Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)

Leominster
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Leominster in Herefordshire for the 2005 general election.
Location of Herefordshire within England.
County	Herefordshire
1885–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	North Herefordshire
Created from	Herefordshire and Leominster
1295–1885
Number of members	1295–1868: Two 1868–1885: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Leominster

Leominster was a parliamentary constituency represented until 1707 in the House of Commons of England, then until 1801 in that of Great Britain, and finally until 2010, when it disappeared in boundary changes, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

From 1295 to 1885, Leominster was a parliamentary borough which until 1868 elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its representation was reduced to one Member, elected by the first past the post system. The parliamentary borough was abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and the name was transferred to a new county constituency.

History

Abolition

Following the review by the Boundary Commission for England of parliamentary representation in Herefordshire, no longer connected for such reasons with Worcestershire, two parliamentary constituencies have been allocated to the county. Most of the Leominster seat has been replaced by the North Herefordshire seat, while the remainder of the county is covered by the Hereford and South Herefordshire seat.^[1]

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, and the Sessional Divisions of Bredwardine, Bromyard, Kingston, Leominster, Weobley, and Wigmore.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban Districts of Bromyard and Kington, the Rural Districts of Bredwardine, Bromyard, Kington, Leominster, Weobley, and Wigmore, and parts of the Rural Districts of Hereford and Ledbury.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban Districts of Bromyard, Kington, and Ledbury, the Rural Districts of Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster, and Weobley and Wigmore, and part of the Rural District of Hereford.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban District of Kington, the Rural Districts of Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster, and Weobley and Wigmore, and part of the Rural District of Hereford.

1983-1997: The District of Leominster, the District of Malvern Hills wards of Baldwin, Bringsty, Broadheath, Bromyard, Butterley, Cradley, Frome, Frome Vale, Hallow, Hegdon, Hope End, Laugherne Hill, Leadon Vale, Ledbury, Leigh and Bransford, Marcle Ridge, Martley, Temeside, and Woodbury, and the District of South Herefordshire wards of Burghill, Burmarsh, Dinmore Hill, Hagley, Magna, Munstone, Swainshill, and Thinghill.

1997-2010: The District of Leominster, the District of Malvern Hills wards of Bringsty, Bromyard, Butterley, Cradley, Frome, Frome Vale, Hegdon, Hope End, Leadon Vale, Ledbury, and Marcle Ridge, the District of South Herefordshire wards of Backbury, Burghill, Burmarsh, Credenhill, Dinmore Hill, Hagley, Munstone, Swainshill, and Thinghill, and the District of Wyre Forest ward of Rock and Ribbesford.

In its final form, the constituency consisted of northern Herefordshire and a small part of north-west Worcestershire, the boundaries having been specified when the two were joined as the single county of Hereford and Worcester. In Herefordshire it included the towns of Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury as well as Leominster, while the largest settlement of Worcestershire it included was Tenbury Wells.

Members of Parliament

To 1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Robert Calderbrook	Walter Aston [2]
1388 (Feb)	Robert Calderbrook	John Montgomery [2]
1388 (Sep)	John Aston	Walter Aston [2]
1390 (Jan)	Hugh Aston	Peter Cook [2]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Peter Cook	John Bradford [2]
1393	Roger Loutwardin	John Hood [2]
1394
1395	Thomas Barber	Thomas Reynold [2]
1397 (Jan)	Thomas Reynold	William Colle [2]
1397 (Sep)	William Taverner	John Romayn [2]
1399	John Hood	Thomas White [2]
1401
1402	William Taverner	John Bond [2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	William Taverner	William Tiler [2]
1407	William Taverner	William Tiler [2]
1410	Edmund Morris	Walter Borgate [2]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Salisbury	John Romayn [2]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	William Colle	John Salisbury [2]
1415
1416 (Mar)	John Salisbury	Reynold Smith [2]
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Salisbury	John Braas [2]
1419	Thomas Hood	Reynold Smith [2]
1420	Thomas Hood	William Raves [2]
1421 (May)	William Stokes	John Hood [2]
1421 (Dec)	Thomas Hood	William Raves [2]
1510-1523	No names known[3]
1529	John Bell	John Hillesley [3]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	?
1547	William Crowche	Richard Cupper [3]
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Oct)	William Strete	John Polle [3]
1554 (Apr)	Lewis Jones	John Evans [3]
1554 (Nov)	Nicholas Depden	Thomas Wykes [3]
1555	James Warnecombe	Thomas Kerry [3]
1558	Alban Birch	Richard Hakluyt [3]
1559	Thomas Hakluyt	Thomas Coningsby I[4]
1562/3	Thomas Dallowe	John Morgan [4]
1571	Edward Croft	Nicholas Depden [4]
1572	Nicholas Depden	Fabian Phillips [4]
1584	Thomas Wigmore	Edward Croft [4]
1586	Edward Croft	Thomas Wigmore [4]
1588	Thomas Shoter	Humphrey Wall [4]
1593	Sir Francis Vere	Richard Coningsby [4]
1597	Thomas Crompton	John Creswell [4]
1601	Thomas Coningsby	John Warnecombe [4]
1604	Thomas Coningsby	John Powle
1614	Sir Humphrey Baskerville	Thomas Coningsby
1621-1622	Francis Smallman	William Beecher
1624	James Tomkins	Sir William Beecher
1625	James Tomkins	Edward Littleton
1626	James Tomkins	Edward Littleton
1628	James Tomkins	Edward Littleton, sat for Caernarvon and replaced by Thomas Lyttleton
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	William Smallman	Walter Kyrle
1640 (Nov)	Sampson Eure disabled 22 January 1644	Walter Kyrle
1645	Walter Kyrle excluded in 1648	John Birch excluded in 1648
1653	Leominster not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	John Birch	(One member only)
1656	John Birch	(One member only)
1659	John Birch	Edward Freeman

Members 1660-1868 (two)

Election	1st Member[5]		1st Party	2nd Member[5]		2nd Party
1660		Colonel John Birch			Edward Pytts
1661		Ranald Grahme			Humphrey Cornewall
Feb 1679		James Pytts			John Dutton Colt
Sep 1679		Thomas Coningsby, Lord Coningsby from 1691
1685					Robert Cornewall
1689					John Dutton Colt
1698					Edward Harley
Jan 1701					John Dutton Colt
Apr 1701					Edward Harley
1710		Edward Bangham
1713		Henry Gorges
1715		The Lord Coningsby
1717		George Caswall (expelled)
1721		William Bateman
1722		Sir Archer Croft			Sir George Caswall
1727		The Viscount Bateman
1734		Robert Harley
1741		John Caswall			Capel Hanbury
1742		Robert Harley
1747		Sir Robert de Cornwall			James Peachey
1754		Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams			Richard Gorges
1759		Chase Price
1761					Jenison Shafto
1767		Edward Willes
Feb 1768		John Carnac
Mar 1768					The Viscount Bateman
1774		Thomas Hill
1776		Frederick Cornewall
1780		Richard Payne Knight
1784		John Hunter			Penn Assheton Curzon
1790					John Sawyer
1791					Richard Beckford
1796					George Augustus Pollen
1797		William Taylor
1802		John Lubbock			Charles Kinnaird
Jan 1806					William Lamb	Whig
Nov 1806					Henry Bonham
1812		John Lubbock			John Harcourt
1818					Sir William Cuningham-Fairlie
1819					John Harcourt
1820		The Lord Hotham			Sir William Cuningham-Fairlie
1826					Thomas Bish
1827					Rowland Stephenson
Feb 1830					John Ward
Aug 1830					William Marshall
May 1831		William Bertram Evans			Thomas Brayen
Dec 1831					The Lord Hotham	Conservative
1832		Thomas Bish	Liberal
1837		Charles Greenaway	Liberal
1841					James Wigram	Conservative
1842 by-election					George Arkwright	Conservative
1845 by-election		Sir Henry Barkly	Conservative
1849 by-election		Frederick Peel	Conservative
1852		John George Phillimore	Liberal
1856 by-election					Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy	Conservative
1857		John Willoughby	Conservative
1858 by-election		Charles Spencer Bateman Hanbury Kincaid-Lennox	Conservative
1865		Arthur Walsh	Conservative
1866 by-election					Richard Arkwright	Conservative
1868 by-election		Viscount Mahon	Conservative
1868	representation reduced from two Members to one

Members 1868–1885 (one)

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1868	Richard Arkwright	Conservative
	1876 by-election	Thomas Blake	Liberal
	1880	James Rankin	Conservative
	1885	Parliamentary borough abolished, name transferred to county constituency

Leominster county constituency

Members 1885–2010

Year		Member[5]	Party
	1885	Thomas Duckham	Liberal
	1886	Sir James Rankin	Conservative
	1906	Edmund George Lamb	Liberal
	1910	Sir James Rankin	Conservative
	1912	Henry FitzHerbert Wright	Unionist
	1918	Charles Ward-Jackson	Unionist
	1922	Ernest Shepperson	Unionist
	1945	Archer Baldwin	Conservative
	1959	Clive Bossom	Conservative
	1974	Peter Temple-Morris	Conservative
	1997		Independent Conservative
	1998		Labour
	2001	Bill Wiggin	Conservative
	2010	Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Leominster ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Thomas Duckham	3,871	50.8	n/a
	Conservative	James Rankin	3,750	49.2	n/a
Majority			121	1.6	n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

James Rankin

General Election 1886: Leominster ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	James Rankin	4,287	64.2	+15.0
	Liberal	E S Lucas	2,394	35.8	-15.0
Majority			1,893	28.4
Turnout				71.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+15.0

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Leominster ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	James Rankin	4,318
	Liberal	J T Southall	2,918
Majority			1,400
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Leominster ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	James Rankin	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Leominster ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir James Rankin	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election January 1906: Leominster^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Edmund George Lamb	3,892	50.2
	Conservative	Sir James Rankin	3,864	49.8
Majority			28	0.4
Turnout				83.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir James Rankin	4,822	54.7
	Liberal	Edmund George Lamb	3,991	45.3
Majority			831	9.4
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election December 1910: Leominster^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir James Rankin	4,600	57.3	+2.6
	Liberal	Wyatt Wyatt-Paine	3,431	-2.6
Majority			1,169	14.6	+5.2
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Leominster by-election, 1912

• The Conservative candidate, Henry FitzHerbert Wright, was returned unopposed.

General Election 1918: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Charles Lionel Atkins Ward-Jackson	8,308	50.5
	Liberal	Edmund George Lamb	5,291	32.1
	Agriculturalist	Ernest Wilfred Langford	2,870	17.4
Majority			3,017	18.4
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

• Ward-Jackson was endorsed by the Coalition Government.
• Some records describe Lamb as an Independent Radical.
• Langford was also a Liberal.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Whittome Shepperson	10,978	53.1	+2.6
	Liberal	Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander	9,698	46.9	+14.8
Majority			1,280	6.2
Turnout				79.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-12.2

General Election 1923: Leominster ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Whittome Shepperson	11,582	57.3	+4.2
	Liberal	James Dockett	8,614	42.7	-4.2
Majority			2,968	14.6	+8.4
Turnout				75.8	-3.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	+4.2

General Election 1924: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Whittome Shepperson	12,470	64.4	7.1
	Liberal	George Adolphus Edinger	6,897	35.6	-7.1
Majority			5,573	28.8
Turnout				71.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	7.1

General Election 1929: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ernest Whittome Shepperson	13,237	52.5	-11.9
	Liberal	George Adolphus Edinger	11,990	47.5	+11.9
Majority			1,247	5.0	-23.8
Turnout				76.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	-11.9

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Ernest Whittome Shepperson	16,916	63.3	+10.8
	Liberal	George Adolphus Edinger	9,803	36.7	-10.8
Majority			7,113	26.6
Turnout			26,719	79.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.8

General Election 1935 Electorate 34,079

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ernest Whittome Shepperson	14,180	53.2	-10.1
	Liberal	Albert Ernest Farr	12,465	46.8	+10.1
Majority			1,715	6.4
Turnout			26,645	78.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.1

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Ernest Shepperson
• Liberal: Albert Ernest Farr

General Election 1945: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archer Ernest Baldwin	14,224	51.1	-2.1
	Liberal	Albert Ernest Farr	13,586	48.9	+2.1
Majority			638	2.3
Turnout				74.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.1

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archer Baldwin	18,036	55.86
	Labour	Edmund JM Jones	8,402	26.02
	Liberal	George Morgan-Harris	5,850	18.12
Majority			9,634	29.84
Turnout				80.85
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archer Baldwin	19,952	66.75
	Labour	Edmund JM Jones	9,939	33.25
Majority			10,013	33.50
Turnout				74.16
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Archer Baldwin	18,487	65.49
	Labour	Alfred Thomas Evans	9,740	34.51
Majority			8,747	30.99
Turnout				70.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hon. Clive Bossom	16,642	55.43
	Liberal	Thomas Grenville Jones	6,905	23.00
	Labour	Frederick W Bowerman	6,475	21.57
Majority			9,737	32.43
Turnout				76.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hon. Clive Bossom	15,238	50.91
	Liberal	Edward Paul Cadbury	8,941	29.87
	Labour	Kenneth A Gulleford	5,750	19.21
Majority			6,297	21.04
Turnout				77.13
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hon. Clive Bossom	15,045	51.47
	Liberal	Dr Edward Paul Cadbury	7,647	26.16
	Labour	K Roy Simmons	6,536	22.36
Majority			7,398	25.31
Turnout				75.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Clive Bossom	17,630	57.97
	Liberal	Roger James Pincham	6,462	21.25
	Labour	Martyn George Morgan Sloman	6,321	20.78
Majority			11,168	36.72
Turnout				72.84
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	16,221	46.35
	Liberal	Roger James Pincham	14,602	41.73
	Labour	CD Lindley	4,172	11.92
Majority			1,619	4.63
Turnout				80.07
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	15,741	46.07
	Liberal	Roger James Pincham	15,162	44.38
	Labour	S Allen	3,264	9.55
Majority			579	1.69
Turnout				77.56
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	21,126	53.50
	Liberal	Roger James Pincham	16,261	41.18
	Labour	PJ Dobbs	2,099	5.32
Majority			4,865	12.32
Turnout				81.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	29,276	56.99
	Liberal	Roger James Pincham	19,490	37.94
	Labour	D Wilcox	1,932	3.76
	Ecology	Miss Felicity M. Norman	668	1.3
Majority			9,786	19.05
Turnout				77.49
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	31,396	57.86
	Liberal	SC Morris	17,321	31.92
	Labour	Chris Chappell	4,444	8.19
	Green	Mrs Felicity M. Norman	1,102	2.03
Majority			14,075	25.94
Turnout				77.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Leominster^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	32,783	56.6	−1.2
	Liberal Democrat	DC Short	16,103	27.8	−4.1
	Labour	Chris Chappell	6,874	11.9	+3.7
	Green	Mrs Felicity M. Norman	1,503	2.6	+0.6
	Anti-Federalist League	EP Carlisle	640	1.1	+1.1
Majority			16,680	28.8	+2.9
Turnout			57,903	81.7	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General Election 1997: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Temple-Morris	22,888	45.3
	Liberal Democrat	Terry M. James	14,053	27.8
	Labour	Richard J. Westwood	8,831	17.5
	Referendum	Anthony J. Parkin	2,815	5.6
	Green	Mrs Felicity M. Norman	1,086	2.1
	UKIP	Richard J. Chamings	588	1.2
	BNP	John B. Haycock	292	0.6
Majority			8,835	17.5
Turnout			50,553	76.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William David Wiggin	22,879	49.0	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs. Celia M. Downie	12,512	26.8	-1.0
	Labour	Dr. Stephen J.S. Hart	7,872	16.8	-0.6
	Green	Mrs. Pippa Bennett	1,690	3.6	+1.5
	UKIP	Christopher R. Kingsley	1,590	3.4	+2.2
	Independent	John B. Haycock	186	0.4	N/A
Majority			10,367	22.2
Turnout			46,729	69.4	-7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2005: Leominster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William David Wiggin	25,407	52.1	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. Caroline J. Williams	12,220	25.0	-1.7
	Labour	Paul K. Bell	7,424	15.2	-1.6
	Green	Mrs Felicity M. Norman	2,191	4.5	+0.9
	UKIP	Peter S. Whyte-Venables	1,551	3.2	-0.2
Majority			13,187	27.0	+4.8
Turnout			48,793	77.3	+7.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Notes and references

1. "Final recommendations for Parliamentary constituencies in the county of Herefordshire". Boundary Commission for England. 2004-01-07. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
3. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
4. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
12. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
14. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Coordinates: 52°13′N 2°42′W / 52.22°N 2.70°W