West Cheshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Cheshire is a former parliamentary constituency, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

West Cheshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
18681885
Seatstwo
Created fromSouth Cheshire
Replaced byEddisbury
Wirral
Crewe
Northwich

History edit

Under the Reform Act 1867,[1] the Parliamentary County of Cheshire was divided into three 2-member constituencies. This was achieved by the creation of Mid Cheshire which comprised the Hundred of Bucklow from North Cheshire and the Hundred of Northwich from South Cheshire. Under the Boundary Act 1868,[2] North Cheshire and South Cheshire were renamed East Cheshire and West Cheshire respectively.

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885,[3] the three 2-member seats were abolished and re-divided into eight single-member constituencies: Altrincham, Crewe, Eddisbury, Hyde, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Northwich and Wirral.

Boundaries edit

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Broxton, Eddisbury, Nantwich, and Wirral, and the City and County of the City of Chester.[4][5]

Members of Parliament edit

Election First member First party Second member Second Party
1868 Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bt Conservative John Tollemache Conservative
1872 by-election Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache Conservative
1881 by-election Henry James Tollemache Conservative
1885 Constituency abolished

Election results edit

Elections in the 1860s edit

General election 1868: West Cheshire[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Grey Egerton Unopposed
Conservative John Tollemache Unopposed
Registered electors 8,894
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s edit

Tollemache's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Feb 1872: West Cheshire[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Wilbraham Tollemache Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1874: West Cheshire[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Grey Egerton Unopposed
Conservative Wilbraham Tollemache Unopposed
Registered electors 10,169
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s edit

General election 1880: West Cheshire[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Grey Egerton 4,773 27.7 N/A
Conservative Wilbraham Tollemache 4,637 27.0 N/A
Liberal William West[7] 4,009 23.3 New
Liberal Charles Crompton 3,785 22.0 New
Majority 628 3.7 N/A
Turnout 8,602 (est) 77.5 (est) N/A
Registered electors 11,097
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Egerton's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 25 Apr 1881: West Cheshire[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry James Tollemache 4,800 52.1 −2.6
Liberal James Tomkinson[8] 4,418 47.9 +2.6
Majority 382 4.2 +0.5
Turnout 9,218 75.1 −2.4 (est)
Registered electors 12,270
Conservative hold Swing −2.6

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Reform Act 1867" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Boundary Act 1867". 1807.
  3. ^ Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  4. ^ "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  5. ^ "A Collection of the Public General Statutes: 1867/68. Cap. XLVI. An Act to settle and describe the Limits of certain Boroughs and the Divisions of certain Counties in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1868. pp. 119–166. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  7. ^ "West Cheshire". Liverpool Mercury. 3 April 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Mr James Tomkinson". Sheffield Independent. 19 April 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources edit