York was a constituency represented in the Parliament of England from 1265 until 1707, in the Parliament of Great Britain until 1801, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 2010. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) until 1918, and one thereafter under the first-past-the-post system of election. From 1997 to 2010 it was known as City of York.
Boundaries
This constituency area tracked the municipal government area of York. Each general revision of English constituencies from 1885 onwards would redefine the York constituency to include any changes to the city council area since the previous revision.
{|class="wikitable"
|+Boundaries of the parliamentary borough / borough constituency of York / City of York
! From
! Legislation
! Limits
! Area
! Notes
|-
| Medieval
| Prescription
| The ancient borough, or "city and liberty", of York.
| A freeman borough in which freedom of the city ("citizenship") could be acquired by patrimony (inheritance), servitude (apprenticeship) or purchase. The "city" was the medieval walled city, but the boundary of the surrounding "liberty" was uncertain. it was not annexed to the borough; patrimony or servitude in the Ainsty did not make one eligible for citizenship,) rather than York MPs.
|-
| 1832
| Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832
| The ancient borough plus two extensions encompassing urbanised parts of the adjoining townships: one to the north, through Clifton and Heworth between the River Ouse and Tang Hall Beck; the other to the southeast through Fulford.
|
| The Parliamentary Boundaries Act specified the complete boundary explicitly, to resolve uncertainty over the extent of the "liberty",
|-
| 1885
| Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
| The previous parliamentary borough of York plus the current (1884
|
| The Representation of the People Act 1884 was a partial reform from a property-based franchise towards a residence-based one, with a grandfather clause protecting those who would otherwise have lost their vote. The broader municipal boundary defined the reformed franchise, while the older parliamentary boundary was for the grandfathered property owners.
|-
| 1918
| Representation of the People Act 1918
| The current (1893
| it was included explicitly by the 1918 act but implicitly by the 1948 act.
|-
| 1950
| Representation of the People Act 1948
| The current (1937
| Consequent on the Initial Review of Westminster constituencies
|-
| 1964
| Parliamentary Constituencies (Leeds, York and Barkston Ash) Order, 1960
| The current (1957
| Consequent on the 1959 report of the Boundary Commission for England
|-
| Feb. 1974
| Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970
| The current (1968) boundaries of the county borough and city of York.
|
| Consequent on the Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
|-
| 1983
| Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983
| The current (1968) boundaries of the non-metropolitan district and city of York.
|
| Consequent on the Third Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
|-
| 1997
| Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995
| The current (1968) boundaries of the non-metropolitan district and city of York.
|
| Consequent on the Fourth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. The name of the constituency was also changed from "York" to "City of York". The non-metropolitan district of York was abolished in 1996 and subsumed into a new, larger, unitary authority named the City of York; however, this did not affect the parliamentary constituency boundary.
|}
History
By virtue of its importance, York was regularly represented in Parliament from an early date: it had been required to send delegates to the assembly of 1265, but no actual returns survive until the end of the 13th century. The structure of the civic government of the city provided the basis by which it elected its Parliamentary representatives. In the years following the city's Royal Charter, granted in the 1150s, power was held by a Lord Mayor and associated bailiffs. Further expansion of governance saw the establishment of coroners, sheriffs and aldermen. The appointment of twelve aldermen in 1399 led to the establishment of the City Council. Subsequently, other tiers of governance, such as the probi homines and the communitas, would eventually provide the bodies for the election of MPs. Those who occupied such positions were all freemen of the city and frequently came from the mercantile classes rather than the nobility, and were considered the electorate of the city. In the beginnings of the constituency this electorate was about twenty four, but had risen to around seventy five by 1690. Early in the 18th century, the number of freemen being made had increased significantly and this further increased the electorate. By the election of 1830, there were about 3,800 registered voters.
There was a period between 1581 and 1597 where elections were a two-stage process. In the first stage, member of the common chamber of the council and 50 freeholders cast votes and the top four contenders would progress to a second ballot. This ballot was conducted by the Lord Mayor and the aldermen and the top two would be returned as MPs. In 1597 this process was reduced to a single ballot whereby all of those in both the commons and assembly of York would cast two votes. The two contenders with the most votes were returned as MP. From 1628 the process became fully open, as previously the process had an element of pre-approval by the Lord mayor and the aldermen. the constituency was usually simply called York.
Following their review of parliamentary representation in North Yorkshire, the Boundary Commission for England recommended the creation of two new seats for the City of York. Both the City of York and Vale of York seats were abolished in 2010 and replaced by two new constituencies, namely York Central and York Outer.
Members of Parliament
1265-1660
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parliament!!First member!!Second member
|-
| 1294||Nicholas de Selby||Roger Basy
|-
| 1297|| John le Espicer|| Nicholas Clarevaux
|-
| 1388 (February)|| Thomas Holme|| John Howden||Richard Russell
|-
| 1425||Richard Russell||
|-
| 1426|| William Ormshead||
|-
| 1431|| William Ormshead|| William Bowes||
|-
| 1510|| William Nelson|| Brian Palmes
|-
| 1512|| William Nelson|| Thomas Drawswerd
|-
| 1562 (December)||William Watson|| Ralph Hall!!1st party!!colspan="2"|2nd member||
|-
|1679
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Whig
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Sir John Hewley
|Whig
|-
|1685
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Sir John Reresby
| Tory
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Sir Metcalfe Robinson
|
|-
|1689
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Viscount Dunblane
| Tory
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Edward Thompson
|
|-
|1690
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Robert Waller
|
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Henry Thompson
|
|-
|1695
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Edward Thompson||
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2"|Tobias Jenkins
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|1698
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="6"| Sir William Robinson
|rowspan="6"|
|-
|January 1701
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Edward Thompson
|
|-
|December 1701
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Tobias Jenkins
|
|-
|1705
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Robert Benson
|
|-
|1713
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Robert Fairfax
|
|-
|1715
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Tobias Jenkins
|
|-
|1722
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Sir William Milner, 1st Baronet||
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"|Edward Thompson
|rowspan="3"|
|-
|1734
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Sir John Lister Kaye
|
|-
|1741
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2"| Godfrey Wentworth
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|1742
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="4"| George Fox
|rowspan="4"|Tory
|-
|1747
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|William Thornton ||
|-
|1754
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Sir John Armytage ||
|-
|1758
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|William Thornton ||
|-
|1761
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Sir George Armytage||
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Robert Fox-Lane ||
|-
|1768
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Charles Turner||
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"|Lord John Cavendish
|rowspan="2"|Whig
|-
|1783
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| The Viscount Galway
|rowspan="2"|Tory
|-
|1784
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Richard Slater Milnes
|rowspan="2"|Tory
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"|John Lowther
|rowspan="2"|Conservative
|-
|1857
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2" | Joshua Westhead
|Whig
|-
|1859
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Liberal
|-
|1865
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|George Leeman|| Liberal
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"|James Lowther
|rowspan="3"|Conservative
|-
|1868
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Joshua Westhead
|Liberal
|-
|1871
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|George Leeman
|Liberal
|-
|1880
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Joseph Johnson Leeman|| Liberal
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"|Ralph Creyke
|rowspan="2"|Liberal
|-
|1883
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Sir Frederick Milner
|Conservative
|-
|1885
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Alfred Pease
|Liberal
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"|Frank Lockwood
|rowspan="2"|Liberal
|-
|1892
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"|John Butcher
|rowspan="3"|Conservative
|-
|1898
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Admiral Lord Charles Beresford ||Conservative
|-
|1900
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"|Denison Faber ||rowspan="2"|Conservative
|-
|1906
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Hamar Greenwood ||Liberal
|-
|January 1910
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Arnold Rowntree|| Liberal
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|John Butcher ||Conservative
|-
|1918
|colspan="6"|Representation reduced to one member
|}
1918–2010
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|Election!!Member
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Elections in the 1870s
Westhead resigned, causing a by-election.
Leeman's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s
Lockwood was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Lockwood's death caused a by-election.
thumb|120px|Furness
thumb|120px|Stuart
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 and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
- Unionist: John Butcher
- Liberal: Arnold Rowntree
- Labour: Henry Slesser
- Representation reduced to one
thumb|120px|Butcher
Elections in the 1930s
Election in the 1940s
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 North Yorkshire
Notes
Sources
References
External links
- City of York UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK