Belper is a former constituency in the

UK Parliament 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 supremac ...

. It was created at the 1918 general election as a county division of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, comprising the area in the centre of the county and surrounding

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, and named after the market town of

Belper Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...

although this was in the north of the constituency. In 1950 it was expanded to include the far south of the county. It was a marginal constituency for most of its existence. The area had an ever-expanding population after 1945 as prosperous suburbs of Derby were built outside the city boundaries.

Lord George-Brown George Alfred George-Brown, Baron George-Brown, (2 September 1914 – 2 June 1985) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970 and held several Cabinet roles under Prime Minis ...

, who represented the seat at the time, wrote in 1971 after his defeat in the 1970 general election that "The electorate had increased by over 10,000 since 1966, mainly from the growth of middle-class housing estates, so that most of the new electors could be expected to vote Tory. Since my majority in 1966 was 4,274, an influx of 10,000 new voters, mainly Tory, obviously imperilled the seat." A

Boundary Commission 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 ...

report issued in 1969 had recommended changes which would have removed the extra voters, but the Labour government of the time had delayed implementation of the report.

Boundaries

When created in 1918, the constituency consisted of the

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) (hist ...

s of

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

and

Heage Heage is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated midway between Belper and Ripley in the Amber Valley district. The village is in the Heage and Ambergate ward, which in the 2011 census had a population of 5,013. Heage is known for its six ...

, together with the

Rural District Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

of Belper and part of the Rural District of

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

(the civil parishes of

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Bearwardcote Bearwardcote is a civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 26. The hamlet is located from Mickleover, from Willington and south west of Derby Derby ( ) i ...

Bretby Bretby is a village and civil parish in the south of Derbyshire, England, north of Swadlincote and east of Burton upon Trent, on the border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 893. T ...

, Burnaston,

Dalbury Lees Dalbury Lees is a parish in south Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census (including Trusley) was 306. It is about six miles (10 km) from both Burton-on-Trent and Derby and just under four miles (6 km) ...

Egginton Egginton is a village and civil parish in the local government district of South Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 574. Location The village is located just off Ryknild Street, otherwise known as ...

, Etwall,

Findern Findern is a village and civil parish in the District of South Derbyshire, approximately 5–6 miles south of Derby (Grid reference: ). The population of the civil parish was 1,669 at the 2011 Census. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Bo ...

, Foremark, Ingleby,

Mickleover Mickleover is a large suburban village of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby city centre, northeast of Burton-upon-Trent, west of Nottingham city centre, southeast of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxete ...

, Newton Solney, Radbourne, Repton, Trusley, Twyford and Stenson, and Willington). In 1950, boundary changes removed the Urban Districts of Alfreton and Heage to the

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

constituency, together with the civil parish of Shipley from Belper Rural District. To compensate for this loss of electors, the changes transferred in the rest of the Repton Rural District from the West Derbyshire and South East Derbyshire constituencies. In addition from South East Derbyshire came the Urban District of

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

. In 1974 the boundaries were realigned with those for local government which had changed to transfer some electors to Derby; the constituency consisted of the urban districts of Belper and Swadlincote, and the rural districts of Repton and Belper except the civil parish of Shipley. In 1983 the constituency was abolished; the largest part (40,000 voters around Swadlincote) formed the basis of

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the local authority at the 2011 Census was 94,611. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote. The district a ...

, 22,000 voters around Belper itself went to West Derbyshire, and 10,000 voters to

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. It covers a semi-rural zone with four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent ...

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Boundary changes occurred at this point.

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

---- Boundary changes occurred at this point.

References

* {{More citations needed, date=November 2009 Parliamentary constituencies in Derbyshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 Belper