King's Lynn was a
constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
in
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
which was represented continuously in the
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...
from 1298 to 1707, in the
House of Commons of Great Britain
The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...
from 1707 to 1800, and in the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
from 1801 until it was abolished for the
February 1974 general election.
History
The
Parliamentary Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
of King's Lynn, which was known as Lynn or Bishop's Lynn prior to 1537, returned two
Members of Parliament until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member by the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...
. It was abolished as a Borough under the
Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) 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 pa ...
and was reconstituted as a Division of the Parliamentary County of Norfolk (from 1950, 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 " constituen ...
), absorbing the bulk of the abolished
North Western Division. It was abolished for the
February 1974 general election, being replaced by the re-established constituency of North West Norfolk.
Sir
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
, the first
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, was an MP for the constituency for almost the entirety of his parliamentary career, from 1702 to 1742.
Boundaries and boundary changes
1885–1918
* The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the municipal borough of King's Lynn as was not already included in the parliamentary borough.
1918–1950
* The Borough of King's Lynn;
* The Urban Districts of New Hunstanton and Walsoken;
* The Rural Districts of Docking, Freebridge Lynn, King's Lynn, and Marshland (except the parishes of Outwell and Upwell); and
* The Rural District of Downham parishes of Wiggenhall St Germans, Wiggenhall St Mary the Virgin, Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen, and Wiggenhall St Peter.
1950–1974
* The Municipal Borough of King's Lynn;
* The Urban District of New Hunstanton; and
* The Rural Districts of Docking, Freebridge Lynn, and Marshland.
''Minor changes to the boundary with
South West Norfolk to align with boundaries of local authorities, which had been rationalised. Also marginal changes to county boundaries with
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county.
Etymology
Its name has been said to ...
and
Parts of Holland.''
Members of Parliament
MPs before 1640
MPs 1640–1885
MPs 1885–1974
Elections
Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Canning resigned after being appointed the United Kingdom's ambassador to Turkey, causing a by-election.
Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Jocelyn's death caused a by-election.
Stanley was appointed
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.
The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
, requiring a by-election.
Stanley was appointed
President of the Board of Control for the Affairs of India, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
Stanley was appointed
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs may refer to:
* Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain)
*Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)
The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the fore ...
, requiring a by-election.
Stanley succeed to the peerage, becoming 15th Earl of Derby and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
*representation reduced to one member
Bourke's resignation on appointment as Governor of
Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
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 from 1914 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
*Unionist:
Holcombe Ingleby
*Liberal:
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:
Somerset Maxwell
*Labour:
Frederick Wise
*Liberal: Robert Hugh Kerkham
*
British Union: A E Ilett
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
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
* F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
*
* ''The Constitutional Year Book for 1913'' (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
* J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
*
{{s-end
Parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1298
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1974
King's Lynn