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Swindon (UK Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swindon
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyWiltshire
19181997
SeatsOne
Created fromCricklade
Replaced bySwindon South, Swindon North

Swindon was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Swindon in Wiltshire, England.

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from the 1918 general election until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.

It was then replaced by the two new constituencies of North Swindon and South Swindon.

History

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Boundaries

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1918–1950: The Borough of Swindon, and the part of the Rural District of Highworth which was not included in the Devizes constituency.

1950–1983: The Borough of Swindon.

1983–1997: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Central, Dorcan, Eastcott, Gorse Hill, Lawns, Moredon, Park, Toothill, Walcot, Western, and Whitworth.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[1] Party
1918 Sir Frederick William Young Coalition Conservative
1922 Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks Conservative
1929 Christopher Addison Labour
1931 Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks Conservative
1934 by-election Christopher Addison Labour
1935 Wavell Wakefield Conservative
1945 Thomas Reid Labour
1955 Francis Noel-Baker Labour
1969 by-election Christopher Ward Conservative
1970 David Stoddart Labour
1983 Simon Coombs Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Swindon South and Swindon North

Elections

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Election in the 1910s

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General election 1918: Swindon[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Frederick William Young 10,180 48.4
Labour Joseph Compton 8,393 39.9
Liberal Harry Walker 2,460 11.7
Majority 1,787 8.5
Turnout 21,033 67.0
Registered electors 31,406
Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

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General election 1922: Swindon[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 14,886 56.4 +8.0
Labour Joseph Compton 11,502 43.6 +3.7
Majority 3,384 12.8 +4.3
Turnout 26,388 80.0 +13.0
Registered electors 33,000
Unionist hold Swing +2.2
General election 1923: Swindon[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 12,625 45.1 −11.3
Labour Holford Knight 9,121 32.6 −11.0
Liberal Walter Leslie Rocke [5] 6,231 22.3 New
Majority 3,504 12.5 −0.3
Turnout 27,977 82.8 +0.8
Registered electors 33,787
Unionist hold Swing −0.2
General election 1924: Swindon[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 15,602 55.1 +10.0
Labour R. H. Tawney 12,698 44.9 +12.3
Majority 2,904 10.2 −2.3
Turnout 28,300 81.0 −1.8
Registered electors 34,938
Unionist hold Swing −1.2
General election 1929: Swindon[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christopher Addison 16,885 43.6 −1.3
Unionist Reginald Mitchell Banks 14,724 38.1 −17.0
Liberal Frank Crane Thornborough 7,060 18.3 New
Majority 2,161 5.5 N/A
Turnout 38,669 85.5 +4.5
Registered electors 45,250
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +7.9

Elections in the 1930s

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General election 1931: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Reginald Mitchell Banks 22,756 55.89
Labour Christopher Addison 17,962 44.11
Majority 4,794 11.78 N/A
Turnout 40,718 85.53
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
1934 Swindon by-election[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christopher Addison 20,902 53.4 +8.3
Conservative Wavell Wakefield 18,253 46.6 −8.3
Majority 2,649 6.8 N/A
Turnout 39,155 81.8 −3.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1935: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Wavell Wakefield 20,732 51.20
Labour Christopher Addison 19,757 48.80
Majority 975 2.40
Turnout 40,489 84.26
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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General election 1945: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Reid 27,545 62.34
Conservative AM Gibb 16,641 37.66
Majority 10,904 24.68 N/A
Turnout 44,186 73.90
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Reid 21,976 51.47
Conservative Geoffrey Tritton 13,697 32.08
Liberal Doreen Gorsky 6,726 15.75 New
Communist Irving Gradwell 295 0.69 New
Majority 8,279 19.39
Turnout 42,694 87.19
Labour hold Swing
General election 1951: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Reid 23,980 57.02
Conservative Geoffrey Tritton 18,072 42.98
Majority 5,908 14.04
Turnout 42,052 89.00
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 21,926 54.93
Conservative Patrick William Medd [9] 17,987 45.07
Majority 3,939 9.86
Turnout 39,913 80.02
Labour hold Swing
General election 1959: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 24,087 54.42
Conservative Gordon L Pears 20,178 45.58
Majority 3,909 8.84
Turnout 44.265 79.99
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1964: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 26,464 60.06
Conservative Norman George Reece 16,651 37.79
Communist Irving Gradwell 944 2.14 New
Majority 9,813 22.27
Turnout 44,059 74.77
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Francis Noel-Baker 25,966 61.35
Conservative Norman George Reece 15,523 36.67
Communist Irving Gradwell 838 1.98
Majority 10,443 24.68
Turnout 42,327 73.51
Labour hold Swing
1969 Swindon by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Ward 16,843 41.73 +5.06
Labour David Stoddart 16,365 40.54 −20.81
Liberal Christopher Layton 6,193 15.34 New
Communist Judith Gradwell 518 1.28 −0.70
Young Socialist Frank Willis 446 1.10 New
Majority 478 1.19 N/A
Turnout 40,365
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +12.9

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Stoddart 25,731 55.52 −5.83
Conservative Christopher Ward 20,155 43.49 +6.82
Communist Judith Gradwell 456 0.98 −1.00
Majority 5,576 12.03 −12.64
Turnout 46,342 75.49
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Stoddart 24,093 47.92
Conservative GCM Young 15,384 30.60
Liberal R Hubbard 10,564 21.01 New
Workers Revolutionary K Blakeney 240 0.48 New
Majority 8,709 17.32
Turnout 50,281 80.89
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Stoddart 24,124 51.84
Conservative JN Gripper 13,854 29.77
Liberal R Hubbard 8,349 17.94
Workers Revolutionary K Blakeney 206 0.44
Majority 10,270 22.07
Turnout 46,533 73.98
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Stoddart 25,218 50.19
Conservative N Hammond 19,319 38.45
Liberal Gudrun Claire Ziegler Collis 5,709 11.36
Majority 5,899 11.74
Turnout 50,346 76.41
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1983: Swindon[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 22,310 39.16
Labour David Stoddart 20,915 36.71
Alliance Derek J Scott 13,743 24.12
Majority 1,395 2.45 N/A
Turnout 56,968 74.15
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1987: Swindon[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 29,385 43.84
Labour Jean Gabrielle Johnston 24,528 36.59
Alliance Derek John Scott 13,114 19.57
Majority 4,857 7.25
Turnout 67,027 77.80
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1992: Swindon[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Coombs 31,749 43.3 −0.5
Labour JP D’Avila 28,923 39.4 +2.8
Liberal Democrats SR Cordon 11,737 16.0 −3.6
Green JV Hughes 647 0.9 New
Raving Loony Green Giant CR Gillard 236 0.3 New
Independent VF Farrar 78 0.1 New
Majority 2,826 3.9 −3.3
Turnout 73,370 81.5 +3.7
Conservative hold Swing −1.7

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  2. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  3. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  4. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  5. ^ 'ROCKE, Col Walter Leslie', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 Sept 2017
  6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  7. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  8. ^ F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49, p.498
  9. ^ 'MEDD, His Honour Patrick William', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 Sept 2017
  10. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.