Leominster was a parliamentary constituency represented until 1707 in the House of Commons of England, then until 1801 in that of Great Britain, and finally until 2010, when it disappeared in boundary changes, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
From 1295 to 1885, Leominster was a parliamentary borough which until 1868 elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its representation was reduced to one Member, elected by the first past the post system. The parliamentary borough was abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and the name was transferred to a new county constituency.
History
Aside from two brief periods of Liberal representation, Leominster was a mostly safe Conservative seat from 1910, although sometimes by narrow majorities over the Liberal Party. The Labour Party did not put up a candidate in the constituency until 1950, and it was traditionally one of their weakest seats in the country, though the party were represented for the only time in the seat for three years in the government of Tony Blair when Conservative MP Peter Temple-Morris defected to Labour in 1998.
Abolition
Following the review by the Boundary Commission for England of parliamentary representation in Herefordshire, no longer connected for such reasons with Worcestershire, two parliamentary constituencies have been allocated to the county. Most of the Leominster seat has been replaced by the North Herefordshire seat, while the remainder of the county is covered by the Hereford and South Herefordshire seat.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, and the Sessional Divisions of Bredwardine, Bromyard, Kingston, Leominster, Weobley, and Wigmore.
1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban Districts of Bromyard and Kington, the Rural Districts of Bredwardine, Bromyard, Kington, Leominster, Weobley, and Wigmore, and parts of the Rural Districts of Hereford and Ledbury.
1950–1974: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban Districts of Bromyard, Kington, and Ledbury, the Rural Districts of Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster, and Weobley and Wigmore, and part of the Rural District of Hereford.
1974–1983: The Municipal Borough of Leominster, the Urban District of Kington, the Rural Districts of Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster, and Weobley and Wigmore, and part of the Rural District of Hereford.
1983–1997: The District of Leominster, the District of Malvern Hills wards of Baldwin, Bringsty, Broadheath, Bromyard, Butterley, Cradley, Frome, Frome Vale, Hallow, Hegdon, Hope End, Laugherne Hill, Leadon Vale, Ledbury, Leigh and Bransford, Marcle Ridge, Martley, Temeside, and Woodbury, and the District of South Herefordshire wards of Burghill, Burmarsh, Dinmore Hill, Hagley, Magna, Munstone, Swainshill, and Thinghill.
1997–2010: The District of Leominster, the District of Malvern Hills wards of Bringsty, Bromyard, Butterley, Cradley, Frome, Frome Vale, Hegdon, Hope End, Leadon Vale, Ledbury, and Marcle Ridge, the District of South Herefordshire wards of Backbury, Burghill, Burmarsh, Credenhill, Dinmore Hill, Hagley, Munstone, Swainshill, and Thinghill, and the District of Wyre Forest ward of Rock and Ribbesford.
In its final form, the constituency consisted of northern Herefordshire and a small part of north-west Worcestershire, the boundaries having been specified when the two were joined as the single county of Hereford and Worcester. In Herefordshire it included the towns of Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury as well as Leominster, while the largest settlement of Worcestershire it included was Tenbury Wells.
Members of Parliament
Leominster parliamentary borough
To 1660
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parliament!!First member!!Second member
|-
| 1386|| rowspan="2" | Robert Caldebrook|| Walter Aston
|-
| 1388 (Feb)|| John Montgomery
|-
| 1529|| John Bell|| John Hillesley
|-
| 1562–3|| Thomas Dallowe|| John Morgan!!First party!!colspan="2"|Second member
|-
| 1774
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Thomas Hill
| rowspan="2" | Tory
|-
| 1841
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| James Wigram
|-
| 1842 by-election
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="4"| George Arkwright
|-
| 1845 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Sir Henry Barkly
| rowspan="2" | Conservative
|-
| 1849 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Frederick Peel
|-
| 1852
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| John George Phillimore
|rowspan="2"| Whig
|-
| 1856 by-election
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="4"| Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy
|-
| 1857
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| John Willoughby
| rowspan="5" | Conservative
|-
| 1858 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Charles Bateman-Hanbury
|-
| 1865
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Arthur Walsh
|-
| 1866 by-election
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Richard Arkwright
|-
| 1868 by-election
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Arthur Stanhope
|-
| 1868
|colspan="6"| representation reduced from two Members to one
|}
Members 1868–1885 (one)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member
Hardy was also elected MP for Oxford University and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
thumb|120px|James Rankin
Elections in the 1910s
- Some records describe Lamb as an Independent Radical.
- Langford was also a 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: Ernest Shepperson
- Liberal: Albert Edward Farr
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 2000s
See also
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
References
Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. .
External links
- Leominster UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK