Altrincham was a
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...
of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
from
1885
Events
January–March
* January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam.
* January 4 &n ...
to
1945. It elected one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) by the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system of
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
.
History and boundaries
Altrincham was created under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
from the much larger two-member constituencies of
Mid Cheshire and
East Cheshire, as one of eight new single-member divisions of the county of
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
.
Under the
Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, al ...
, it was redefined to cover the urban districts of
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
,
Ashton upon Mersey
Ashton upon Mersey is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 9,693 at the 2011 census. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre.
Historically pa ...
,
Bowdon,
Cheadle and Gatley,
Hale,
Handforth,
Lymm
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
and
Sale, and part of the rural district of
Bucklow, all in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
. The boundaries were broadly similar, with
Bramhall
Bramhall is a suburban area in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, it had a population of 17,436 at the 2011 Census.Bramhall South and Bramhall North Wards
History
The Anglo-Saxon man ...
(then part of
Hazel Grove and Bramhall UD) being transferred to
Knutsford
Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...
.
Subsequent reorganisations of local authority areas resulted in Ashton upon Mersey being absorbed into Sale, which later became a municipal borough; Altrincham being expanded to include the parish of
Timperley, also becoming a municipal borough; and Handforth being absorbed into the urban district of
Wilmslow.
The
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944
The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 (7 & 8 Geo.6. c.41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established permanent boundary commissions for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and provide ...
set up
Boundary Commissions
A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies.
Notable boundary commissions have included:
* Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...
to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies (those exceeding an electorate of 100,000) in time for the
1945 election.
This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Cheshire was allocated one additional seat, by splitting the Altrincham Division into two seats:
*
Altrincham and Sale Parliamentary Borough, comprising the two respective municipal boroughs; and
*
Bucklow County Division, comprising the urban districts of
Bowdon,
Cheadle and Gatley,
Hale and
Lymm
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
and the part of the rural district of Bucklow. It also included the former parishes of
Baguley
Baguley ( ) is an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in Wythenshawe, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,794.
Baguley is derived from the Old English words Bagca, badger, and Leah, clearing or meadow.
Historically in Cheshi ...
,
Northenden and
Northen Etchells
Northen Etchells was a township in Cheshire, England.
"Northen" is an old name for Northenden and "Etchells" came from Anglo-Saxon ''ēcels'' = "land added to an estate".
Geography
Northen Etchells covered the rural area that includes much of m ...
which had been absorbed into the
county borough of Manchester.
The part comprising the former urban district of Handforth was transferred to Knutsford.
Members of Parliament
* ''Constituency created'' (1885)
Election results
Elections in the 1880s
Brooks' death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
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:
Collingwood George Clements Hamilton
*Liberal: Edward Powell
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
* Percentage change and swing are calculated from 1929.
Elections in the 1940s
A General Election was due to take place before the end of 1940, but was postponed due to the Second World War. By 1939, the following candidates had been selected to contest this constituency;
* Conservative:
Edward Grigg
* Labour: C F C Donnelly
References
* {{Rayment-hc, a, 1, date=March 2012
See also
*
History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cheshire
*
1913 Altrincham by-election
*
1933 Altrincham by-election
Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1945
Altrincham
Politics of Trafford