Bolton was a

borough 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 "constituenc ...

centred on the town of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

in the county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. It returned two

Members 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 of ...

(MPs) to 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 ...

for 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 ...

, elected by the bloc vote system. Created by the

Reform Act of 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

, it was represented by two

. The constituency was abolished in 1950, being split into single-member divisions of Bolton East and Bolton West.

Members of Parliament

Boundaries

1832–1885: The township of Great Bolton, Little Bolton, and Haulgh, except the detached part of the township of Little Bolton which was situate to the north of the town of Bolton. 1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the municipal borough of Bolton as was not already included in the parliamentary borough.

Elections

Winning candidates are highlighted in bold.

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Bolling's death caused a by-election. Bowring resigned after being appointed Consul-General at Canton, China, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Crook's resignation caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Harwood's death causes a by-election. Gill's death caused a by-election. Taylor's resignation causes a by-election. 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; *Liberal: Thomas Taylor *Labour: Robert Tootill *Unionist: Thomas Clarke Pilling Gibbons

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

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: Cyril Entwistle, John Haslam *Labour: E Mellor However, in the by-election held in 1940 no other parties contested the seat due to the

War-time electoral pact The war-time electoral pact was an electoral pact established by the member parties of the UK coalition governments in the First World War, and re-established in the Second World War. Under the pact, in the event of a by-election only the party whi ...

meaning that the Conservative candidate Edward Cadogan was elected unopposed.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in North West England (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1832 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton