions of Shepton Mallet and Wells.

History

1832–1868

The constituency, formally called The Eastern Division of Somerset, was created for the 1832 general election, when the former Somerset constituency was divided into new East and West divisions. It also absorbed the voters from the abolished borough of Milborne Port. The constituency might have been better described as North-Eastern Somerset, since its limits stopped well short of the southern extremities of the county. It surrounded the cities of Bath and Wells (although both were boroughs electing MPs in their own right, freeholders within these boroughs who met the property-owning qualifications for the county franchise could vote in East Somerset as well, as could those in Frome); other towns in the division were Glastonbury, Burnham-on-Sea, Clevedon, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Portishead, Radstock, Shepton Mallet, Somerton and Weston-super-Mare.

1868–1885

The Second Reform Act brought about significant boundary changes, which came into effect at the 1868 general election, as Somerset was given a third county constituency. The southern end of East Somerset (including Glastonbury, Radstock, Shepton Mallet and Somerton as well as the area round Frome and Wells) was moved into the new Mid Somerset division. The revised East Somerset constituency was now defined as consisting of the Long Ashton, Axbridge, Keynsham, Temple Cloud and Weston Petty Sessional Divisions.

1885–1918

At the 1885 general election, there were further radical boundary changes, Somerset's three two-member county divisions together with one abolished borough being reorganised into seven single-member county constituencies. One of these took the name of Eastern Somerset, but this included none of the voters from the 1867-85 East Somerset constituency, who were divided between the new Frome, Northern Somerset and Wells divisions.

The new Eastern division was carved out of the previous Mid Somerset division, with Shepton Mallet being its largest town; it also included Somerton, Street and Wincanton. This was a predominantly rural constituency, though with some industry in the towns (notably brewing and bootmaking), and a strong Nonconformist religious tradition. It would probably have been a safe Liberal seat, but when its sitting Liberal MP joined the Liberal Unionists when the party split in 1886, he had no difficulty holding his seat until he retired.

Abolition

The constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, when Somerset's number of county members was reduced by one. It was mostly replaced by the revised Wells county constituency, but the town of Somerton was transferred to Yeovil.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party
1832 William Gore-Langton[1] Whig William Papwell Brigstocke[2] Whig
1834 by-election William Miles[2]1 Conservative
1847 by-election William Pinney Whig
1852 William Knatchbull[2] Conservative
1865 Ralph Neville-Grenville[2] Conservative Richard Paget Conservative
1868 Ralph Shuttleworth Allen[2] Conservative Richard Bright Conservative
1878 by-election Sir Philip Miles, Bt[2] Conservative
1879 by-election Lord Brooke[2] Conservative
1885 Redistribution of Seats Act: Name transferred to a different constituency, electing only one member

Notes
1 Miles was created a Baronet in 1859.

MPs 1885–1918

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Henry Hobhouse[2] Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1906 John William Howard Thompson[2] Liberal
1910 Ernest Jardine[2] Liberal Unionist
1918 constituency abolished

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906 Electorate 9,717
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal John William Howard Thompson 4,553 53.9
Liberal Unionist Bertram Godfray Falle 3,890 46.1
Majority 663 7.8
Turnout
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910 Electorate 9,791
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Unionist Ernest Jardine 4,997 55.7 9.6
Liberal John William Howard Thompson 3,970 44.3 -9.6
Majority 1,027 11.4
Turnout
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +9.6
General Election December 1910 Electorate 9,791
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Unionist Ernest Jardine 4,748 55.1 -0.6
Liberal John William Howard Thompson 3,875 44.9 +0.6
Majority 873 10.2 -1.2
Turnout
Liberal Unionist hold Swing -0.6

References

  1. ↑ Jenkins, Terry. "Somerset: Background information". The History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Somerset Eastern 1832-1918". Hansard. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
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