Blackpool (UK Parliament constituency)

Blackpool was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Blackpool in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1945 general election, when it was replaced by the new Blackpool North and Blackpool South constituencies.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Preston, the Sessional Divisions of Amounderness and Kirkham, and part of the Sessional Division of Leyland.

1918–1945: The County Borough of Blackpool, the Urban Districts of Bispham with Norbreck, Lytham, and St Anne's-on-Sea, and part of the parish of Carleton.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1885	Frederick Stanley	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1886	Sir Matthew Ridley	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1900	Henry Worsley-Taylor	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1906	Wilfrid Ashley	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	Albert Lindsay Parkinson	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1922	Leonard Molloy	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1923	Hugh Meyler	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1924	Sir Walter de Frece	Unionist
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1931	Clifford Erskine-Bolst	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1935	Roland Robinson	Conservative
1945		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

File:Frederick Arthur Stanley.jpg

Stanley

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1885: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	win (new seat)

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1886: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Stanley was appointed President of the Board of Trade and elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Stanley of Preston, requiring a by-election.

File:Matthew White Ridley sketch.jpg

Ridley

By-election, 20 Aug 1886: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Matthew White Ridley	Template:Replace	71.4
		John Ormerod Pilkington	2,513	28.6
Majority			3,750	42.8
Turnout			8,776	73.7
Registered electors			11,903
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Matthew White Ridley	Template:Replace	65.2
		Thomas Walker	3,487	34.8
Majority			3,049	30.4
Turnout			10,023	76.4
Registered electors			13,124
	hold		Swing	N/A

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

By-election, 1895: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1895: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Elections in the 1900s

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1900: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

1900 Blackpool by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Henry Worsley-Taylor	Template:Replace	55.8
		Joseph Heap	5,589	44.2
Majority			1,470	11.6
Turnout			12,648	5.3
Registered electors			16,807
	hold		Swing	N/A

File:Vivian Phillips.jpg

Phillipps

General election 1906: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Wilfrid Ashley	Template:Replace	58.9
		Vivian Phillipps	7,078	41.1
Majority			3,061	17.8
Turnout			17,217	84.7
Registered electors			20,339
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

File:Wilfrid Ashley - Bain Collection.jpg

Ashley

General election January 1910: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Wilfrid Ashley	Template:Replace	59.3
		Samuel Hodgkinson	7,943	40.7
Majority			3,624	18.6
Turnout			19,510	87.3
	hold		Swing	+0.4

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election December 1910: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Wilfrid Ashley
• Liberal:

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918Template:Asterisk supported Coalition Government and received local Liberal Party support.

Elections in the 1920s

File:Hugh Meyler.jpg

Meyler

General election 1918: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Clive F CritchleyTemplate:Asterisk	9,862	34.9
		Allan Gee	2,608	9.2
Majority			5,956	21.0
Turnout			28,288	68.0
Registered electors			41,627
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1922: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Leonard Molloy	Template:Replace	50.2
		Hugh Meyler	18,040	49.8
Majority			166	0.4
Turnout			36,246	78.3
Registered electors			46,292
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hugh Meyler	Template:Replace	53.7
		Victor Stanley	19,192	46.3
Majority			3,072	7.4
Turnout			41,456	84.8
Registered electors			48,865
	gain from		Swing	+3.9

General election 1924: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Walter de Frece	Template:Replace	58.0
		Hugh Meyler	18,712	42.0
Majority			7,127	16.0
Turnout			44,551	85.8
Registered electors			51,914
	gain from		Swing	+11.7

General election 1929: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Walter de Frece	Template:Replace	46.8
		Miles Mitchell	25,374	36.1
		Ernest Alfred Machin	12,049	17.1
Majority			7,538	10.7
Turnout			70,335	81.1
Registered electors			86,744
	hold		Swing	-2.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Clifford Erskine-Bolst	Template:Replace	73.1
		Edgar Wallace	19,524	26.9
Majority			33,486	46.2
Turnout			72,534
	hold		Swing

• Wallace was opposed to the National Government

File:1922 Henry Purchase.jpg

Purchase

General election 1935: Blackpool

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Roland Robinson	Template:Replace	65.2
		Harvey Thorneycroft	13,598	18.3
		Henry Purchase	12,245	16.47
Majority			34,916	46.96
Turnout			74,357	73.97
	hold		Swing

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: Roland Robinson
• Liberal: Adrian Liddell Hart
• Labour: Harvey Thorneycroft

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. Template:ISBN.