Preston is a
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
represented in the
House of Commons of the
UK Parliament since 2000 by
Sir Mark Hendrick, a member of the
Labour Party and
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fa ...
.
History
;1295–1950
The seat was created for the
Model Parliament and sent members until at least 1331 until a new (possibly confirmatory) grant of two members to Westminster followed. From 1529 extending unusually beyond the 19th century until the 1950 general election the seat had two-member representation.
Party divisions tended to run stronger after 1931 before which two different parties' candidates frequently came first and second at elections under the
bloc vote system.
In 1929, a recently elected
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and ...
,
Sir William Jowitt decided to join the
Labour Party and called for a by-election (which implies a single vacancy) to support this change of party, which he won, to take up for two years the position of
Attorney General of England and Wales
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...
as part of the Government. He became the highest judge during the
Attlee Ministry
Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 gener ...
, the
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
and Speaker of the House of Lords under a then hereditary-dominated House leading to a Conservative majority. Consequently, he was selected to be elevated to a peerage as 1st Earl Jowitt. With no sons, he was to be the last Earl and wrote the
Dictionary of English Law
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, p ...
.
;1950–1983
Preston was abolished as a constituency by the
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 being replaced by
Preston North and
Preston South constituencies.
;1983–present
The representatives since the seat's revival after 33 years of being split between (larger area) North and South seats have all been members of the Labour Party.
The member from 1987 to 2000 was
Audrey Wise
Audrey Wise (''née'' Brown; 4 January 1932Wise gave her age as thirty-nine when nominated for the Coventry parliamentary seat, though she had just turned forty-two when she was elected in February 1974. Her date of birth was routinely reported ...
, a member of the
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...
and reformer of maternity healthcare in opposition on the Select Committee.
Boundaries
1983–1997: The Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Brookfield, Central, Deepdale, Fishwick, Ingol, Larches, Moorbrook, Park, Ribbleton, St John's, St Matthew's, and Tulketh.
1997–2010: The Borough of Preston wards of Ashton, Avenham, Brookfield, Central, Deepdale, Fishwick, Larches, Moor Park, Ribbleton, Riversway, St Matthew's, and Tulketh, and the Borough of South Ribble wards of Bamber Bridge Central, Bamber Bridge South, and Walton-le-Dale.
2010–present: The City of Preston wards of Ashton, Brookfield, Deepdale, Fishwick, Ingol, Larches, Moor Park, Ribbleton, Riversway, St George's, St Matthew's, Town Centre, Tulketh, and University.
The composition of the Preston constituency was confirmed in time for the
2010 United Kingdom general election
The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...
as part of the
Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
The Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 2000 and 2007 by the four boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the UK Parliament. The changes for England, Wales and Northern ...
. While it previously crossed the
River Ribble to include
Bamber Bridge
Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 a ...
and Walton-le-Dale from
South Ribble District, the seat now falls within the City boundaries.
History
In the late 19th Century the boundaries of the two-member Preston constituency were described as comprising:
... e old Borough of Preston, the township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of Fishwick, so much of the Municipal Borough as is not included in the Parliamentary Borough, the Local Government District of Fulwood, and so much of the parishes of Lea, Ashton, Ingol, and Cotham ', and Penwortham, as will be added to the Municipal Borough of Preston on June 1st, 1889
In 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, als ...
the boundaries of the two-member constituency were described as the:
County borough of Preston and urban district of Fulwood:
The single seat of Preston formed from 1918 until 1949 was created by the
County Borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...
of Preston and
Urban District
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...
of Fulwood. From the general election of 1950 to the 1983 Preston was divided into the constituencies of
Preston North and
Preston South. In time for the 1983 general election, the boundaries on which the current seat is drawn were confirmed. The northern,
Fulwood area, was divided between
Fylde and
Ribble Valley.
Changes for 2010
The ward of
Lea is within the constituency of
Fylde.
The wards of
Preston Rural North
Preston Rural North is an electoral ward in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The ward is the largest by area in the city, containing the smaller and smallest villages from the northern areas of Preston, from Woodplumpton bordering the ...
,
Preston Rural East
Preston Rural East is an electoral ward in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The ward is in the eastern and northeastern part of the city near the M55 motorway moving out towards Sherwood and Grimsargh. The population of the ward at the ...
and the
Fulwood wards (
Cadley, College, Garrison,
Greyfriars Greyfriars, Grayfriars or Gray Friars is a term for Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, in particular, the Conventual Franciscans. The term often refers to buildings or districts formerly associated with the order.
Former Friaries
* Greyfriars, Bed ...
and
Sharoe Green
Sharoe Green () is a largely residential suburban area of Preston, Lancashire, England, and an electoral ward. It is nowadays usually considered to be a district of the larger suburb of Fulwood (and formed part of the pre-1974 Fulwood Urban Dist ...
) are within the constituency of
Wyre and Preston North
Wyre and Preston North is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in the most recent fifth periodic review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England, it elects one ...
. By the end of the review, the newly recommended Preston constituency had the smallest number of voters of an English constituency based on 2006 electorates.
Modifications in 2018
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England modified Preston City Council's ward boundaries in 2018, which in some minor cases altered which wards crossed the Parliamentary boundary of Preston. Due to the changes, the constituency of Preston, as of 2018, is made from:
In full: Ashton, Brookfield, City Centre, Deepdale, Fishwick and Frenchwood, Plungington, Ribbleton, St Matthews.
In part: Cadley (shared with Wyre and Preston North), Ingol and Cottam (shared with Fylde), Lea and Larches (shared with Fylde),
Members of Parliament
MPs 1295–1640
MPs 1640–1950
MPs since 1983
Overview
Representatives have sat in Parliament for Preston for nearly 800 years, the first recorded names being Willielmus fil' Pauli and Adam Russel. Prior to being reformed as "Preston" in 1983, the former
Preston North and Preston South seats were amongst the most marginal in the country - in 1979, Conservative
Robert Atkins won Preston North by 29 votes.
With the suburban, middle class former
Fulwood Urban District
Fulwood was an urban district of Lancashire, England.
It was subject to some changes in its boundaries:http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10137019&c_id=10001043
*1 April 1934: lost to County Borough of Preston
*1 Apri ...
area within
Ribble Valley (and from 2010
Wyre and Preston North
Wyre and Preston North is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in the most recent fifth periodic review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England, it elects one ...
), the southern portion has awarded MPs with much healthier and secure majorities. Almost all of Preston's representatives from 1915 to 1950, and since its recreation as a single constituency in 1983, have been Labour candidates.
Between 1918 and 1949, the two-seat constituency of Preston was formed by the County Borough of Preston and the Urban District of Fulwood. In 1997,
Audrey Wise
Audrey Wise (''née'' Brown; 4 January 1932Wise gave her age as thirty-nine when nominated for the Coventry parliamentary seat, though she had just turned forty-two when she was elected in February 1974. Her date of birth was routinely reported ...
secured a majority of over 18,000. The collapse of the Conservative vote - 10 percentage points down from 1992 - was firmly with the pattern of the Tory fortunes in that year.
The death of Audrey Wise in 2000 triggered a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
. At that
Preston by-election,
Mark Hendrick
Sir Mark Phillip Hendrick (born 2 November 1958) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston since a by-election in 2000. Hendrick was previously elected to the Central Lancashire se ...
, former
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the
Lancashire Central constituency with Preston at its heart, secured a victory with a 4,400 majority. The surprise of the night was the result of the fledgling
Socialist Alliance, for whom Terry Cartright saved his deposit.
Less than a year later, the
2001 general election returned Mark Hendrick with a much healthier 12,200 majority, up against
South Ribble councillor Graham O'Hare for the Conservatives and the then local
Liberal Democrat leader Bill Chadwick. In real terms, all three main parties lost support from 1997 - Labour down by over 8,000 votes, Conservatives reduced by over 2,200 and Lib Dems 2,300 lower. One notable candidate in 2001 was David Braid, also a candidate in a number of other seats that year, who had been the "Battle for Britain" candidate in the previous year's by-election.
The
2005 general election was notable for the changes in share of the vote of the minor parties. The first ever
Respect
Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...
candidate, local councillor
Michael Lavalette
Michael Lavalette (born 1962) is a member of the Socialist Workers Party and former local councillor in Preston, Lancashire, England. He was first elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate shortly after the Iraq War began in 2003. In 2007, he wa ...
, firmly saved his deposit with nearly 7% of the vote. The
Liberal Democrats had chosen former Conservative
County Councillor William Parkinson, and had their best result since 1997. Fiona Bryce for the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
, remained in second place seeing her share of the vote remain stable despite the
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) polling over 1,000 votes. Mark Hendrick secured another term as MP, although his vote total was 3,000 less than 2001 and 12,000 less than Audrey Wise in 1997.
Labour continued to represent Preston at the elections of
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...
,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a se ...
. Whilst Mark Hendrick secured less than 50% of the votes cast in 2010, the first time this has occurred at a Preston election since 1983, subsequent results had much stronger Labour majorities. Second place went back to the Conservative Party, regaining from the Liberal Democrats who took second place for the first time in 2010.
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections of the 1980s
Elections in the 1940s
For the general election expected to take place in 1939/1940, the following candidates had been selected;
*Conservative:
Adrian Moreing,
Edward Cobb
*Labour: P.C. Hoffman,
John William Sunderland
John William Sunderland (16 February 1896 – 24 November 1945) was an English Labour Party politician.
After serving in the First World War, Sunderland became secretary of the Todmorden Weavers Association, and a member of Lancashire County Co ...
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
*For all General Elections from 1906 to 1929 the Liberal and Labour parties ran only one candidate each, and these candidates ran in harness.
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:
George Stanley and
Alfred Tobin
Sir Alfred Aspinall Tobin (26 December 1855 – 30 November 1939) was a British lawyer and judge who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston between 1910 and 1915.
Tobin's grandfather, Thomas Tobin, had been a prominent Liver ...
*Labour:
Tom Shaw
*Liberal:
Frederick Llewellyn-Jones
Cox was replaced as Liberal candidate by Gorst - due to his frequent criticism of Liberal social policy - but chose to run independently.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
* Caused by Raikes' resignation to seek election in the
1882 Cambridge University by-election.
* Caused by Holker's resignation upon appointment as a
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...
.
* Caused by Hermon's death.
Elections in the 1870s
* Caused by Holker's appointment as
Solicitor General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to a ...
.
* Caused by Hesketh's death.
Elections in the 1860s
* Caused by Cross' resignation.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1830s
* Caused by Smith-Stanley's appointment as Chief Secretary for Ireland
Elections in the 1810s
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire
*
1903 Preston by-election
*
1915 Preston by-election
*
1929 Preston by-election
*
1936 Preston by-election
*
1940 Preston by-election
*
2000 Preston by-election
Notes
References
Sources
*Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807
*D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
*''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808
* ''The Constitutional Year Book for 1913'' (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
*F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
* F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'' (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
* Maija Jansson (ed.), ''Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons)'' (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
* J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
* J Holladay Philbin, ''Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
*Henry Stooks Smith, ''The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847'' (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Parliamentary constituencies in North West England
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1295
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983
Politics of Preston
Politics of South Ribble